Date Approved

5-1-2006

Embargo Period

4-6-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in School and Public Librarianship

Department

Special Educational Services/Instruction

College

College of Education

Advisor

Shontz, Marilyn

Subject(s)

Elementary school libraries; Reading (Elementary)--New Jersey

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Abstract

A review of current and related literature showed girls were outscoring boys on reading tests in New Jersey, in the nation and in other countries as well. Students see reading as a feminine activity. Understanding the reading habits of students, particularly male students who read less, is crucial to help students become lifelong learners. By studying reading preferences it may be possible to influence students to read more. This study was designed to determine if girls in fact circulate more books than boys, and if girls specifically circulate more fiction books. Through surveying the school library media specialists and examining the circulation statistics of 240 randomly selected students from six different elementary schools, the researcher determined if the boy to girl fiction circulation statistics were different for those schools in which the school library media specialist specifically targeted boys fiction reading through collection development and programming. The researcher fully expected the results to be that boys read less fiction than their female counterparts, and that did in fact occur. However, the hypothesis that school library media specialist practices alter the reading preferences was not proven with the exploratory study questionnaire.

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