Meet…
8 September 2008
SLIS Grad Spearheads Book Discussion Groups for Children
Janet Weber, who graduated from SLIS in 2003, recently published an article in Interchange: Journal of the Oregon Association of School Libraries titled, "Creating Book Discussion Groups Using the Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award Nominees." As a librarian at Tigard Public Library in Oregon, Weber observed that despite the popularity of book discussion groups, there were virtually none available for kids. Her solution was to develop one herself.
Weber decided to use books nominated for the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award, a contest created by the Oregon Educational Media Association. Since 2004, she has been a member of the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award committee. This experience inspired her to develop a kids' book club to promote the program in public libraries. The award is primarily promoted in schools, so Weber's book discussion group helped bring the nominees to a new audience. The books are geared towards children in second and third grades, easy chapter books that prepare kids make the transition to more advanced reading.
She created discussion questions to foster conversation about the books and encourage children to develop a deeper love of reading. The program has been overwhelmingly popular among both kids and parents, says Weber.
Weber had always had an interest in conducting research and publishing her writing, so an article about her book discussion groups for children seemed like a great way to start. "It's something I’m passionate about," she points out. "I'd gotten such a huge response from kids and parents," so she realized that this was an experience that needed to be shared.
In addition, Weber will be conducting a session at a joint conference of the Oregon Association of School Libraries and the Washington Library Media Association. The focus of her talk will be graphic novels for children. Over the past two years, Weber has built her library's juvenile graphic novel collection from scratch. It now has the largest collection in the county, with over 1,700 items. "It took a long time to educate people about them," says Weber, since many saw graphic novels as simply a fad.
"Graphic novels are a great way to reach reluctant readers," she points out. She has seen many kids in the library who claim they hate reading and are completely turned off by books. Many of them, however, are willing to try graphic novels. One child who claimed to dislike reading recently left her library with "a great big stack of books."
Weber is currently serving for the second year on the Notable Children's Recordings committee, as part of her participation with ALA's Association for Library Service to Children. Her ultimate dream is to be a member of the Caldecott Award Selection Committee, which determines each year's winner of the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children. "I'm taking it one step at a time," she states. "I’ve gotten so much further in my career than I ever thought I would."
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