Recently the Bookseller alerted readers to the issue of age banding for books:
CILIP, the professional body representing librarians, has given its
full backing to the "No to Age Banding" campaign, releasing an
uncompromising statement opposing age guidance on book covers. The
organisation has raised a number of points opposing age banding
including the likelihood of age guidance deterring young people from
reading books that are aged too high or
too low for their abilities.
The
statement goes on to suggests that parents who are unsure about their
child's reading material should ask at libraries and bookshops.
Librarians are also opposed to a system that, it says, "will either
necessarily be too rigid or will have to be so encompassing to be too
vague to be of any
point".
CILIP's statement concludes, "We wish the campaign success and assure you of
the support of the library community".
The full statement reads as follows:
CILIP
supports the aims of the "No to Age Banding" campaign. It believes that
the age banding of books is unhelpful and potentially harmful to the
enjoyment of reading by children for the following reasons:
1.
Children and young people develop at different ages. By banding books
with an age it could make reluctant readers think that a book that is
actually appropriate for their reading ability is too young for them,
thus putting them off reading altogether. Equally a strong confident
reader may
feel that a book that is appropriate for their reading ability is too old for them.
2.
Personal reading experience shows that children take out of their
reading what they need, and many books can be read at different levels.
Parents and others who are uncertain about appropriate books can ask at
bookshops and libraries where staff are experienced and knowledgeable.
3.
It is much more important that the needs and tastes of the individual
child be considered - in libraries, in bookshops and by teachers - in
line with the present educational commitment to a personalised
approach, than applying a banding system that will either necessarily
be too rigid or will have to be so encompassing to be too vague to be
of any point. We wish the campaign success and assure you of the
support of the library community.
CILIP, the professional body representing librarians, has given its
full backing to the "No to Age Banding" campaign, releasing an
uncompromising statement opposing age guidance on book covers. The
organisation has raised a number of points opposing age banding
including the likelihood of age guidance deterring young people from
reading books that are aged too high or
too low for their abilities.
The
statement goes on to suggests that parents who are unsure about their
child's reading material should ask at libraries and bookshops.
Librarians are also opposed to a system that, it says, "will either
necessarily be too rigid or will have to be so encompassing to be too
vague to be of any
point".
CILIP's statement concludes, "We wish the campaign success and assure you of
the support of the library community".
The full statement reads as follows:
CILIP
supports the aims of the "No to Age Banding" campaign. It believes that
the age banding of books is unhelpful and potentially harmful to the
enjoyment of reading by children for the following reasons:
1.
Children and young people develop at different ages. By banding books
with an age it could make reluctant readers think that a book that is
actually appropriate for their reading ability is too young for them,
thus putting them off reading altogether. Equally a strong confident
reader may
feel that a book that is appropriate for their reading ability is too old for them.
2.
Personal reading experience shows that children take out of their
reading what they need, and many books can be read at different levels.
Parents and others who are uncertain about appropriate books can ask at
bookshops and libraries where staff are experienced and knowledgeable.
3.
It is much more important that the needs and tastes of the individual
child be considered - in libraries, in bookshops and by teachers - in
line with the present educational commitment to a personalised
approach, than applying a banding system that will either necessarily
be too rigid or will have to be so encompassing to be too vague to be
of any point. We wish the campaign success and assure you of the
support of the library community.
1 comment:
As well as CILIP, we also have statements from The Association of Senior Children's and Education Librarians, plus the Library Association of Ireland -- see the No to Age Banding web site.
And one of our supporters pointed us to a 1952 essay by CS Lewis which includes "... the neat sorting-out of books into age ranges, so dear to publishers, has only a very sketchy relation with the habits of any real readers. Those of us who are blamed when old for reading childish books were blamed when children for reading books too old for us. No reader worth his salt trots along in obedience to a time-table."
Roger Cornwell
Webmaster, No to Age Banding
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