Fostering Reading Culture in Schools

As an educator, fostering a reading culture is something I pride myself on doing well, and I certainly have my work cut out for me on some days. While I may not convert every student into a devout reader, I have definitely helped many students see “the light.” Nothing brings me more joy than when students initiate conversations with me about books, whether it's what they've been reading lately, their reactions, or questions about my favourite bookshops!

Sitting down to ponder the various steps I’ve taken to create a reading community in my classroom, I was surprised by how extensive the list became. When I first started teaching English three years ago I felt completely overwhelmed and like I had no idea what to do. But with time devoted to bettering my practice and an invaluable PLN I have gained incredible confidence. Read on for my absolute favourite strategies!

1. Curating a Library Space with Creative Displays

My library at the start of Sept. 2022...
it's already changed a great deal!

As a book lover, I have many a time come across the idea that "reading books and buying books are two very separate hobbies" - it makes me chuckle every time, because it is so true. I have always loved owning books (how could I not with two teacher-librarians in my family!), and ever since I've had my own income book-buying has been a serious hobby. This worked out in my favour when I began teaching English and was endeavouring to build up a classroom library. In my district, teachers unfortunately do not receive a budget for classroom libraries, so for the most part I have created my library by consistently perusing any and all used book-shops and thrift stores. I've also made use of the website Book Outlet for phenomenal prices on books. I have been able to supplement my collection with some books from my district, such as a Diverse Books project I was able to be a part of, and the monthly book clubs that my district runs for teachers where we receive a copy of a new book each month.

Fostering a reading culture in my classroom doesn't just end with having the books though. Creating a dedicated space for my library, and making use of my shelves and whiteboards to create book displays is a huge part of it. Sometimes I use my bookshelves to highlight certain selections, but this year I've been using a whiteboard and whiteboard ledge to promote books. I always try to centre my selection around a theme, whether it's book-to-screen adaptations, novels in verse during our poetry unit, or 2LGBTQIA+ literature at the start of June. It seems to work - every time I finish a display, one of the books is signed out the very next block!

2. Book Talks & Tastings

Now that I have the books, it's time to promote them! I love to do this through book talks and book tastings! My book talks are often impromptu, describing a book I'm either currently reading and what I'm enjoying about it, or a book I recently finished. Sometimes I'll book talk the books I have on display on my Bookish Whiteboard. Last year, when I was still building up my library collection I did "Welcome Wednesday" or "Fictitious Friday" every week where I would introduce and book talk 3-5 new books that I was introducing to our library. In an end of the year survey that year, some of my students responded that Fictitious Friday was one of their favourite things about my class. When a person is passionate about a topic, like I am passionate about books, it can be infectious to listen to,
which is why I love to do book talks!

A few of my "blind book tasting" selections

Book tastings are also an excellent way to ramp up interest. I've done these both as a solo endeavour in my own classroom, and in collaboration with my school's teacher-librarian in the library learning commons. We've organized book tastings centered around different book awards, different genres, various novels in verse during a poetry unit, but my most intriguing book tasting was a "blind" tasting I did as a pre-cursor to book selection for our Dystopian book clubs. I wrapped each book in brown paper, and put a short description of the novel on the front. Students wandered about, and had to decide which books sounded interesting to them based on the description alone - cover art, title, and author had no bearing! All in all, book tastings are a phenomenal, student-centered way to ramp up interest in multiple books at once. I highly recommend them.

3. Dedicating Time Choice Reading

Arguably the simplest, yet most significant strategy is making sure to dedicate time to choice reading. Dedicate and choice. Without those words, your reading culture will flop. If you want students to read, you must give them the opportunity to choose their own reading material, whether it's a physical book, an audiobook, an online manga, or even a Where's Waldo picture book (yes, this happened to me); at least they're picking out something to read! Be consistent with dedicating time for your kids to read. It can definitely be bumpy at first, and if your students struggle to get through 10 minutes of dedicated reading time, ease back to 8 minutes, or even 5. Once reading time becomes part of their routine, your students will come to appreciate it. I always realize this later in the year. In the first half, I am incredibly consistent with having my class read at the start of every English block. By the last few months of the year, with larger projects and units taking up more time, I'll sometimes omit it, and I almost always have students outraged that I would dare remove reading time from the schedule.

