One of the parts of my PhD research that gets me very excited is learning more about reading identities. I thought it would be a good idea to quickly share the four different types of identities I have come across and why teacher librarians need to be aware of them!

Avid reader

The first type of reader is the avid reader. They are the reader that will make time to read and will read a lot. They have reading on the brain and often identify as a reader. They experience success with reading and increase their skill level due to regularly reading, therefore increasing their success and setting of a cycle of improvement and engagement (Clark et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2021; Merga, 2017).

Proficient reader

This type of reader has good reading ability but doesn’t find time to read as often as the avid reader does. They read well enough to experience success with reading. Due to this, they will often choose not to read and are therefore at risk of losing their reading ability if they do not regularly practice it. (Lin et al., 2021)

Struggling reader

The struggling reader is one who has barriers to reading achievement but this does not necessarily mean that they don’t want to read. It is very possible that the struggling reader still values reading, even if they are not that good at it. (Lin et al., 2021; Masterson, 2022).

Reluctant reader

Reluctant readers are those who say things like “I don’t like reading; never have, never will!” They may even be the reader who proudly claims to never have finished a book. They sometimes have barriers to reading that has caused them not to experience success, which has in turn negatively affected their opinions on reading (Atkinson, 2006; Dierking, 2015; Lin et al., 2021).

Why these identities matter

It is important to acknowledge that one’s reading identity can slide along the spectrum of these four identities. Here are two, extreme examples:

An avid reader may become a proficient reader due to the impact of school work. They may then lose skill and become a struggling reader. If there is no intervention then they may slide into a reluctant reader because they have lost all desire to read due to feelings of failure or hard work.

Alternatively, a reluctant reader might be inspired to read through intervention from a teacher librarian. They may struggle with skill but with careful guidance and support, they experience success and move into the proficient reader. As they experience success and reading becomes easier, they may move into an avid reader and become book obsessed.

While identities can help us understand who we are and what we’re about, it can also be used to pigeon hole us. It is vital that we, as adults, help our students to understand that the way they feel about books and reading is unlikely to stay the same their entire lives, and that simple steps can be used to improve our reading skill to increase our enjoyment of reading, therefore increasing the likelihood that we will read.

So, what do you think? I identify as an avid reader. Which style are you?

References

Atkinson, C. (2006). Key stage 3 pupils’ views about reading. Educational Psychology in Practice, 22(4), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667360600999435

Clark, C., Osborne, S., & Akerman, R. (2008). Young people’s self-perceptions as readers: An investigation including family, peer and school influences (p. 73). National Literacy Trust.

Dierking, R. (2015). Using nooks to hook reluctant readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(5), 407–416. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.366

Lin, J., Li, Q., Sun, H., Huang, Z., & Zheng, G. (2021). Chinese secondary school students’ reading engagement profiles: Associations with reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 34(9), 2257–2287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10139-4

Masterson, J. E. (2022). Reading in “purgatory”: Tactical literacies in a remedial reading class. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(1), 91–109. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.373

Merga, M. K. (2017). Becoming a reader: Significant social influences on avid book readers. School Library Research, 20, 1–21.

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