Are Libraries Now Playgrounds?

But don't reach for the party hats and noisemakers just yet: most of these young Jane- and Johnny-come-latelies are playing computer games rather than reading books or ferreting out wholesome information. "Those children who see themselves as efficacious readers, as able readers," says Neuman, "are using the computers to learn more, to go for additional services. The librarian's dream, right? But those kids who are using the computers who do not regard themselves as good readers are often using it for gaming and purposes that are not necessarily what we consider traditional library use."

Neuman, who is director of the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement at the University of Michigan, and her colleagues say many of these nontraditional library users are "reading down." In other words, she explains, "they'll go to easy games, easy materials, new ways of playing." For many kids, the library has become a "social playground," she adds, "where they get to hang out with their friends and use the computers." (A report describing some of these findings, "Access for All: Closing the Book Gap," will be available later this month in Reading Research Quarterly, a publication of the International Reading Association, and a final report, "Why Books Matter," will be published in April.)

The researchers also observed tremendous differences in how children of middle-income and low-income families first encounter the library. In middle-income neighborhoods, says Neuman, young kids usually arrive at the library accompanied by their parents, who supervise the children and teach them the dos and don'ts of using a library. Unfortunately, that same socialization process is often absent for children of lower-income families. In low-income neighborhoods, children as young as four years old come to the library by themselves or accompanied by a slightly older sibling or peer. As a result, low-income children often don't receive the help or training that parents can provide.