Cooking the books: what counts as literacy for young children in a public library?

Introduction

At present, British public libraries are going through a period of rapid change in terms of their use, funding and role in communities, with many libraries under threat of closure or being taken on by community groups. In order to stay relevant and viable, the ones that survive need to reflect the interests and needs of the communities they serve whilst still fulfilling their traditional role of supporting children to become successful readers. Historically, public libraries have been expected to play a key role in supporting parents to fulfil this role, and many organisations exist today that assist and guide libraries on how to do this. For example, The Reading Agency is a charity that sees itself as “championing public libraries in the UK because they give everyone an equal chance to be a reader” (The Reading Agency, 2015). They actively help promote children's literacy in libraries by helping them to run national initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge which is specifically focused on encouraging children's reading. Book Trust is another prominent UK charity that claims to encourage and enable parents to read regularly to their children from birth, by providing free books to children under the age of 5 through their Bookstart programme, and by supporting organisations such as libraries. Their aim is to help children do better at school and in life and to improve literacy and social mobility (Book Trust, 2016). Both The Reading Agency and Book Trust are supported by government and National Lottery money through Arts Council England who see public libraries as “trusted spaces, free to enter and open to all. In them people can explore and share reading, information, knowledge and culture” (Arts Council England, 2016).

Meanwhile, UK government policy has promoted the idea that parents' involvement in their children's education is crucial for their educational achievement. The government report, ‘The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children's Education’ (Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2008), states that learning activities that parents carry out with their children at home are more important for children's intellectual and social development than parents' occupation, education or income. The report used evidence from the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) 3–11 study (Sylva et al., 2004), which found that in terms of literacy skills, children whose parents read to them, teach them the alphabet and visit the library, were seen to have higher attainment in pre-reading, language and early number skills. In addition, the National Literacy Trust have published reports on the importance of parents promoting literacy in order to make a difference to their children's academic success. Their report, Why Families Matter to Literacy (Clark, 2007), states that, as a school subject, reading is the one that parents can make the greatest difference to, and that children who are successful readers are successful in other academic subjects too. Furthermore, the earlier that parents engage their children in literacy activities, the greater and more long-lasting the results. Therefore, government guidance, along with organisations such as Book Trust and The Reading Agency, can be seen to contribute to the wider discourse that literacy is something that children need in order to succeed in life, and that parents, with the help of public libraries, should support literacy development from the moment their children are born.

In light of these messages and the growing uncertainty about the future of libraries, I conducted a small scale ethnographic study that set out to explore how one public library presents literacy to young children and their carers and how this then shapes the literacy practices and events that happen there. This paper draws on the findings from the study to discuss what counts as literacy for young children in this particular public library and to explore what the implications of this might be for understanding literacy learning beyond this specific context.

Theoretical context

If space can be changed, then it follows that space must be made. For Massey (2013), social space is a product of our relationships and connections with each other of which there are a multitude at any one moment in time embodying multiple meanings. However, Massey extends our understanding of space/place by including time as a key element: practices that are happening now are connected to multiple others across space and time (Massey, 2005). Therefore the researcher needs to look further than just the place alone in order to understand what is happening there (Massey and Jess, 1995). Returning to Lefebvre's definition of space, this may mean identifying discourses and expectations that come from other spaces and times to form the ‘conceived space’.

In addition to the laws, rules, cultural and social expectations that make up Lefebvre's ‘conceived space’, the ways that people encounter places change over time and can therefore transform them into different spaces. In this way, it is easy to see how spaces/places are socially constructed but are never ‘finished’; they are always ‘becoming’ (Cresswell, 2004). By adopting the lens of spatial theory, I am therefore able to consider how the conceived, perceived and lived spaces that make up this public library shape what counts as literacy for young children. Although the findings from a study of one particular library will not necessarily be the same in all libraries, the in-depth nature of the study means that issues raised in the analysis are still likely to resonate with many library staff and users, as well as enhancing current understandings of the role of public libraries in supporting young children's literacy.

Methodology

At present, local authorities in England have a statutory duty to provide a public library service for both adults and children in their area. This has meant that, as well as large city libraries, a network of public libraries has developed in towns and villages across the country. However, fluctuating levels of use and substantial funding cuts to local authority budgets over the last few years have meant that many smaller library branches have been closed or taken over by community groups (often with reduced opening hours). According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) who compiled their own dataset from 207 local authorities across the UK, over the last six years almost 8,000 jobs in UK libraries have disappeared, 343 libraries have closed and 232 have transferred to other organisations, with further reductions still planned (BBC News, 2016). Therefore the central town and city libraries that remain must service a larger and more diverse population. This has included running events and activities to encourage children and families into the library.

