How do children select books in a library?

 Manasi Bapat, Max Mueller Bhavan

Decision Making Process of Book selection among school was the title of the survey conducted recently in three Mumbai schools- Bombay International School, Diamond jubilee High school and    G.K.Marg’s municipal English school. The findings of the survey were shared at the recently concluded symposium on children's literature held by the Max Mueller Bhavan(Mumbai).

The reading environment at home and school, visits to multiple displays, peer interaction, influence of librarians and parents were the social and psychological factors considered for the study conducted by the students of SHPT school of library science(Mumbai) under the guidance of Manasi Bapat( Max Mueller Bhavan) .

Name of the school	Bombay International School	Diamond jubilee High school	G.K.Marg’s municipal English school
Origins	Set up by the initiative of parents	Set up by the initiative of Aga Khan foundation	Set up by the initiative of Muktangan Trust
Board	IB PYP,IBDP,IGCSE	ICSE	SSC
No of librarians per session	2+1 parent volunteer	1	2
Class observed	1	5th	4th and 7th
Circulation	Yes	Yes	Yes

 The activity was conducted for 30 to 40 minutes. At the beginning of the session, the books were displayed according to their genre. Children were encouraged to browse. Children visited multiple sections in the library before making their final choice.   They also interacted with the librarians and focused on their vocabulary development. The library environment facilitated easy movement and freedom to choose. While the children explored the books, researchers observed their reactions, how they browsed and selected the books. Once the final selection was made, the researchers informally asked them the reason for their choice. Discussions were held with the librarians to get more insights.

 The following were the results:

·         First decisive factor in choosing a book was its title.  The title they chose was straightforward. Either the content or the main character of the book was conveyed through the title.

·          The author’s name was the second deciding factor for the book selection. 43% preferred to chose book by known authors.  Geronimo Stilton and Enid Blyton were the most preferred authors.

·         Book series were preferred.  Children wanted to read all the books in the series after they enjoyed a single book. 

·         51% of the children surveyed read the blurb on the book.

·          Genre of the book played an important role in book selection. Fairytales were the most preferred books, followed by adventure and horror. Hobby had the lowest takers.

·          The reading levels of the students of Grade 1 in Bombay international school   were comparable to the 5^th std children of other schools. This was partly due to the home environment and the educational levels of parents. (Bombay International school has parent volunteers in the library.)

·          Even though children loved footballers and cricketers, sports fiction was not popular.

·         Interest in adventure books was high among children in all three schools.

·          Main decision of choosing the book was made by the reader though they did listen to suggestions from peers.

·         Children were attracted by the physical features of the book namely size, number of pages, illustrations and font size. 22% of the children preferred a large font, 77% preferred medium sized font and 20% chose the same small font preferred by adults.  Animals were preferred in illustrations. Children associated big books with more facts.  They also associated children who took thick books to be ‘scholars.’

·         Levels of reading can be improved by the constant efforts at school and parents.

(PS: The SHPT school of library science (Mumbai)  plans to conduct further studies in schools with limited infrastructure/ regional languages as their medium of instruction and private children libraries. If you are interested in being a part of future school library surveys, please connect with Ms Manasi Bapat, Max Mueller Bhavan )