The library is one of the best resources at RAHS. It is filled with thousands of books, dozens of computers, iPad support, and of course, the librarians. Despite all of this, many RAHS students have never stepped foot in the library.
The elementary schools in the ISD623 school district have a scheduled library time for every class. Students that graduated from one of the eight elementary schools in Roseville were forced to visit the library once a week and check out at least one book (whether they liked it or not).
The RAHS library is very different. It is more technology centered than anything else. The books are tucked away in a corner, which might be more aesthetically pleasing, but normalizes students ignoring them.
This does not mean that the library is not an extremely comforting place for students. Senior Ash James is one of the libraries TA’s (Teacher Assistants) and said, “the library at Edgerton [elementary] was so welcoming, and the library here is so similar. The librarians make it so nice for people who might need a place to go.”
Students not visiting the library as much as they were once encouraged to falls on them not having time. Many students at RAHS are busy people; they are in activities, have jobs, have homework, families, and social lives. Going to the library doesn’t feel as important as it once did, because many students feel like they don’t have the time to read books anyways.
So, why has something that once seemed so important been put on the back burner? The main reason would be content. Teachers and students alike are anxious to get everything done, leaving reading and libraries in the past. The world that we live in today prioritizes work and testing over anything else, regardless of the positive effects of reading.
Because of life’s importance placed on testing, schools put more of an emphasis on testing too. This results in less books, less quiet reading time, and less library visits. Senior Oliver Murray says “libraries are not really emphasized with older kids because they figure that we already know everything. It’s much more self-directed.”
The lack of reading encouragement in middle and high school saddens elementary teachers across the district. Anna Zbacnik, the librarian at Brimhall, said, “We [librarians/elementary school teachers] work really hard to connect every reader with books and make them lifelong readers- I feel sad when I hear that it isn’t continued in higher education.”
Ideally, high school English classes would mimic elementary schools, and go visit the library once a week together to pick out books and have quiet reading time. However, this idea is far from reality at Roseville.
Teachers around the building say that this is unrealistic for many reasons, especially with how much content is expected to be covered in a trimester. Curriculum is not built around looking for books and reading them.
Teachers’ goals are to help their students learn and pass their classes. This would be hard if there was forced reading time. Josie Boyum, a ninth grade English teacher, said, “what if students have missing summative and we spend twenty minutes of our class time reading? I would feel bad… it’s hard to prioritize which is more important.”
Even though this dream of having library time is far out, that doesn’t mean students- and teachers- don’t think about it. Senior Norah Caflisch said, “I miss going to the library like we did at Brimhall, especially having read-aloud.”
Caflisch also thinks that if she was given specific time to pick out books, she would read more often. “Picking out a good book is just as hard as reading it.” Caflisch said.
Head librarian Mr. Greg Martinson said, “The library has been much more used in the past 5-10 years. Not so much our [book] collection, but the space itself. We use it more in terms of computers and giving support to kids. Definitely less books. It does make me sad in a way, but kids just don’t have as much time as they used to.”
Martinson also thinks about having class library time. He said, “I do a little bit of classwork, but not as much as I’d like to… in fact, it’s my favorite thing to do, is to present in classes. There’s just too much curriculum.”
Heather Kay, one of the associate principals at RAHS, brings up a new idea: going at the beginning of a trimester. She said, “this would help students get more comfortable and learn what’s there and available.” This would hopefully encourage students to come to the library on their own as well.
Overall, even though students and teachers alike think that giving high schoolers library time would be beneficial towards learning and thinking, this is not yet a realistic policy at Roseville.
Boyum said, “it’s not like English teachers don’t want kids to have choice readings, it’s more about the demands in order to get their students to succeed.”
