Shelfari

Mark Twain is credited with the following quote: "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
We'll excuse Mr. Clemens his gender specificity long enough to ponder his meaning. In a recent graduate course I taught to reading education students, I assigned them the task of interviewing secondary-aged students about, among other things, their attitudes towards literacy. A distressing commonality existed in many of the interviews - even students who were proficient readers tended to place little value on reading.
It was a small sample and I won't draw any sweeping conclusions, but I do worry about today's students who have so many other draws on their attention. And it is certainly true that many people of my own generation do not actively read, yet have turned out to be well-adjusted and productive adults.
But there is quite a world that literature allows us to visit, and anything that promotes reading gets a thumbs up from me.
That is why I'd like to thank a friend for introducing me to Shelfari, a social networking website that revolves around reading. It allows you to keep track of books you've read or want to read, and see the comments of other readers.
I have added my current list of books I plan to read on this blog, and I encourage you to visit the site and join up - it's free. I can see this site being another tool educators can use with students to promote literacy by providing a sense of belonging and connection.
Thanks, Mara!