Poetry for pleasure: promoting poetry to children in public libraries
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Date
2005Author
Maynard, S
Eric Davies, J.
Robinson, R
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This article reports an investigation of the attitudes and opinions of
children's librarians towards poetry, and towards its promotion in the public
library. It also reports some attitudes towards literature promotion to young
people in general. A series of structured interviews with library professionals
currently working in the public sector strongly indicate that
children's librarians are themselves enthusiastic concerning poetry, and are
firmly convinced both of the benefits incurred by children encouraged to
read, write and listen to poems from a very early age, and of children's own
enjoyment of this genre. Due to its brevity and memorability, poetry is
regarded by the interviewees as the most accessible literary form for poor or
reluctant readers, despite its wider image as a neglected and 'difficult' genre
for children and young people.
Publisher
University of Nairobi