Wayne Mills
Libraries hold the key to improving literacy in New
Zealand, a conference was told in Oamaru yesterday.
The two-day South Island Children and Young Adults
Librarians' conference, which started yesterday and continues
today has attracted about 75 participants to the Opera House
in Oamaru.
Yesterday, after the official opening by Waitaki Mayor Alex
Familton, Auckland School of Arts, Languages and Literacies
senior lecturer Wayne Mills set the theme for the conference:
"Libraries Matter - They Matter a Lot".
Mr Mills, founder of the Kids Lit Quiz, which has become a
global event, emphasised that libraries in schools and public
libraries were a key element in improving literacy in New
Zealand.
Research had shown that libraries were the best indicator of
children's reading success and that more money invested in
school libraries related to a higher success in reading
scores.
But libraries needed to attract children by being more
attractive, safe, offering a full range of both printed and
electronic media and having fewer rules in regards to
borrowing and returning books.
The key was also how librarians interacted with children in
encouraging them to read for pleasure.
Mr Mills dispelled the myth about comics and their
relationship to improving reading skills, particularly those
of boys.
He said Finland, which had a high readership of comics, also
had the highest reading scores.
Today's popular comics often contained text that was more
complicated than books, the visual aspects helping children
to read.
Librarians should be well paid for their skills, schools and
the public needed to recognise the role of libraries in
educating children and they needed to be well-funded and
stocked.
- david.bruce@odt.co.nz
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