BookClub

Group Members

Problem Statement

High School students interested in casual reading often don't know where to start or how to find books they would enjoy.

GR1 Analysis

Observations and Interviews

User Classes

Our two user classes are Librarians and High school students. Librarians are people who want to connect readers with books they enjoy, and YA librarians specifically want to encourage teen reading. The latter goal is usually helped by hosting events at the library for teens. High school students who want to read are usually busy with classes or other extra curriculars. If books were more accessible or their friends were more into reading, High school students would probably read more. 

Interviews

Librarian Interview

I called up my old high school librarian to ask what difficulties with her job:  What is the most challenging part of the job?  Overall, are the students interested in reading? How does she get the students to read more?  What does she think makes students like books?  How does she pick books for for the library? She made the following points:

• Predictably, the most difficult part in getting books was securing funding.  Under the No Child Left Behind Act, underprivileged (“underperforming”) schools such as hers lose funding more and more.
• The students as a whole are not very interested in reading for pleasure.  This worsens the funding problem; because the students are not interested in reading, the parents do not push to fund the library, which means that she cannot stock more books.
• She says as well that many students don’t have the reading level required to enjoy the books they should be reading; but that if they read more, they can soon acquire the reading level necessary.
• She has to pick books carefully given her limited budget.  She has to order books that teachers want, and she wants to buy books that students like.  She talks with the town’s public library to see what has been popular there, but because the public library services so many people, she cannot rely on them entirely.
• Of course, there are better books than others.  However, oftentimes students will read books that have been made into movies, or that are coming out as movies.  She thinks that this is because the books are more present in their lives, and they can see it from anothers eyes, and appreciate things they hadn’t noticed. I asked her if she thought discussing the book made it more pleasurable; she replied that reading is social, and they enjoy books more after discussing them with their friends.

High Schooler Interview #1

I called my little sister who is currently a sophomore in high school and interviewed her. The following are the results.

Q: How many hours do you read each week for fun (i.e. nothing school related)?
A: Maybe 1 hour, I don’t read very much.

Q: Why don’t you read that often outside of school work?
A: I don’t have any books that I know I would want to read. I like Stephenie Meyer, but I’ve already read all of the books she’s written.

Q: When you do read for fun, what sort of books are you reading?
A: Well like I said, I like Stephenie Meyer. I like the supernatural books with vampires in them. I also like some fantasy books that have faeries and things in them, like Artemis Fowl.

Q: What sort of things might help you read more?
A: If I had friends to talk with about the books I read. If I could find books that I would like without spending too much time sifting. I don’t have a lot of time in my schedule because of school and track, so if I could find good books quickly I could read more. The biggest problem is time. I could find the time to read, but I don’t have any time to spend my days running around Barnes and Noble trying to find things I like.

High Schooler Interview #2

When I called my sister her friend Sean was there. He is currently a junior in high school, and so I interviewed him as well. The following are the results.

Q: How many hours do you read each week for fun (i.e. nothing school related)?
A: I don’t read unless it is for school.

Q: Why don’t you read that often outside of school work?
A: Well right now it mostly has to do with the move my family is going through, but prior to this the problem has been that I have trouble finding good books that I don’t already own.

Q: When you do read, what sort of books are you reading?
A: I mostly like science fiction. Ender’s Game is currently my favorite book, and the Eragon books are probably my second, so I like fantasy as well.

Q: What sort of things might help you read more?
A: If I wasn’t moving. If school were a bit less time consuming. If more people I knew liked science fiction like I do. If I had friends to swap books with. If I could spend less than 20 minutes on finding a good book.

Needs and Goals

Librarians

These are the main needs and goals we found for Librarians.

• Acquaint themselves with new trends.
• Understand students' tastes
• Feature books
• Know what new books to stock
• Encourage students to read more

Librarians have a budget that limits their abilities. With only so much funding, getting good books is hard enough, let alone running student programs to increase interest. A low reading level in students is also a concern, as more enjoyable books may require a higher reading level, and it's a problem that can only be fixed with more reading. 

High School Students

These are the main needs and goals we found for High School Students.

• Find new books to read
• Recommend books to others
• Find people to discuss books with

As you saw from the interviews, accessibility of books is a big issue. Finding a book to read can take more time than a high school student wants to spare. High school students also have to read for classes, so the time they have to give to reading is limited. The problem of limited free time could be mitigated if they had friends to lend them/ suggest them books, or at least had the incentive of having friends to talk to about their casual readings.