Students in Framingham are checking out more books from the school library. Here's why

Zane Razzaq, MetroWest Daily News
·3 min read

FRAMINGHAM – Framingham High School librarians had taken great pains to reach a circulation of 5,600 books a year.

So when the pandemic interrupted that progress, school librarian Alison Courchesne braced for an uphill battle in nudging teens back into the habit of checking out books.

"I thought we'd be starting from scratch," said Courchesne.

Instead, interest in reading surged, she said.

From September to November, students took out 2,895 books, the most ever for that time period. The tally beats the same time period in 2019 by 100 books.

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Framingham sixth-graders Natalia Figueroa, left, and Danna Rivera read manga books in the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022. The city's school libraries have seen an increase in circulation during the pandemic.
Framingham sixth-graders Natalia Figueroa, left, and Danna Rivera read manga books in the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022. The city's school libraries have seen an increase in circulation during the pandemic.

For Courchesne, who has worked in education since 2003, it's been a “glimmer of hope” amid an upside-down school year.

“It’s been nice to have the counteracting force of kids being excited about reading,” said Courchesne.

Surging interest in manga - Japanese graphic novels

Courchesne said there are several reasons the libraries have seen an increase in circulation, including growing enrollment.

At the same time, the library has intentionally beefed up collections that closely mirror students’ interests.

Pre-pandemic, manga was “kind of a niche market for hardcore comic fans,” said Courchesne. During the 2020 shutdowns, however, student interest in the Japanese graphic novels skyrocketed. Partially, it was tied to kids watching a lot of manga-based animated shows streaming on YouTube or Netflix, said Courchesne.

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“When a lot of kids who were not dedicated manga readers pre-pandemic came back to school, they were like, 'wait you have manga,' ” said Courchesne. “They didn't know it was a (genre) the library even knew about - they were shocked.”

Framingham eighth grader Thays Pereira shows a book to classmate Beatriz Couto in the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022.
Framingham eighth grader Thays Pereira shows a book to classmate Beatriz Couto in the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022.

Immediately, she started to grow that collection as much as she could. In a list of the top 25 most checked-out books so far this school year, several manga titles make an appearance, including "Tokyo Ghoul" and "The Beast Player."

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Diving into Portuguese

Similarly, librarians are buying more Portuguese-language books to reach the district’s English language learners and it’s working. The last full school year without the pandemic (2018-2019), students checked out just a dozen Portuguese-language books at Fuller Middle School’s library.

This year, just since September, over 250 books have been checked out.

Framingham seventh grader Amira Lari looks for a book to read at the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022. The city's school libraries have seen an increase in circulation during the pandemic.
Framingham seventh grader Amira Lari looks for a book to read at the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022. The city's school libraries have seen an increase in circulation during the pandemic.

Kay Kamiyama, a library media specialist at Fuller, said when she joined the school in 2019, the library had about 25 books in Portuguese.

“It felt like a missed opportunity,” said Kamiyama.

She decided to use the budget to even out the disparity. She called it a difficult decision to make, because four books in English equal the price of one in Portuguese.

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And it requires a lot of time, too. Each Portuguese book requires its own original cataloguing, which means librarians must enter each detail by hand and type everything in. With English books, the librarian can simply scan the ISBN number and everything is entered automatically.

Rise in independent reading

Meanwhile, teachers are actively weaving independent reading into their curriculum, which in turn draws more students into the library. “You almost need to provide that time. When you have teachers and administrators willing to support that, it’s critical,” said Kamiyama.

Framingham eighth graders Kaique Sousa, left, and Victor Rodrigues peruse soccer magazines in the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022.
Framingham eighth graders Kaique Sousa, left, and Victor Rodrigues peruse soccer magazines in the Fuller Middle School library, Jan. 21, 2022.

Both Courchesne and Kamiyama said they’ve noticed more classes coming down as a group to select books for themselves.

“I think a lot of teachers have seen kids’ interest in reading was not there when the teacher chooses every single book,” said Courchesne. “When kids have the opportunity to choose what they want to read, there is a lot more passion.”

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Zane Razzaq writes about education. Reach her at 508-626-3919 or zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham students use school libraries more in COVID pandemic