The library I studied is situated on the main high street of an East Midlands' town in the UK, and like the libraries in other small to medium-sized towns in England, it services not just the town population but also that of its surrounding villages. The town itself owes its existence to the coal-mining industry, but since the last of the mines closed in the 1980s, its population has experienced low levels of employment, poor educational attainment and reducing services (Leicestershire County Council, 2008). Although some attempts at regeneration have been made through the creation of industrial parks and house building, newly created jobs have tended to be low paid and unskilled, and educational attainment remains low. For places such as this one that suffer from deprivation, the public library could provide an important resource for helping to raise the educational attainment and employment prospects of its population (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2014).

Whilst there is plenty of quantitative data on lending rates and the demographics of public library users, there is less qualitative research around how libraries are used and perceived (Becker, 2012). In a long history of important ethnographic studies (e.g. Maybin, 2000; Street, 2003; Taylor and Dorsey-Gaines, 1988), two major studies of place-based literacy provide important touchstones for my own study: one by Barton and Hamilton (1998) carried out in Lancaster, UK and one by Heath (1983) in two communities in the USA. Although set in very different places at different times, they are both studies of people's experiences and understanding of literacy in specific places and demonstrate that an ethnographic approach allows people's actions and accounts to be studied in everyday contexts, where participants can demonstrate their own ideas and understanding of literacy.

I began my fieldwork by creating a map of the space that is labelled the ‘Children's Area’ within the larger space of a library, in order to think about the organisation and positioning of a space that was meant for children. I then took photographs of smaller sections of this space in order to consider the physical objects that make up the space and how they are positioned in relation to each other. Following on from this, I made observations of adults and children using the space and kept field notes of their actions, interactions and dialogue in order to understand how they used the space. Initially, I carried out semi-structured interviews with two members of staff (the library supervisor and a senior librarian) where I also asked them to comment on the range of photographs to find out how they understand the space in terms of children's literacy and any other meanings they attribute to the space. I observed at different times on different days to try to obtain a better idea of how the space was being used by different people, mainly as a non-participant observer. However, I was also able to become a participant observer when visiting the library with my own children, and during the half-term school holiday when attending a children's event with my own children. I was conscious that as a mother of children to whom this space was targeted, I needed to consider my position as both researcher and participant. Observing on different occasions, as both a participant and a non-participant, gave me the added benefit of seeing that people behaved in the same way whether I was on my own or not, which reassured me that my observations were reliable. Towards the end of the field work period, I found out that another librarian was involved with the children's library as an outreach worker so I conducted a third interview.

I now go on to describe the ways in which key members of staff understand the space, and how this is reflected in the way the space is organised and used.

Findings: conceived and perceived space in the library

Different from other literacies

Within this library, there is a separate section labelled Children's Area. As one librarian stated, “It's a closed area – they have got their own space. It's part of the library but, if you like, a separate part of the library” (Figure 1). As well as enclosing the space, the placement of objects in the area such as rugs, toys, child-size furniture, a colouring table, shallow book boxes (kinder boxes) and bright colours mark out this space as different from other spaces in the library. The idea of children needing a separate space in the library is further reinforced by the books for older children being positioned on the reverse of the fiction shelves so they face towards the adult section of the library and books for teenagers aged 14+ being shelved with the adult fiction. This suggests that it is only primary-aged children and younger that are considered to belong inside the children's area (where their books and toys are kept); as children get older, they have to move outside of it until eventually they inhabit the adult space. My observations confirmed that only children of primary-school age and younger use the Children's Area.

Where's the choice?

How items have been organised within the children's area also make different forms of literacy more prominent than others. In the case of this library, fiction books (including audiobooks and reading scheme books) are the most visible, while non-fiction is less visible, and other types of text, for example, film and computers are absent from the children's area (Figure 2). This means that the choice offered to young children and their carers is mainly between different books rather than different modes of literacy, which I would argue shapes their literacy practices. I observed them focusing on the fiction books, predominantly picture books, with parents making choices for their children and the Library Services Assistants (LSAs) choosing to read picture books to children when running events, even when the theme was based on a popular film. If a child did suggest books, parents would often vet their choices and discard books they thought weren't suitable. In one case, a mum was keen to choose books she recognised from her own childhood. My observations did not include anyone accessing books from the non-fiction shelves, and the librarians thought that children and adults would only look at this section if they had a school project to do (although I suspect the internet has replaced the need for these types of books). By placing reading scheme books, along with picture books and other forms of fiction in the most prominent positions within this space (whilst non-fiction is marginalised), a particular type of literacy for young children is being promoted.

