Riveting Reads: Boys into Books 11-14

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What do boys want?

Our school libraries will remain largely unused by boys if we don’t have what they genuinely want to read. There may well be many books in our libraries that will benefit boys, broadening their experience, helping them mature, widening their vocabulary, giving them confidence, and aiding the rest of their learning; books achieve such things not by their high literary quality – though some of them will have this – but by being read.

Our challenge is to value boys’ reading tastes, whatever they are; to feed demand for the popular; and to tempt boys by the very best. Our libraries need a hugely varied reading diet, because boys, like all children, have hugely varied needs and demands.

We can never be confident that we know enough about which books boys want to see in their school library – or even more crucially, about which books would draw in those who never visit it. Our own guesswork is not good enough – we need to learn from the users.

Talk to boys; if you are genuine about your need to know their reading tastes, they’ll respond to this – though allow for them sometimes telling you what you want to hear! Floor walking in the library, personal interaction, observation, surveys, suggestion boxes, requests, online polls on the school/library website, etc. – all can tell us what boys want from their library.

Be careful to distinguish between so-called reluctant readers and boys with genuine reading difficulty. Boys may not use your library for either reason, and although the situations sometimes overlap (and some materials may be useful for both) it’s important to identify individual boys’ circumstances.

What succeeds in one school may not succeed in another. Your school’s profile is unique – and it changes every year – so you’ll need to keep the ideas changing, sometimes revisiting them, and adapting them to suit your situation. Best of all, allow the boys freedom to organise events and initiatives themselves, for each other.

Start from where boys are, not where you would like them to be. Once you’ve engaged boys’ interest in an idea, they’ll amaze you by how much they do.

Here are some frequent conclusions from surveys and experience; test them with boys in your school:

Boys are more likely to read for a purpose, if they can ‘see the point in it’. Margaret Meek’s conclusion that ‘To benefit from reading, students need to work out what reading is for’¹ is especially true of boys.
Boys often prefer non-fiction; illustrated books; and ‘fun facts’ material.
Boys frequently choose books ‘because they feel they have to’, but may be more susceptible than girls to recommendations from librarians and teachers.
Boys are drawn to fiction related to out of school interests – sport, computers, music.
Boys enjoy fast-paced stories, with plenty of action.
Boys often have crazes for the subject of the moment, and switch to new ones fast.
Boys may have more difficulty identifying themselves in stories.
Children can seem like ‘grazers rather than diners’ in their reading, and boys in particular will dip into books, lacking reading stamina.
Boys visit libraries, but to meet, browse, and play games. Far fewer of them take books out.

Every one of these conclusions has exceptions! Resist any habit of pigeonholing boys, and base your library’s actions on your library’s readers.

Riveting Reads: Boys into Books 11-14

Start | Foreword | Introduction | Browse Booklist | Download PDF | Appendices

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< Isn't it too late by Key Stage 3? I've got the books - where are the boys? >

What do boys want?

< Isn't it too late by Key Stage 3? I've got the books - where are the boys? >

Boys Into Books

Introduction Overview