RUNNING HEAD: Encouraging Adolescent Reading

Encouraging Adolescent Reading through Coffeehouse Culture:

A Scholarly Critique

Kathleen Esling
LIBR 271A-10
June 11, 2015

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

In much of popular culture, teenagers are presented as cyborgs, creatures

functioning with screens attached permanently to their fingertips. They tweet, blog, and
Vine, but plain old-fashioned reading never seems to be part of a teenagers day. While
this may be an unfair stereotype, Brandi Gribble Mathers and Amanda J. Stern address
teens reluctance to read in their article Caf Culture: Promoting Empowerment and
Pleasure in Adolescent Literacy Learning. The authors pose that creating a fun
environment devoted to pleasure reading could improve readership in young adults. By
taking the idea of a coffeehouse and translating it into an on-campus concept, schools and
school libraries have been able to ignite more excitement for pleasure reading. Public
libraries may be able to use this idea of a coffee shop aesthetic to engage more patrons;
simply by focusing on making their services more social, librarians can skip the coffee
of a coffeehouse and focus instead on the coffeehouse mentality.
While many teenagers may not enjoy reading, fewer younger children share that
sentiment. The results of a survey administered to third, seventh, and eleventh graders
found that 75% of third graders enjoyed reading. Unfortunately, only 58% of seventh and
eleventh graders reported liking to read. The authors note that younger children have
more opportunities to choose their own reading material than older students do. With
Silent Sustained Reading, many teachers of younger classes allow students [to enjoy]
books of their choosing in a relaxed environment. This freedom is significant; in a study
Gribble Mathers and Stern cite earlier in their article, 80% of the elementary students
[] revealed that the books they enjoyed most were ones they had picked out
themselves (Gambrell, cited p. 261). Allowing students to choose books on their own
and giving them time to read these books in class is crucial to their enjoyment of reading.

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

The authors noted that popular reading corners frequently found in elementary
classrooms only make reading a more appealing activity. Having a special space for
reading ignites passion and curiosity in young readers (Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).
Unfortunately, older readers are not afforded these luxuries. As the authors note,
as students get older, opportunities for free reading time in the classroom dwindle.
Middle school students are being prepared for high school, and high school students are
being prepared for college; there is not much space in the schedule to allow for free
reading in class. The only reading that is encouraged comes from books that the teachers
deem necessary for a students education. Older readers have little to no input in what
they are assigned to read, and so they have very little investment in the activity (Gribble
Mathers & Stern, 2012).
Children of all ages acknowledge that reading helps students get smarter. Each
group of students answered overwhelmingly positively when asked if reading is a
necessary activity; 98% of third graders, 92% of seventh graders, and 98% of eleventh
graders agreed that reading is important. The authors were intrigued by the discrepancy
between each age groups acknowledgement that reading is important and the decrease in
adolescent reading. They wanted to find a solution to bring teenagers back to the reading
room (Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).
The authors were inspired by the idea of the coffee shop. Coffeehouses began in
the 1400s with the establishment of Kiva Han in Constantinople. The idea of the
coffeehouse spread, and from there, Coffeehouses had become centers of selfeducation, literary and philosophical speculation, commercial innovation, and, in some
cases, political fermentation (p. 269). People went to these places to discuss ideas and

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

learn new things. The lively conversation added greatly to the coffee shops appeal. Not
only could patrons get something to drink, but they could also learn something new to
think about. This social atmosphere is significant. Starbucks, for example, has gained
popularity because it set out to reinvent the coffee experience (Sweet as cited in
Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012). Starbucks made the coffee shop an arbiter of pop
culture to an even greater degree than Kiva Han did in its time. As Sweet notes,
Starbucks sells not coffee but connection (as cited in Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).
This connection is what keeps people coming back to coffeehouses. Coffee and tea are
delicious beverages, but the conversations that happen in cafs are the real draw (Gribble
Mathers & Stern, 2012).
The social nature of coffee shops is the very thing that could draw teenagers into a
reading space. Since a coffeehouse is a place where people traditionally met and shared
ideas, it is the perfect model to implement for informal student discussion. The authors
looked at schools that incorporated the coffeehouse aesthetic into their libraries, and they
describe what works. The following are crucial elements of a campus coffeehouse:
furniture cannot be the same as the institutional classroom fixtures, tasty beverages
should be served, talking must be encouraged, and books need to be present. By creating
such a space, libraries can bridge the free reading gap in three ways: First, such a place
will give students a place to read for fun on campus daily; second, it will be a social
space to read and discuss books; third, it will allow students to choose what they wish to
read. By providing these three services, a campus coffeehouse would correct the
mismatches currently present in middle and high school literacy education. These
campus coffeehouses allow students some independence in their reading choices as well