A further example of this is the Summer Reading Challenge that is run in libraries across the UK, including this one, to encourage children to read over the summer holidays. The children are incentivised to read six books and receive various free rewards for doing so, such as stickers and medals. Children are able to read any sort of book (including reading a board book to a younger sibling, picture books, reading scheme books and teen books) and can also listen to audiobooks. A librarian thought that this is so the children taking part feel they have a real choice as well as seeing the range of books the library has to offer. She also said that using computers, tablets and mobile phones does not count because “although people think these are reading and educational, they are actually distracting and are not the same as appreciating a book.” This can be seen as another example of the library promoting a particular type of children's literacy that places book-based modes of literacy above other forms, whilst still believing that it offers children and parents choice.

School and learning

The librarians felt that the library plays an important role in supporting children's school work, and they were keen to promote this. They talked about literacy as something that children need to be immersed in from a very young age so they will find it less of a struggle when they are learning to read at school. They were concerned about the need to get primary schools to bring their children to the library because then schools and libraries can support each other to help school-aged children learn to read. These ideas are reinforced by the presence of reading scheme books, educational posters, workbooks and posters relating to the educational benefits of reading and the homework help service, which further emphasise the children's area as one that promotes a type of literacy associated with school and learning (Figure 3).

In addition, half-term events encourage a type of behaviour associated with school learning, such as sitting on the carpet, listening to an LSA reading a story, and answering questions, which can be seen as helping to get children ‘ready’ for school. When I visited the Penguins of Madagascar half-term event, the children (aged 5 to 10) were taken to a separate room at the back of the library. On entering this room, its similarity to a classroom was striking; there was an interactive whiteboard and flipchart at the front, punctuation and grammar posters on the walls and a large carpet area in the middle with the LSA's chair positioned at the front of the room facing this area. She introduced a picture book that had a penguin as its main character but was not related to the film in any other way (librarians revealed that by using a popular film as the theme they thought they would attract more children to the event). She read the book to the children showing them the pictures and pointing things out along the way. The children sat and listened attentively, as well as putting up their hands to answer, rather than ask, questions. The LSA then stood up to introduce the craft activities, showing the children what their finished objects should look like (Figure 4). The children ‘worked’ quietly, only interacting with their adults who joined in to lend a hand. The whole session was based very much on school behaviours and pedagogies: lining up, sitting on the carpet, taking turns, putting your hand up, ‘working’ quietly, listening to a story, and copying the ‘teacher’. By setting up the space like a classroom, once the children were in this space they automatically adopted these appropriate school behaviours without being told to, which supports the idea that the way that spaces are organised shapes what people do.

Deprivation, interaction and parental responsibility

The idea of literacy being beneficial so children need to be exposed to it and ready to learn from a young age, is reinforced by what the staff expressed as a lack of parenting skills and education. One librarian felt that some children are not used to engaging with live ‘entertainment’ as they are often sat in front of a television, told to “sit still and be quiet” and ignored. This discourse of deficit was used by the librarians to understand and legitimise the inclusion of particular practices in the library. The LSAs who run the Wriggly Readers sessions try to create a pedagogical space in which young children can interact with others (adults and children) and learn to behave in appropriate ways by copying others, which the librarians believe will help to reduce the effects of their deprivation. To help them learn and develop, children aged 0–5 and their carers are therefore encouraged to join in with rhymes, songs and stories. Here, children's literacy is no longer just presented as the responsibility of parents but also of staff who see their role as setting an example to parents and children through providing resources, demonstrating skills and modelling the types of behaviours they think are important for children's learning and development.

The librarians talked a lot about parental responsibility, in terms of reading to children, bringing them to the library, acting as good role models, helping them to learn and interact, and to choose and borrow books.

It's a real family experience to use a library. I think a child gets the most out of using a library when their parents encourage it and model good behaviour and so on, and not just leave their child there and go somewhere else. You need to focus on the child and then the child will gain the most from coming here. (Librarian).

