Teenagers reading

I’m finalizing the literature review for my thesis. (I may even have a thesis to submit one day soon!) And I revisited two papers:

• “Is there a decline in the reading romance?” by Stephen Krashen and Debra Von Sprecken, and
• “Longitudinal study of the reading attitudes and behaviors of middle school students” by Terry Ley, Barbara Schaer, and Betsy Dismukes.

Krashen and Von Sprecken examined the results of a number of studies of children’s reading [1], including Ley, Schaer, and Dismukes’ longitudinal survey of 160 US students over three years as they progressed from sixth to eighth grade [2].

In their review of the literature Krashen and Von Sprecken looked at “how much children enjoyed reading” and concluded any decrease in reading enjoyment as children age is only slight. Most studies used a 5-point scale and the average was always above 2.5.

At no stage do children show a negative attitude toward reading. [3]

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My paper from the RAILS3 seminar has been published in LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal. “Researching Graphic Novels and Their Teenage Readers” is available online.

Citation

Snowball, C. (2007) “Researching Graphic Novels and Their Teenage Readers” LIBRES, vol.17, no.1.

I presented a paper at RAILS 3: Research Applications in Information and Library Studies held in Perth, Australia, 23 September 2006. I discussed my research methods and some preliminary results of my survey of Australian public libraries.

Abstract

Graphic novels are trade paperback or hardcover books consisting of work in comic-book form. They include book-length stories, collections of stories and works of non-fiction. This does not include collections of comic strips such as Garfield or Peanuts. They are a format and as such include many different genres.

Graphic novels are becoming more prevalent and popular among teenagers and are thus being collected by public and school libraries. There are numerous reasons for the current popularity of graphic novels. Young people today are much more attuned to visual means of communication, as they have grown up with television and computers. Teachers are using graphic novels to develop visual literacy, an important skill for success in today’s visual world. Both librarians and teachers are advocating graphic novels to encourage recreational reading, levels of which decrease as children become teenagers. Graphic novels are increasingly reviewed in library and general review sources, and in some sources are treated as just another aspect of contemporary writing.

The above reasons contributed to my desire to investigate graphic novel collections in public libraries, what teenagers think of graphic novels and whether they read them. In my paper I will discuss the three methods I am using to collect data on public library collections of graphic novels and teenagers’ views on graphic novels.

A postal survey of public libraries in Australia was conducted to determine whether public libraries have graphic novel collections and how these collections are selected, acquired, catalogued, housed and promoted. Focus groups with teenagers will be conducted to uncover what they think of graphic novels and whether they read them. Public librarians who have graphic novel collections in their library will be interviewed to determine their thoughts on their collections and the format in general. I will also discuss the preliminary results from the survey of public libraries.

My candidacy application has been accepted.

Research Proposal

Teenagers have been found to be reluctant to read in their leisure time, the importance of recreational reading necessitates methods to encourage teenagers to read. One format that has been discussed as a possibility to engage teenagers in reading is the graphic novel.

The objective of this research is to investigate the inclusion of graphic novels in library collections and whether this format encourages teenagers to use libraries and read in their free time. Graphic novel collections in Australian public libraries were investigated through a survey of Australia-wide Young Peoples’ Services (YPS) librarians. Interviews with Western Australian public and school librarians provided further insight into their library’s graphic novel collections and the librarians’ perceptions of the graphic novel format and graphic novel use by teenagers. Teenagers’ views on public libraries, their levels of recreational reading and thoughts on the graphic novel format were determined through focus groups. The difficulties in finding teenagers to participate in the research was overcome by selecting participants from local high schools, accessible through the researcher’s network of contacts.

I commenced my PhD research project at Curtin University of Technology.

Research Proposal

Teenagers have been found to be reluctant to read in their leisure time, the importance of recreational reading necessitates methods to encourage teenagers to read. One format that has been discussed as a possibility to engage teenagers in reading is the graphic novel.

The objective of this research is to investigate the inclusion of graphic novels in library collections and whether this format encourages teenagers to use libraries and read in their free time. Graphic novel collections in Australian public libraries were investigated through a survey of Australia-wide Young Peoples’ Services (YPS) librarians. Interviews with Western Australian public and school librarians provided further insight into their library’s graphic novel collections and the librarians’ perceptions of the graphic novel format and graphic novel use by teenagers. Teenagers’ views on public libraries, their levels of recreational reading and thoughts on the graphic novel format were determined through focus groups. The difficulties in finding teenagers to participate in the research was overcome by selecting participants from local high schools, accessible through the researcher’s network of contacts.