Do children judge books by their covers?

A survey of middle schools students in a Hong Kong international school

Christopher Chan Hong Kong Baptist University Library

E-mail: chancp@hkbu.edu.hk

Introduction

• To what extent do children base their book selection choices on the physical appearance of books?

• Implications for school library professionals in terms of:o Promotion of recreational readingo Collection development

• Relatively few studies have examined this issue.

Benefits of reading for pleasure

• Improvement in reading attainment and writing ability

• Improvement in text comprehension and grammar, even after controlling for health, wealth, and education factors

• Increase in breadth of vocabulary, even after controlling for other relevant abilities such as IQ or text-decoding skills

• Development of positive attitudes toward reading

• Increase in self-confidence as a reader

(Clark & Rumbold 2006)

Previous research

• Some early writers on the subject suggested that it was patronising to suggest that children only or mainly considered covers when selecting books (Sutton 1988)

• Current consensus opinion is that successful books must sell themselves on the shelf (Caywood 1993), and therefore need to have attractive covers

• Lohmiller (2008) further speculates that image-conscious middle school students in particular will place a great deal of importance on book covers

• Jones (2007) surveyed students in a middle school in the Unites States. Her results showed that 76% of students report “usually” considering the cover as a factor when selecting books.

Research Design

• The survey was modelled on the one used by Jones in her 2007 study.

• Students were asked to rate the impact of various factors affecting there book choices on a three-point scale.

• They were further invited to provide free-text comments to expand on the reasons for their choices or to provide any additional information.

• The sample consisted of 412 middle school students (aged 11-13) enrolled in a large international secondary school in Hong Kong.

• The survey was administered during the library session of each class. A Web-based learning platform already established at the school was used to deliver the survey.

Overall survey results

• 61% of students answered that they “usually” took the cover into account when choosing books. Only 9% said that they “rarely” did so.

• Jones (2007) recorded respective figures of 76% and 4%.

• Importantly, the results hold true across different categories of students.

Survey results - Cover

UsuallySometimesRarely

Survey results - Blurb

UsuallySometimesRarely

Sample of free text comments

“When I borrow a book from the library it's mainly because of the cover and genre.”

(Female, Year 9, does not like to read)

“We shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I do.”

(Female, Year 8, does not like to read)

“I try not to judge a book by it cover, but it doesn't help when the book looks really old.”

(Male, Year 9, likes to read)

Conclusions/Discussion

• It is clear that most children will take covers into account when they choose books. Significantly, this effect is observed across different groups of students.

• School librarians should recognise the impact of attractive covers and incorporate this understanding into their practice.

• Too often, school library collections are dominated by old books. The evidence presented here could be used to argue that providing funding for new books will increase circulation at school libraries.

Finally…

Special thanks to Dr. Leigh Ann Jones of Frisco Independent School District, Texas for sharing her research materials and insights

Questions?