Answer: Students do.

In all of the doom and gloom presented in the past year of school libraries being shuttered and books being banned by people with an agenda, very few have asked the students. During April (School Library Month), I have asked the students why they come to the library. The overall response is the atmosphere of the room. We have many different nooks and crannies with different seating options. Half the room has whiteboard tables; there are video and bean bag chairs, bar stools, and individual and group areas.

My full-time Library Media Assistant, Ms. Smith, is as much a part of the library as I am. Students know to find her at the circulation desk. They often hear her greet them by name. She goes to the student if asked. Ms. Smith assists students and teachers with printing or looking up books.

While students list many reasons, including skipping class(!), none of them talk about books. The books are simply there. They will pick up a book, read for a while, and put the book back. They do not want the stress of keeping up with a book but some come in every day to continue reading a particular book. They never list books as a reason because books and bookshelves are inherently part of the room. When I switched to genre-fied fiction, my circulation numbers went up. When I started creating more space on shelves and having more books on a display stand, the display stand books were checked out much more frequently. Sometimes the choices in a library are overwhelming. Presenting books like a bookstore does with more dynamic shelving helps students find their next favorite book.

Even so, books are seen. Two students wrote a letter recommending me for an award. Taken from their essay is this paragraph:

The attacks on School Libraries negatively affect students. Giving students space, assistance, guidance, choice, teaching, and many, many sources of reading materials is supporting students and helping them achieve their greatest potential.

School Library Journal provided the Canva templates and the hashtag: #reasonstolovelibraries. Thank you!