There has been an article passed around Twitter the last few months about how we value our students as human beings. The article was written by Chad Donohue back in 2016, and is titled Give the Kid a Pencil. The article talks about how, as educators, we should stop calling out students when they don't have a pencil. Stop criticizing kids for not having a pencil, it likely is not their fault. Humiliating them is not going to make them have a pencil tomorrow. Is it annoying, YES, let's be honest. It is aggravating when often we have to supply so many pencils. But think about it... that child cannot go to Walmart on his own and buy a pack of pencils. The way we handle this needs to change.Today, our district librarians met together. Our district lead librarian, Richelle O'Neal, challenged us to replace the word pencil in this article with the word book.
Give the Kid a Book
I've never been one of those librarians that wouldn't let a kid check out a book if they had a late book. When I was a classroom teacher, there was a librarian who wouldn't let students check out ANY books if they had only one late book. We were talking about 2nd graders here. Yes, they need to be taught to be more responsible, but they are still only 7 years old. Many times not having the book is not their fault. Many of our students live in sitatuations that, thankfully, we cannot imagine. They have very rough home lives, many of them not even sure if they will be sleeping at grandma's or at a hotel that night, or even possibly in their mama's car.
I witnessed this once as a librarian, and it changed my way of thinking dramatically. There was a 3rd grader who had continually forgotten to bring his library books back. I never raised my voice or was mean to him, but I did tell him he needed to bring at least one back before he checked out another one since he had the max checked out. He never argued, and didn't tell me where his books were. One day, I pulled him aside and asked him where all he had looked. He told me he knew where his books were. Baffled, I asked him, "Well baby, why don't you just bring the books back." His answer struck my heart so hard.
"Mrs. Harris, those books were in my momma's car and it get repoed last month. Momma doesn't know when she will get the car back." Y'all.... my heart broke in two. I realized right away that poor baby was embarrased to tell me where his books were, so he was going to keep letting me believe that he was just forgetting them at home.
But what about...
I've often heard librarians ask, "But how do we teach them responsibility?" Yes, as educators, we do need to teach our students the importance of being responsible. However, when that student told me the truth about his book, you better believe I let him check out more and all his lost book fines were deleted!! That 3rd grader gave me the biggest hug and he went right to the shelf and pulled out the GREEN BAY PACKERS book he already knew he wanted to check out.
That day I knew those lost books were were worth it because I didn't lose a reader. I'm tearing up right now, but I feel like that needs repeating.
I knew those lost books were worth it because I didn't lose a reader!
My challenge to you
This school year, remember that their home situation is not their fault. Teach them book care and how to be responsible. Talk to them about strategies to remember their books. But don't ever humiliate them, don't rub it in their faces, and don't make them feel less valued. Give the Kid a Book!!
