Checking out books at reading level

[Deborah Bradford]

This is my first year at the library and I am starting to be conflicted about the books we do not let our kids check out. We have had rules, throughout the years, that there are a great deal of books the K - 2 students cannot check out. Last week a boy was very sad because he wanted a book his friend had, but I knew he couldn't read it. (I also knew it was unlikely his family would read to him.) I told him to find another book. I honestly do not think he could of read this book, but he was so discouraged I have had lessons on the five finger rule. How do other libraries handle this? Thanks, Debbie

[Peg]

Debbie: I was faced with the same dilemma when my school went from 3-5 to K-5. What a culture shock! Here's the solution we have come up with (which is a work in progress): Kindergarten has their own section. They are the only ones who can check out there, although older students can sit and read the K books. First is restricted to the Early section which includes fiction and non-fiction. First through Fifth have "reading level weeks" every other week. They must check out one book on their level. The second book is their choice. The opposite week they get to have two books of their choice. (Except First, which only checks out one book at a time.) Each year it is a knock-down drag out battle. Pleading, begging, arguments and coercion are common! (I've even had attempted bribes from time to time) But as the year goes on they accept it more and of course when they experience success with their AR books they accept it more. There are some books that because of subject matter lower grades are not allowed access.

[KAREN KING]

Debbie, my school is VERY BIG into the Fountas & Pinnell guided reading levels. It has been difficult being the book "police" since teachers expect me to match children with a leveled book. If a child returns from the library without a book on their level, the teacher will send him or her back to me. It resulted in a lot of "mistake" books being reshelved.

I first leveled as many books as possible and entered that info in the book's MARC record. This would be similar to libraries that use AR or Reading Counts. I teach the children how to look for a book on their level in the online catalog.

I require their first book be on their F&P level, but their second or third can be their free choice. This lets our international students or slower readers get the "hot" book, even if they can't read it, along with a good fit book.

We talk about how they would feel clomping around in my shoes because my shoes are not a good fit for them. I tell them I would be in pain if I tried to wear their shoes, etc. I lead into a discussion of how books need to be a good fit, too. If I don't know all the words, I can't enjoy the story. If I read a book that is too easy, I'll get bored and lose interest in reading. A book that is too easy or too hard is never as much fun as a book that is just right for me.

If a school uses AR, Reading Counts, or Fountas & Pinnell, letting them have an additional "fun" book gives them a little flexibility in choice. I think, too, if you have space and can have some of your early readers (like the I Can Read series, Step Into Reading, etc.) in a separate location or bookshelf, it keeps the younger, early readers away from the Harry Potters, Eldest, etc. I actually have 3 fiction areas--the traditional Picture Books for Everyone section, Fiction (traditional fiction chapter books), and Star Readers (early phonics readers and beginning chapter books).

Hope some of this helps! We are in the difficult position of trying to match children with books on their reading level when they all want to read what their friend is reading!

[Nancy Buchholz]

Another librarian in her first year here. Wow, I love all the different responses. When I started at my school I found out that the previous librarian made it her job to dictate what the lower school kids could and could not check out mainly through leveling. I am not a huge fan of leveling so I got rid of it. However, the reading specialist and I are big proponents of the five finger rule and started pushing that at the beginning of the school year. Kids are encouraged to check out at least one book that meets the five finger rule criteria, then they have free choice.

[Dan Murphy]

My librarian has a great idea. She displays several topics on tables throughout the library. For each topic she has books at a wide range of levels. So if a student is interested she can direct them to the appropriate book. She uses Teacher Book Wizard for the leveling because she says it is quick and she can save and print lists for kids, parents, and us. Some of my parents have come in to get book ideas on a particular subject. I give them their child's reading level (if they don't already have it) and the librarian prints out a list for them to take to the town library or book store.
bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do

[Bridget]

I have had to do the same thing. Even though he/she is a little discouraged, I try to explain that if he listens to me and goes with my recommendations he could be reading the "book of choice" before the end of the school year (generally true). If it is something much harder...ie 2nd grader with Harry Potter.. I explain that I have 5th graders who can't read Harry and that it is really not cool to check out a book just because "everyone" is reading it..the truth is (at least here) that most of the time "everyone" is just pretending to read it because the book is too big, hard, etc. for them to be able to read and enjoy. I let them know that it is hard to enjoy the book and remember what they are reading if the book is too hard or has too many words that they don't know and doing this will actually make it harder for them to be able to read the books that they want to read.
I am a big believer in the five finger rule and if a student wants to take a book that I don't feel is right I will make him read to me. We'll then talk about why the book isn't the best match at that point. After doing that a few times they do tend to start doing it for themselves. They are often surprised when, relatively quickly, they are able to read the "too hard" books and understand and enjoy them.