Popular culture images of reading tend to portray readers as solitary individuals deeply immersed in reading a single text in a quiet, undisturbed spot. Yet, in our documentation of adolescent students reading in Singapore secondary schools, we find that there are many ways and modes of reading, much of which is social in nature. Through the use…

Offering a separate, popular reading collection can be a valuable public service in academic libraries. Popular reading is also known as leisure reading, recreational reading, and reading for pleasure. These phrases are synonyms for an interest in reading bestsellers, mysteries, romance novels, biographies, graphic novels, humor, self-help, or…

The National Literacy Trust's Premier League Reading Stars has now been running for 10 years. During this time, hundreds of thousands of children and families have been inspired by the power of football to develop a love of reading. Although the programme has grown and evolved over this period, the premise remains the same: harnessing the…

Premier League Reading Stars (PLRS) is in its eighth year. To complement a pre-post quantitative survey, an impact evidence base was required to inform consideration of continued funding into 2011 and beyond. PLRS is very highly regarded among child participants, parents, and librarians. The structure of the scheme, its basis on football, and the…

Explores mutual advantages for information literacy through public and school library partnerships. Highlights include different goals for the same audience, a shift in services and roles, exemplary national programs, and possibilities of joint collection development. Demonstrates the needs and actions to stimulate the opportunity for adolescents…

This qualitative case study of the ReadDeVry reading circles program, a DeVry University funded project, identifies the theoretical and practical considerations for reading circles programs serving college students. As designed, the program addresses a number of the issues raised recently by national organizations such as the American College…

Sixteen students, randomly selected from a pool of 91 fourth-graders in a midsize elementary school, were interviewed about their reading choices. The interviews revealed that children had different degrees of motivation, following several patterns. Children chose narrative literature for these reasons: (1) The books related to their personal…

This article reports the results of a study examining the reading attitudes of the Russian people. This study also investigates the motives that guide adults in their choice of literature. Researchers have noted that two motives stand out: (1) "normative" or "pragmatic" reading (for school, exams, and reports; for carrying out…

Providing rich supply of high-interest story books is more feasible policy for literacy education than urgent exhortations to improve teacher quality. Free reading profoundly improves students' reading and writing ability, spelling, grammar, and vocabulary. The quality of a country s or state's school libraries significantly predicts its reading…