Teen Book Discussion Group

Yesterday Tessa and I headed into the city for lunch and some light shopping before I hiked over to County Hall to catch another ride to a book discussion group.

This time, the group was attended by librarians who work in the high schools. They read a list of teen books and also collected reviews from students who read the books. One of them was Just Henry (which I read and reviewed) and another was Kiki Strike (which I am currently reading and will review when I finish).

The dubious scheme for teaching children to read came up in this group also. This time I grabbed my pen: the Ruth Miskin Literacy Programme. Since these librarians only work with high schoolers, any students they encounter who aren't strong readers need serious help. But again, there was some doubt as to whether Ruth Miskin could help them. They seem to especially dislike the fact that her program is exclusive. The child is not suposed to read anything else while on it. And schools have to purchase the program as a complete package, they can not just take the pieces of it that they like.

I learned that school librarians here are hesitant to allow a student to check out a book the librarian believes to be on too high a maturity level. They fear backlash from parents and sometimes ask for a note before allowing a book to go home with a student. They did ask me how librarians handle this in the U.S. and I explained that if the book is in the library, the student is allowed to check it out. If a parent doesn't want their child to read a certain book it is their responsibility to prevent their child from checking it out.

When I returned home John, Tessa, and I took a fun trip to Asda and then ate sushi! Tessa left early this morning, but we will definatly have to visit her and the Cornwallian again before we move back to the States.