NORWICH – You’ve probably heard by now that Guernsey Memorial Library is gearing up for a renovation of the library’s main floor. As part of our preparations, we decided to solicit the opinions of our library users.

One group we don’t have much access to is school-age kids, so we contacted NCSD and arranged for a classroom visit. Library Board President Leah Mealing, Children’s Librarian Kim Hazen, and I were honestly a little nervous. We didn’t know what to expect. Would the class even be vaguely interested in talking to a bunch of kooky library ladies?

We needn’t have worried. Tanya Yahner’s class was just amazing! After about thirty seconds and two ice-breaker questions, those kids were on fire and full of questions. Does the library have manga? Yes, we do! Do we have an Oculus? No, but we will soon and we already have an Xbox, a PS4, a Switch, PC games and board games.

Do you have to be quiet at the library? No, as long as you don’t act like a herd of stampeding wildebeest. Can you hang out at the library? Yes, of course! Are there volunteer opportunities? We’d love to have a teen advisory group and some help with summer programs.

Our library lady hearts were full as we left the middle school building that day. What a great bunch of kids; we came away just loving their enthusiasm and with lots of ideas to incorporate into our new building plan. The one painful, heartbreaking thing we had learned was that even though the kids were interested in the library and what it has to offer, they felt like they couldn’t physically get to the building.

Why do kids feel like visiting the library is out of reach? The fact that we are in a rural area is a contributing factor, but I think there’s more to it than that. Most parents will drive hither and yon and move heaven and earth to make sure their kids get to participate in sports, but I think we rely too heavily on the school and our children’s teachers to provide all aspects of what children need academically.

As parents, most of us know that we have to make some effort at home to make sure that our kids succeed academically. We have to keep an eye on the take-home folder to keep informed of what’s happening in the classroom, and we need to help with homework and make sure our kids know that we consider it important that they do their best and turn in their assignments. Most of us think if we are attending to these aspects of our jobs as parents, we’re doing all we can.

A multitude of studies show that this parental approach to education is just dead wrong. One study under way here in Chenango County reinforces this. Books from Birth is Chenango County’s program providing a free book for every child under five through the mail every month via Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The program was started through the public libraries of Chenango County, and is funded through the Chenango United Way, the Norwich Rotary, the R.C. Smith Foundation, the Greater Norwich Foundation, and through gifts from other companies and individuals. Books from Birth is doing this not only because we love kids, but because we’re hoping that the program will cause parents to read to their children more and children to be more interested in books, hopefully leading to the children entering kindergarten better prepared, ready to learn, and more likely to succeed academically.

We’ve studied several years of kindergarten entrance assessment data from Oxford Academy. We divided the data into three groups based on how many books the individual children received through Books from Birth: zero to ten books, eleven to twenty-five books, and more than twenty-six books. Recipients of more than twenty-six books scored 27% higher on their assessments than those who received eleven to twenty-five books and 41% higher than those who received zero to ten books. It is early days yet and we’d love to see more schools sharing their assessment data, but it looks like preschool parents and kids are definitely using Books from Birth books to good effect.

It isn’t just with preschoolers where parents have an impact, though. Many studies around the world have shown that parents who model leisure reading in the home are more likely to have children who show an interest in reading for pleasure. Further, children who are leisure readers are more likely to succeed academically. Studies also clearly show that academic achievement leads to higher income and socioeconomic status throughout one’s lifespan. To investigate this further, go to Google Scholar and search parental reading habits and then try leisure reading and academic success, and academic success and income.

Most of us are familiar with Scholastic Corporation through their book fairs, where families and children with disposal income can purchase books, but Scholastic also has a research arm. Scholastic’s Kids and Family Reading Report (https://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/home.html) found that 91% of kids say their favorite book is one that they picked out themselves and 90% report that they’re more likely to finish reading a book they picked out themselves. Unfortunately, most of us can’t afford to buy our kids (or ourselves) all the books they want and don’t have access to bookstores where children can browse.

The best scenario is that children have daily, or at least weekly, access to their school library media center. Parents should check with their schools to assure that they have a certified school library media specialist on staff, that they have a reasonable budget dedicated to buying books for the children, and that the children either have scheduled access to visit the library or free periods and a way of getting there on their own. Parents can encourage kids to take advantage of this.

In order for parents to model the importance of reading, consider that most of us do make regular trips into town for groceries and supplies, and often take the kids along. Why not make the public library a regular stop on those trips, even a reward for good behavior? The whole family can stop and pick up their library goodies, completely for free, nourishment for your minds gathered while doing your regular hunting and gathering of groceries. If you bring them to the library, they will come. If you read to them, they will learn, and they’ll succeed.

Connie Dalrymple

Guernsey Library Director