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

as space to socialize, and they have become popular with students at schools where these
cafs have been opened (Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).
The authors also strive to let readers know that this is a project that can be
undertaken without the requirement of a large budget.
Pointing to examples such as the library-run Hastings High
School before-school caf, they show that this coffeehouse
plan does increase student use of the library. John Witmers
daily before-school caf increased library visits from 6,000 to

Students visiting the library coffeehouse at

Centennial High School (Franklin, TN).
Photographer: Mark Humphrey

65,000 individual visits per year since the caf was implemented, and circulation has
risen from 3,000 books checked out per year to 45,000 books. Other high schools such as
Centennial High School in Tennesse and Waunakee Middle and High Schools in
Wisconsin use student workers to run the caf. Opening a coffeehouse on campus does
not need to be a major financial commitment. Similar campus changes such as Learning
Commons tend to be prohibitively expensive (Lippincott, 2011). In middle and high
schools, a campus caf can be a less expensive alternative for student engagement and
discussion. A high school does not need the same focus on technology that a university
might require. Campus coffeehouses also give students a sense of ownership: the books
that they want to read are on the shelves, and for some students, the caf is a result of
their hard work. Not only is the campus caf an affordable and achievable feat, but it also
shows helpful results. The increase in traffic that the Hastings High School Library
experienced is a significant marker of a coffeehouses positive impact on teen reading
(Lippincott, 2011; Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

This article has a powerful impact on possibilities for youth librarians. By

implementing a coffeehouse-model based plan, youth librarians may be able to encourage
young people to come in and spend time with each other and with
books. Many public libraries still ban food and drink from the
premises, but some are changing their policies with an eye on
keeping teenagers interested in their programs. For example, the
YOUmedia teen library in Chicago knows the importance of
allowing food and drink in a teen space. While this library focuses

@YOUmediaChicago patrons working

on a project in the library.

more on being a maker space for young people rather than a coffee
shop, YOUmedia emphasizes collaboration and social connection amongst its patrons.
For YOUmedia, a key aspect of keeping their patrons engaged involved allowing food in
a section of their youth space. As Drew Davidson says, If you want kids to be here after
school, youre going to lose them the minute they leave to go get a snack (Springen,
2011). This change in snack policy reflects what Gribble Mathers and Stern found in their
own article: students like to have a comfortable space where they can relax. While food
and beverages do not typically mix with libraries, making young people feel welcome is
important. In spaces where snacks are permissible, this could be a good first step to
welcoming young patrons into a library space.
YOUmedia appears to be changing the face of youth services in public libraries.
For example, the San Francisco Public Library will unveil its own redesigned youth
services department in June of 2015. Motivated by the ideas behind the YOUmedia
center, The Mix recruited a Board of Advising Youth in order to have teens input on the
design and services of the youth section (www.sfpl.org). There is plenty of space in The

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

Mix for creating new media and collaborating with peers. Again, this librarys focus is on
creating a maker space for teenagers, but the social aspect of a coffeehouse is present in
the redesign. Youth librarians can take inspiration from YOUmedia programs and
reinvent the adolescent reading experience by encouraging young patrons to get
together and talk about books. The library no longer needs to be a solitary experience for
teenagers (Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).
An important thing for youth librarians to consider is that a coffeehouse need not
be a literal room devoted to coffee and books. While the snacks and beverages are
probably a large draw for the teenagers at YOUmedia and the school library coffee shops,
they are not necessary for the coffeehouse model to be utilized. While many new
programs do allow for food and drink inside youth service areas, not every library can
make this change. Creating a space where teenagers can feel a sense of ownership could
be the answer. In Young Adult Literature in Action: A Librarians Guide, Rosemary
Chance notes the importance of talking to teen patrons and learning their opinions. Much
like how YOUmedia and The Mix used an advisory board of young people to help them
plan their new teen spaces, youth librarians can ask teenaged patrons give the library
ideas about what they would like to see. Librarians can also encourage that patrons hold
conversations about books, allowing for social networking to take place in real life. Youth
librarians could also plan events such as author visits, poetry readings, and other similar
coffeehouse type programs. Gribble Mathers and Stern noted that by using those
programs, schools could interest their students in pursuing more learning outside of the
classroom (Chance, 2014; Gribble Mathers & Stern, 2012).

