There is a body of evidence to suggest the value of welcoming and celebrating students’ interests and literacies from outside of school into the sphere of formal education (Friese, 2008; Marsh & Millard, 2000; O’connell & Groom, 2010). As a Teacher Librarian, I am challenged as to what this means in my context of a Primary School library…as I would like all students at my school to feel welcome and valued in the space.
I placed a sign at the entrance to our school library that reads: Welcome to YOUR library…how can I ensure that this is the ethos we are reflecting? Is embracing popular culture the answer?
The traditional view of libraries as a place of ‘high culture’ is perpetuated in many modern libraries, despite the increasing non-traditional environment in this era of flexible learning space design (Friese, 2008, pg. 69). Is this necessarily a bad thing? Is it necessary to have toys and books based on over-the-top marketing to be available at school libraries, so that students can read (often poor quality) spin-off books based on the latest kids’ movie, whilst sitting on the matching bedspread in their bedroom?
I believe there is merit in celebrating the very best quality literature available and in allocating resources to purchasing these books. For example, my limited budget includes an allocation to buy all of the shortlisted books in the CBCA book awards. Some of these, may very well become part of popular culture (eg. Aaron Blabey books) and they are often the most frequently borrowed books for several months. It doesn’t necessarily follow, that just because something is famous or liked by children, that it meets the criteria to be added to the collection.
Do not get me wrong, I do not have a rule that excludes what I would call popular culture texts. Our collection includes many examples, including Pokémon, Lego and Minecraft, and these are high-circulation items. However, I admit that, on more than one occasion I have cringed while sorting through (used) donated books from the parent community. I cannot always bring myself to catalogue Peppa Pig, Tinkerbell or Tangled books (which may or may not have come with a plush toy and audio CD). This is an aspect of embracing popular culture that I struggle with.
I suppose, in a sense, I do not value these books as literature, but view them as merchandise or toys that are purely made for profit. These types of books are often poor quality prints with large quantities of very small text on each page, with uninspiring illustrations. Students who may be attracted to the cover of a Disney Princesses book, may very well be disappointed by its content in these cases. It could therefore be argued that providing these types of books may actually be counterproductive in our goals to encourage reading for pleasure. So for me, it is not a black and white rule, but a case-by-case evaluation of texts that come in or are requested by students.
I am left to ponder other ways in which I can create a student-centred, welcoming environment, without risking the lowering of the standard of what is available for circulation. I do believe that popular culture has a lot to offer the library environment, despite its drawbacks.
The inclusion of popular culture materials in school library collections can support achievement in traditional literacy while facilitating connection with everyday literacy practices. Popular culture materials also provide instructional opportunities for critical media literacy as well as information literacy. Popular culture texts are worthy of inclusion in school library collections for reasons enhancing both pedagogy and enjoyment (Friese, 2008, pg. 68).
One way I have witnessed popular culture being introduced in libraries is the use of scavenger hunt games where students are challenged to find Pokémon characters hidden throughout the library. There is no point ignoring the current craze of the Pokémon Go app, but, I hear you asking; Is there really any value in hiding pictures or figurines around a library?
I would argue, Yes!
Just acknowledging students’ interests out of school can influence an impression or attitude about a space. From my experience with Consensus Design Approaches (see here), students very quickly pick up on what is valued in learning spaces…and it follows that places they do not feel valued are not places that they want to be.
Further, Scavenger hunt-type activities can be an excellent way to teach students about how to use a library catalogue (you can use call numbers as clues). Also, why not ‘lead’ your students to books that may be of interest to them, such as graphic novels, using the popular culture characters/objects as ‘lures’(?).
Another, more ‘academic’ way to encourage students to share their outside school interests is to create interactive displays where students are invited to make connections between library texts and the outside world. Making connections is an important part of reading comprehension, so it is an ideal way to embrace popular culture, whilst encouraging literacy skills. A chart with a table similar to the one below, will invariably include all sorts of popular culture references.
| Share your connections! | I made a connection… | ||
|
Book (title, author and call number) |
…to ME |
…to another text (book, tv show, movie, song) |
…to something in the world (place, environment, issue) |
The value of inclusion of ‘texts’ of popular culture are not always obvious, but I would argue that there are (at least) three reasons why you should have a go at getting some popular culture references into your library.
- It shows that you value your students and their interests…and therefore encourages students to visit the space
- It encourages sharing of personal/cultural literacies…and therefore helps you get to know the students and tap into their prior knowledge, in order to help develop further literacy skills
- It broadens your (popular culture) knowledge base…and can thereby make you more approachable, which in turn helps to build rapport with your students. This is a key ingredient to being able to achieve every librarian’s goal – to put the right book in the right hands at the right time.
References
Davies, J., and Merchant, G. (2014). Digital literacy and teacher education. In P. Benson & A. Chik (Eds.). Popular culture pedagogy: International perspectives.(pp. 180-193). New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.tandfebooks.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/doi/view/10.4324/9781315819907
Friese, E. E. G. (2008). Popular culture in the school library: Enhancing literacies traditional and new. School Libraries Worldwide, 14(2), 68-82. Retrieved from http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/217762991?accountid=13380
Marsh, J. and Millard, E. (2000). Computer Games. Literacy and popular culture: using children’s culture in the classroom. (pp. 118 – 137). London: Paul Chapman doi: 10.4135/9781446219829.n8
O’Connell, J., and Groom, D. (2010). Connect, communicate, collaborate: Learning in a changing world. Camberwell, Vic: ACER Press.
Perhaps there is value in providing these texts that you attribute to being more in the ‘merchandise’ camp then quality texts, in that children are able to experience and understand what a quality text truly is – looks like, feels like, and reads like. I absolutely agree that in my classroom I value perceived ‘higher quality’ texts over perhaps ones that are more popular in the public arena, but that hasn’t come from being surrounded by only high quality texts growing up.
Being able to make distinctions about what is and what is not a quality text is a fantastic ability to learn, and one I did a lot in my reading at school and at home. I think it is important, however cringe worthy, to provide a variety of texts to express this degree of distinction, and have the children choose and choose again as they better relate to its’ quality.
Regarding the Pokemon Go craze, whilst I don’t use it myself, I can see the great benefit to what you have included at your library by including it as a vehicle for students to better learn about how to use a library. By breaking down the perhaps ‘elitist’ walls libraries project to students using shared interests, we can better serve students in finding quality texts for themselves by providing ‘detective’ tools they need.
Finally, I agree also with the statement that including popular culture texts shows that you value students and their interests. Yes, it is a sharing of literacies, of backgrounds, of interests and knowledge. It helps to bridge the divide that is so apparent between youth interests and what we as teachers perceive as texts that they ‘ought’ to read. Popular culture definitely has a place in elementary school libraries, and I wish more teacher-librarians such as yourself would be as accepting of it as you are.
Thanks for the comment Liz, you make some excellent points. It is quite difficult sometimes, with so many stakeholders and competing interests to get the balance right. I think I am getting there, slowly!