Discusses the role of school libraries in literacy and independent reading habits for adolescents. Highlights include the sad state of school libraries in Indiana, how much to spend on books for middle grades school libraries, the time frame for rebuilding school library collections, and the Reading Bill of Rights. Sample inventory procedures and…

Explores differences in the academic library use of Asian American, African American, Latino, Native American and White undergraduates. Results indicate that students of color reported more academic library use while all undergraduates who engaged in writing activities and read more non-assigned books reported greater library use. (Author/LRW)

Reports findings from 2 studies investigating the social practice of book reading in the homes of 10 mainstream New Zealand families. Finds that with unfamiliar storybooks both adults and children aged 3 and 4 initiated insertions most often focused on the meaning of the immediate text rather than on print or illustrations. (KEH)

Describes a visit by American children's librarians to the Soviet Union for a formal colloquium on children's library services. The Soviet attitude toward children as reflected in the quality of facilities, services, and research is discussed, and the benefits of such cultural exchanges are stressed. (CLB)

A survey examined the reading interests and availability of relevant reading materials for 25 bilingual fifth-grade students in a rural southwestern school. Area residents were primarily descendants of early Hispanic settlers. Discusses the importance of targeting student reading interests and making materials of interest available in classrooms…

Examined a kindergarten teacher's implementation of a whole-language program and her students' responses to questions about reading, such as, Can you read? What can you read? What is reading? and When did you learn to read? Seventy-five percent of the children indicated that they had learned to read during kindergarten or when they were…

Presents a case study of an avid middle-grade reader who a had poor self-concept and who did not connect her school reading to anything in her life. Discusses how free-writing and language experience approaches helped her present detailed, thoughtful responses to text. (RS)

Different methods of measuring print experience were studied for 63 fifth graders who completed daily activity diaries. Book reading time estimate was correlated with new measures of reading time that use a checklist. Results support recognition checklist measures as convenient proxy indicators of children's print exposure. (SLD)

High school English as a Second Language (ESL) students in a 16-week sustained silent reading program showed gains in reading comprehension, reported greater frequency and enjoyment of reading, and utilized more sources of books. Results suggest that free reading is an effective means of literacy development with ESL students. (Contains 13…

It is proposed that both home and classroom reading activities influence writing skill acquisition. Relevant research in first- and second-language learning is reviewed and use of reading and independent reading to enhance writing skill acquisition is discussed. Extensive use of these activities in the French immersion classroom is recommended.…

Presents an open letter to English teachers outlining what the author hopes English teachers will teach his children about books and reading this year, focused on helping them love reading. Includes some thoughts about how to do so. Presents short annotations of 11 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

This article presents the results of a study in which five women in a detention facility were interviewed and asked about their prior educational histories and their experiences of GED education in jail. Three central themes emerged from the interviews. The women in the study had positive academic experiences in their early school years which were…

Drawing on data gathered during a seven-month study of the literacy practices of a group of White, working-class girls who have successfully navigated their high school's English curriculum, this ethnography investigates (1) how gender and class influenced the girls' uses of literacy in the classroom and (2) how the girls used texts from English…

One of the most common worries children's parents have is how well their children are learning to read. Introducing children to the joys of reading depends not only on the teachers, but on the parents. The most effective way parents can teach children how to read and to love reading is to read to them and, later, with them. Jim Trelease, author of…

The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) examined three types of literacy--prose, document, and quantitative--among the entire older adult population and various subgroups thereof. Of the nationally representative sample of 26,091 adults interviewed during the NALS, 2,267 were aged 60-69, 1,005 were aged 70-79, and 442 were at least 80 years…