When reading the Rubins’ overview of libraries “From past to present” this semester, I was interested to read about a historical struggle over the place of popular materials in a library: reading, for example, that “Popular fiction has a long tradition of raising concerns about lowering morals” (Rubin, 2020, p. 49).
Among my independent readings, I found references to this debate over “popular” materials, specifically in the realm of library service to children. Michael Sullivan (2013) posed the question, “If public libraries routinely serve the desire of adults to read for pure, escapist pleasure, why do we not afford the same service to children? … Does the [collection development] policy state that only one set of customers is deserving of this consideration?”
And in the Newbery centennial-themed issue of Children & Libraries, I was surprised to learn that Clara Whitehill Hunt, one of the award’s pioneers, held specific concern that children should not read “cheap” series fiction, which Hunt denigrated as “trash” (Marcus, 2022; Grad, 2022).
But there are several recent findings that illustrate possible benefits of predictable series fiction, especially for beginning readers (Reading Rewards, n.d.; Taylor, M., n.d.; TheSchoolRun, n.d.). Hunt’s prejudice against such types of books seems to go against these documented benefits.
References:
Grad, K. (2022). Ahead of her time: Hunt was early pioneer for children’s literature. Children & Libraries, (20) 1, p. 8-10.
Marcus, L. (2022). The people behind the medal: John Newbery, Frederic G. Melcher, and Clara Whitehill Hunt. Children & libraries, (20) 1, p. 3-7.
Reading Rewards. (n.d.) The 5 great advantages of book series for kids. https://www.reading-rewards.com/blog/the-5-great-advantages-of-book-series-for-kids/
Rubin, R. and Rubin R. Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.) ALA Neal-Schuman.
Sullivan, M. (2013). Fundamentals of children’s services (2nd ed.) American Library Association.
Taylor, M. (n.d.) How predictable book series benefit beginning readers. Imagination soup. https://imaginationsoup.net/predictable-book-series-benefit-readers/
TheSchoolRun. (n.d.) Reading series: How they help your child. https://www.theschoolrun.com/reading-series-how-they-help-your-child
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