Let's Talk About It - An Intergenerational Family Literacy Program

Let’s talk about it!

Librarians, educators, and parents are concerned that middle school students often lose interest in reading; they prefer instead to play video games, participate in sports, watch television, and surf the Internet. They don’t find time to read and talk about good books. So what can we, as a community, do to foster literacy and rekindle an interest in reading?

Some communities are developing intergenerational family literacy programs, typically hosted by school systems or libraries with the intent of promoting family reading. Others are trying different ways to connect books and young people.

For example, in our community of Emporia, Kansas, population 25,000, we have implemented an intergenerational literacy program called “Let’s Talk About It!” Middle school youth and their families – older and younger siblings, parents, grandparents, neighbors – meet weekly with a local librarian, two Emporia State University English professors and the Executive Director of the Emporia Arts Council to discuss and respond to young adult novels.

Rather than meeting in the library or school, we met weekly for about an hour and a half at the community arts center – an accessible, friendly, and non-threatening setting and also the ideal place to showcase the creative responses of our participants.

The arts council publicizes the event through a bimonthly newsletter and brochures, and arranges publicity in the local newspaper. By combining the expertise and efforts of these community resources, we create a climate that makes reading exciting and worth talking about.

We select well-written young adult books that focus on family and community issues and that appeal to young teens and adults alike. We choose short books so that group members can read them in a week. Donated books are loaned to participants.

Sitting in a lopsided circle surrounded by art displays, the diverse group of public, private, and home-schooled youth and their families share reactions and thoughts triggered by the young adult texts we read. We ask open-ended, reflective questions to foster dialogue between teens and adults and to elicit a diversity of interpretations and opinions.

We laugh and argue, confide and cry. We respond to each book by engaging in a collaborative activity – writing, painting, and performing. In our diversity we find common ground in common text.

Dr. Gerrit W. Bleeker, was Professor of English at Emporia State University, whose specialized in young adult literature, English education, and American literature. He served on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards for English Language Arts.

Barbara Bleeker taught in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Emporia State University, where she was a specialist in children’s literature and reading and writing connections. She and Gerrit Bleeker co-authored a column about children’s and young adult books for the Topeka Capital Journal.

An advocate of all art forms including literary arts, Catherine Rickbone was the Executive Director of the Emporia Arts Council, where she encouraged community-based programs such as “Let’s Talk About It” so people of all ages could celebrate the arts.

Printed in Voices of Youth Advocates

Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2003