Building a ‘community of readers’
The story behind Colin Flynn’s classroom library and Book Love
Students in English teacher Colin Flynn’s AP Seminar class read for 10 minutes during Book Love. “School has a way of making people not like reading,” Flynn said. “Taking notes over a book, having to write a report about it—all of those things kind of take the pleasure out of reading, so if you don’t love reading, you’re not going to read.” Book Love doesn’t involve tests or assignments over the books and helps students enjoy reading with books of their choice.
Books labeled “C. Flynn” circulate WHS, home to the bookshelf-lined Room 1514 where students have access to English teacher Colin Flynn’s classroom library of over 2,000 books. Flynn started building the classroom library and implementing independent reading time in 2016 after reading Book Love by Penny Kittle.
“[Kittle] makes a very persuasive case for teachers spending time in class reading alongside and discussing books with their students,” Flynn said. “I realized how important that was for students to have the time to read in class and for me to have books that they would be interested in available to them.”
Flynn began gathering books from his home, purchasing books and receiving book donations for his classroom library from parents and students. Later that year, he wrote several essays to apply for the Book Love Foundation grant in hopes of expanding his library further.
“One essay I wrote about my son Braeden, who doesn’t like to read, and how the book Bad Kitty got his attention. Before I started this, I was kind of a book snob, in that only certain books were of value,” Flynn said. “It took my son finding something that actually made him want to read for me to realize that it’s not about what students are reading, it’s about that they are reading. I wanted to have opportunities for students to find their own Bad Kitty. I want them to experience joy while reading.”
Out of applicants from across the United States and Canada, Flynn was selected as one of 13 winners. The grant let him choose 500 new books, which totaled $3,800.
“That was amazing,” Flynn said. “I got a lot of brand new books that I might not have been able to afford otherwise. It was a huge boost to the size of my library.”
Flynn selected books of numerous genres and topics—from comedy, sports, current events and war nonfiction to young adult fiction, mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, sci-fi, horror, literary fiction, poetry, dramas and graphic novels. With so many types of books, he provides their immediate access to his students and covers wide-ranging interests.
“Too often, a student might say, ‘I want a book about such and such,’ [but] between the classroom and the library, the idea gets lost, or the interest in reading gets lost,” Flynn said. “By having these books all around me, I am more familiar with the options that are available. Say a student wants to learn more about World War II. If I can pick five books off my shelf about World War II and put them in front of that student, that student has a much better chance of actually picking one and reading it.”
Flynn’s students read their books of choice each day during Book Love, 10 minutes of class time dedicated to independent reading.
“For so many of our students, the 50 minutes that they have to read in my class over the course of a week might be the only time that they read all week,” Flynn said. “I think that’s incredibly valuable, just for the practice, if not for the information that they’re getting. My hope is that it’s also helping them prepare for college, prepare for the ACT [and] prepare for their English classes, because the best way to become a better reader is to read.”
The practice of reading every day in class can help students form a greater appreciation and habit of reading, which is essential for their growth and futures beyond high school and college.
“People who don’t read have a much harder time becoming successful,” Flynn said. “You can’t develop yourself and understand the world without seeing how other people see the world. And reading is what gets us to that. So the more that we read, the better we are—the more empathetic, the more understanding, the more educated. If we’re not reading, we’re missing out on all of the shared collective wisdom of the people that have come before us and that are living next to us.” If we’re not reading, we’re missing out on all of the shared collective wisdom of the people that have come before us and that are living next to us.
Having the reading time Book Love provides and the classroom library has impacted both Flynn and his students over the past five years.
“We are a community of readers,” Flynn said. “We talk about the books we read. And as I ask my students to read, I find myself reading much more. I’m reading next to them, and I’m reading for them, so I can figure out what books they might be interested in. I think for my students, having
English teacher Colin Flynn discusses books in his classroom library with a student. “Everybody asks me if I have read all these books,” Flynn said. “I have not. I would love to, but I haven’t.” Flynn buys many of the books himself at book sales.
books all around the class reminds them that reading is a good thing that they should be doing more. I’ve had students say, ‘I haven’t finished a book in five years, and now I am,’ or ‘I forgot how much I liked reading.’”
Flynn invites all students, whether in his class or not, to come visit his classroom library and borrow or donate books.
“I have students that come by when they’re not my students, and students who come back after they’ve left my class,” Flynn said. “I’m always willing to give students the opportunity to check out books. That’s why I write my name on the edge of the book in black Magic Marker—so they’ll come back if they can.”
Elizabeth Derner is a senior, and this is her first year on The Advocate staff. She is involved in orchestra, Interact, NHS, Key Club, Jr. Optimist and...