4. Group Reading Experiences: Read Alouds & Book clubs

An absolutely fantastic way to foster a reading community is through group reading experiences. For the last two years I've had my students participate in Dystopian book clubs, and the engagement and discussion that emerges from their reading experiences is the stuff of readers' dreams. Whether they love or hate the book, their ability to experience a story together is an incredible experience. I'm incredibly grateful for Pernille Ripp's numerous blog posts about how she runs her middle school book clubs - as a beginner her instructions were so  clear and thorough, and I followed them to a T with excellent success.

A different group reading experience is a class read-aloud. My favourite types of read alouds are those with built-in cliffhangers. There is nothing I love more than leaving my students on the edge of their seat as I close the book to wait for another day. Their disbelief that I would have the audacity to stop reading, and their pleading for me to read "just five more pages!" always warms my heart. A particular favourite of mine is The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. It's a novel in verse about a 7th-grade basketball player who is struggling with the fact that he and his twin-brother are beginning to grow up, and grow apart. It is arguably one of the most engaging middle-grade novels I've ever read, and it is ripe with cliff-hangers in the last third. I secretly recorded my students' reactions to one of them last year, and it makes me giggle every time I watch it. The passion in their voices is amazing - evidence of the true reading community we built together. 

5. Celebrate Reading

The final way I love to foster a reading culture is by taking the time to really celebrate my students and their reading accomplishments. One way I do this is through my classroom's "Books We've Read" wall. Whenever a student in my class finishes a book, they write the title on a small slip of paper and place it in an envelope on the bulletin board. At the end of each month I print out all of the covers of each book submitted and staple it to the wall. The board becomes a living record of all the books that have been read, and it also becomes a great conversation point. Students will notice which books are on the board multiple times, or they'll point out to their friends which of the books they read. This natural conversation starter helps influence students to continue picking up books, and it unintentionally helps create a goal for them. As we near the end of the year, my students become committed to finishing as many books as possible so that they can fill up the board before the end of the year!

A student from last year with her book stack!

On an individual note, last year I tried taking "Book Stack" photos for the first time, and my students had a blast! Students spent time in the last few weeks of school creating a list of all of the books they had finished that year - many used the "Books We've Read" board to help them remember. They submitted their lists to me and I went into grind mode - I made a master list of all of the books we would need for Book Stack day, and where the books would come from (the school library, my library, or the student's home). When the day came, every student assembled their book stack, and I took a photo of them, proudly holding their impressive proof of their reading accomplishments that year. It was a wild and chaotic day, but 1000% worth it.

Creating a Reading Culture on a Larger Scale

When I look at transitioning my skills at creating a reading culture in my individual classroom, to the larger scale of encouraging and supporting a school-wide reading program, I'm curious to see which of my current strategies could carry over or be adapted to work on a larger scale. My school has participated in School Wide Read-Alouds, where every single classroom teacher reads the same novel to their class - our teacher-librarian put together a small committee to help organize various activities that students could participate in that were connected with the book. It was a great way to unite our school, but unfortunately, due to the effects that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on schools we have only been able to do this once while I've worked at my current school.

My school's teacher-librarian also runs a program called "Pizza and Pages" which is a book club of sorts that students can sign up for. Each month there is a theme, and a selection of books that fit with that theme. As long as a student reads at least one of the books from that selection, they can sign up to attend a pizza lunch with other students where they can eat and chat about what they've read. While I love this idea, if I were to be a teacher-librarian I would like to put my own spin on it. My students know me for my love of cozy cafe atmospheres, so the idea of creating some sort of "reading cafe" for students to sip hot drinks and talk about books sounds lovely to me. 

Where I'm most stumped, but where I'm also the most excited, is pondering how I could turn my "Books We've Read" board and my book stack photos into a school-wide endeavour. I can certainly anticipate the Book Stack photos being a hit with the readers of the school, but the biggest question is the logistics of it all. This was a chaotic event with just 2 classes last year, so the concept of opening the opportunity up to whoever wanted to participate seems rather daunting. It would also likely add considerably to my work load as a TL, because these end of the year book stack photos would unfortunately coincide with inventory season. The "Books We've Read" board is even more of a mind-block; I've wondered about displays highlighting the most popular reads of the previous month, or even just a board that displays the books read by myself, but that wouldn't exactly be the most inclusive? I'm sure there are many possibilities that I haven't even thought of.  Have you ever created a board like this? What would you do?

Please tell me whether you've tried any of these strategies, or which strategies you use in the comments! I would love to know!