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

One of the most important things for youth librarians to take from the school
coffeehouse model is the idea of having the right books present for pleasure reading.
Librarians must ensure that the books in the collection are ones that the teenagers want to
read. Chance recommends asking patrons to fill out a reading survey, but she emphasizes
that it should not be a burdensome task: Answering these questions shouldnt feel like a
homework task to teens. [] Ask what topics theyre interested in reading about. It may
be the first time anyone has ever asked them (Chance, 2014). Gribble Mathers and Stern
agree that teenagers who want to have more independence also want to choose their own
reading material. If a youth librarian makes it clear that he or she wants to hear the
patrons opinions, it will give these young people more ownership over the space. They
will want to spend more time in the space and check out more books if it is clear that the
librarians have listened and taken their patrons opinions seriously (Chance, 2014;
Gribble Mathers and Stern, 2012).
It is important that librarians not feel overwhelmed when considering different
paths to take to engage their young patrons. YOUmedias model is not a realistic goal for
every library, nor is a full campus coffeehouse. Some of these programs are simply too
expensive or too much of a departure from library policy to be implemented. As Pam
Spencer writes, Just as teens often feel alienated from parents, friends, or school
personnel, so too do teen librarians often feel out of the mainstream of their library (as
cited in Chance, 2014). While the coffeehouse model is an interesting and exciting one,
it is not the only answer. Working with the Gribble Mathers and Stern coffeehouse image
does not mean a librarian needs to create an actual coffeehouse that serves beverages.
Rather, simply being able to create a social space for young patrons to meet and discuss

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

books can be enough. Even teenagers who like to read can be missing the opportunity to
discuss what they are reading with one another. By making a space within the library
where young people can talk about their favorite books, youth librarians will provide that
missing social aspect that is the root of the mismatches Gribble Mathers and Stern
found in middle-and-high school literacy curricula.
In an era when popular culture dominates many arenas, people working with
youth must learn how to harness pop culture and use it to engage with their patrons.
While many libraries do not allow food, drink, and conversation into their halls, perhaps
youth services librarians can shift the paradigm. Even if a snack-friendly policy is not a
possibility, librarians can work creatively with a coffeehouse model in mind. Offering a
space for social interaction as well as relaxation can open the door for more teen use of
library space. While a full reimagining of the department may not be feasible, small but
thoughtful changes in how a space is organized could go a long way towards making
teenagers feel welcome and excited to read. Utilizing patron input regarding
programming and items in the collection is not a new idea, but it is one that can help
make teenagers in particular feel much more welcomed. A coffee shop originally was a
space for the people; they came, conversed, and learned from one another. Whether or not
a student can pick up a cup of coffee in their library does not matter; having the chance to
interact with their peers and discuss a new favorite book does. By allowing for a social
interaction amongst reading teens, youth librarians can make reading a much more
exciting and worthwhile activity.

Encouraging Adolescent Reading

10

References:
@YOUmediaChicago. (2015, March). #YOUmediaChicago teens get to know
#StudsTerkel and put their creative genius to his work for @ThirdCoastFest.
Retrieved from https://instagram.com/p/zlSuGKKSIm/
Chance, R. (2014). Young adult literature in action: A librarians guide. Santa Barbara:
Libraries Unlimited.
Gribble Mathers, B., & Stern, A. J. (2012). Caf culture: Promoting empowerment and
pleasure in adolescent literacy learning. Reading Horizons, 51(4), 259-278.
Harvey, M. (Photographer) (2007, October 30). Kwesi Utley, right, serves customers Oct.
17 in the library coffeehouse at Centennial High School in Franklin, Tenn.
Retrieved from http://media2.snbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components
/Photo_StoryLevel/071030/071030_librarycoffee_hmed_12p.grid-6x2.jpg
Springen, K. (2011, March 1). Whats right with this picture?: Chicagos YOUmedia
reinvents the public library. School Library Journal. Retrieved from
http://www.slj.com/2011/03/technology/whats-right-with-this-picture-chicagosyoumedia-reinvents-the-public-library/#_
The Mix at SFPL. (n. d.). Retrieved from http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=0200006401