This was reinforced by a wall display that encouraged sharing a story and recommended popular, well-known picture books, thereby emphasising a particular form of literacy as the best to read with young children (Figure 5). Some adults did try to encourage their child(ren) to sit and look at a book, or to join in with choosing books to borrow. Some of these children engaged with listening to a story for a short period of time and liked collecting books for the adult to read, but often lost interest half way through and went off to play instead. A few children ‘read’ to their adult or to themselves by describing the pictures on the page or, if it was a familiar story, trying to repeat phrases they remembered, but this only lasted for a short time.

Findings: lived space in the library

Conclusions: making literacy count

This study recognises that how children's library spaces present literacy to parents and children often shapes the literacy practices that take place there. However, users are also able to reinvent the space for themselves in order to act in ways that are meaningful to them. Consequently, a tension seems to exist between the literacy practices that are valued and promoted by the library staff and how the users want to use the space. Given the precarious position that many libraries now find themselves in, this is worth further consideration.

In terms of what counts as literacy for young children in this library, my findings suggest that it is seen by the librarians as needing its own distinctive space. Moje (2004) argues that spaces exist in both hierarchical and dialogic relations with other spaces, i.e. spaces can produce or constrain, open into or shut out other spaces. Therefore, the way this area had been organised reinforces the idea that young children's literacy is different from other types of literacy and needs to be kept separate from other spaces. In addition, certain types of literacy are found to be more visible and dominant than others. Nichols et al. (2007) have shown that where resources are placed signifies their value and importance. By organising the space so that fiction books, reading scheme books and picture books dominate the space, they seem to be the preferred modes of literacy for young children, which means the choices offered to them are somewhat limited, and exclude or marginalise other forms. If newer technologies were brought into this space, then non-fiction, for example, could be made more visible and meaningful, which may then make the space more appealing to male carers of young children.

For the female adults that I observed visiting the space, it offered them a comfortable, safe space where they were able to relax and allow their children space to play while they got on with other things, although they did not necessarily use the space in the way it is intended. Some parents and children looked at, shared and sometimes borrowed the books that are on offer, but in many cases, there was little interaction between adults and children. These findings might be useful in thinking about the organisation of any desirable literacy spaces for young children; for example, in early years' settings, Children's Centres and primary schools (Marsh & Hallet, 2008).

Librarians strongly believed that literacy is something that needs to be learnt and that parents are responsible for bringing children to the library and exposing them to books from as young as possible, so they can become successful readers when they go to school. The way events are organised and the presence of workbooks, educational posters and reading scheme books all reinforce this message. We can see this as part of a wider discourse about getting children acquainted with literacy before school (Nichols, 2011) as well as an example of how practices are connected across time and space (Massey, 2005). However, researchers such as Heath (1983), Taylor (1983) and Street (1984) have emphasised and shown that children are immersed from a very young age in all sorts of literacy discourses and practices. Yet the literacy that children are presented with at school has increasingly been one that is based on an autonomous set of skills to be taught and learnt (Gillen & Hall, 2003). This can be seen in the National Curriculum (Department for Education, 2013) that defines reading for primary-aged children in terms of the ability to decode words using phonic and linguistic knowledge. In addition, the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework for Under 5s (Department for Education, 2014) defines literacy along the lines of linking sounds and letters in order to read and write. Therefore, by associating the library space with school forms of literacy, the librarians define young children's literacy as closely tied in with learning to read and doing well at school. This suggests that whilst the work of library staff can support the work of primary teachers and early-years practitioners, they must be careful not to marginalise or exclude different forms of literacy that are recognised or preferred by young children and their carers.

Different understandings and experiences of literacy in and out of school have been seen by these researchers (Heath, 1983; Street, 1984; Taylor, 1983) as responsible for a discord between home/family literacy practices and school literacy practices, which has then been seen as accounting for why some children do not achieve well at school (Cairney, 2003). In the case of this library, the creation of ‘counterspaces’ could be explained as parents and young children viewing the role of the library differently from the staff. Particularly for parents of very young children not yet old enough to attend full-time school, who are the main users of this space, these resources may hold little or different meanings for them. It is possible that the library staff's understanding of the role of the public library and young children's literacy sometimes differs from the users and non-users of this space. These findings therefore suggest that for libraries to survive and stay relevant to the communities they serve, the spaces within them need to incorporate literacy practices that are varied, reflect multiple understandings of literacy and offer real choice and multi-modality so that they are viewed by all members of a community as relevant and important to them. Then hopefully public libraries will be able to continue playing an important role in supporting young children's literacy development.