Reading alone together

Abstract

Children between 10 and 14 years old continue to need support to develop advanced literacy skills but there is evidence that they may be less now. Libraries have long sought to cater to young adults but as more activities vie for the attention of children, the role of traditional libraries in the literacy lives of teens and 'tweens may be diminishing. As Digital Libraries (DLs) begin to offer resources to children in this age cohort, it is important that they support more than convenient access to digital books. The DL must provide engaging and writing environments not simply to support the tasks of schooling but also to support literacy as a social practice. In this paper, we discuss the development and field testing of a sociable digital library book, an application that provides readers with the ability to leave notes and marks in a digital book and to share notes and marks with others. Our field study with a small set of Internet Reading Groups (IRGs) suggests that there are important pleasures to be had from reading alone together.