The Libby App: Free books delivered to your students’ devices
Kids Have Higher Access to and Preference for Digital Media
Regardless of income, most American teens have access to smartphones at home. Whereas, according to a 2019 survey by the National Literacy Trust, more than one-fifth of children owned fewer than ten books. It probably comes as no surprise that teens are spending more time online and less time with books and other print media. Statistically speaking, advances in electronic media have completely tipped the scale:
“In recent years, less than 20 percent of U.S. teens report reading a book, magazine or newspaper daily for pleasure, while more than 80 percent say they use social media every day.”
(American Psychological Association, 2018)
A Pew Research analysis of nationally representative data reveals that kids today are reading for fun less often than they used to and that reading frequency decreases drastically as they approach adulthood.
It also consistently detected decreases across racial and ethnic groups (see below). But many, including even the strongest proponents of student choice and student-centered learning, warn against scrapping the novel from curricula, arguing that:
“a literature-infused curriculum builds advanced competencies in language and literacy while also promoting children’s emotional and social development…reading and discussing literature can foster empathy and social change, as demonstrated in studies with prisoners and with students in schools and universities.”
(Pennington & Waxler, 2017)
Enter Libby: A Free E-reader that Partners with Libraries
Libby provides the perfect compromise. It instantly brings traditional reading material to personal electronic devices, providing users with an experience similar to Netflix or other streaming devices. Once users enter their library card number, they are able to access thousands of free e-books that they can read in-app or on Kindle anytime and from anywhere.
New York Public Library (see below), for instance, offers 205,000 books and 68,000 audio books.
And here’s how it works: Users can browse the collection through use of filters or they can enter specific information, like title, author’s name, subject, etc., into a search bar to locate a book. Libby has three different book formats: traditional e-books, audiobooks, and read-alouds. Read-alouds are primarily picture books, geared towards younger readers. Words are highlighted in red to draw readers’ attention to them as a narrator reads. Click below for an app preview.
Why It’s Great for Teachers
According to the National Education Association, teachers spend approximately $500 each year on classroom supplies. For many, books are a top spending priority. The NEA highlights the comment of a Michigan teacher who explained: “It’s worth it to have focused, engaged students during independent reading time rather than off-task students due to the fact that they don’t like their book.”
And as schools increase 1:1 technology programs, Libby could make it much easier for teachers to get the perfect books into their students’ hands without spending a dime of their own money.
The most challenging parts of the process will be:
- Registering students for library cards, which could be accomplished through class field trips to the public library or classroom visits from library staff;
- Downloading the app onto either students’ personal devices or school technology, and;
- Teaching students to filter through such a vast collection to find a book that interests them. This might require modeling, book-talking, and some explorations of other applications like Goodreads and Amazon reviews.
The bottom line is that if the goals are to increase reading engagement, boost literacy levels, and help students become lifelong readers we need to embrace their media preferences and find ways to leverage their devices for learning.
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