Initial Findings from a Three-Year International Case Study Exploring Children's Responses to Literature in a Digital Library

This article examines children’s responses to self-selected books in a digital library and begins to identify patterns in those responses. As part of a larger longitudinal study, the study presented here is an analysis of 241 book response forms submitted by 12 children from 4 countries: Germany, Honduras, New Zealand, and the United States. The children described most of the books they read as being funny or happy and generally rated them with four or fi ve stars (out of fi ve stars). The most commonly identifi ed types of responses were those expressing like or dislike, summarizing the text, or explaining how the book made the child feel. Two factors were identifi ed that infl uenced response patterns from the study sites: the data collection instrument and adult mediation. This research has implications for library program development related to recreational reading and for changes in the procedures for data collection in this area of research. Introduction It is important that school and public librarians understand how children respond to the literature they read not only for school but recreationally so that they can effectively develop collections and programs that address and respond to children’s interests. Library professionals serving children all over the world share this responsibility, which is amplifi ed by the need to provide effective services to increasingly diverse user communities from Emporia, Kansas, to Wellington, New Zealand. While many studies have looked at cross-national assessments of students’ school achievement in various subject areas (Forshay & Husén, 1962; Heyneman, 2004; InternaInitial Findings from a Three-Year International Case Study Exploring Children’s Responses to Literature in a Digital Library Sheri Massey, Ann Carlson Weeks, and Allison Druin LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 54, No. 2, Fall 2005 (“Children’s Access and Use of Digital Resources,” edited by Allison Druin), pp. 245–265 © 2005 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois 246 library trends/fall 2005 tional Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement [IEA], n.d.; National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], n.d.; Purves, 1973), few studies in the library and information studies literature have investigated the responses that children have to books read aesthetically, or recreationally. Virtually no international comparative studies have been done to explore children’s responses to books read “for fun” across countries or cultures because until recently it has not been possible to provide identical collections of materials simultaneously in multiple locations. Today, however, Internet technology makes it possible for users all over the world to access the same collection of materials on demand through digital libraries. With the development of digital collections, such as the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL), created in 2002, it is now possible to explore patterns in readers’ responses to self-selected items in multiple international settings. By exploring patterns in readers’ responses in different nations and over time, this research may begin to provide a greater understanding of children’s interactions with books selected for recreational reading. This knowledge can then be applied to the tailoring of collections and services that better meet children’s dynamic information needs. The work presented here offers a unique glimpse at international patterns in reader response and begins to address the paucity of reader-response literature in the library and information studies fi eld. This article presents the preliminary fi ndings from year one of a three-year longitudinal study designed to investigate that relationship. This research is guided by the following questions: What patterns exist in children’s responses to literature? Do variations exist by country? If so, what factors infl uence those variations? Previous Research: Reader Response Theory Reader response theory posits that every reader constructs meaning from an interaction with a literary work. This constructed meaning is greatly infl uenced by factors such as feelings, beliefs, the structure and elements of the text, and the reader’s context at the time of the interaction (Probst, 2003; Rosenblatt, 1978). Reader response theorists also hold that the reader’s response may change frequently and dramatically during an interaction with a text (Newton, Stegmeier, & Padak, 1999; Rosenblatt, 1991). This oneto-one interaction between the reader and the text is known as a “literary transaction” (Hepler & Hickman, 1982; Rosenblatt, 1978). Martinez and Roser (2003) report that, although adults and children process meaning in literature differently, young children are capable of making interpretations, thematic statements, and connections to their lives from what they read. Probst (2003) focuses on children’s responses to literature, adding that, as individuals, children bring different experiences, histories, beliefs, contexts, and purposes to the act of reading, and, therefore, their responses and interpretations of what they read will differ. Meaning, he adds, is created from the interaction between the reader and the text.