The Role of Schools and Public Libraries in Promoting Reading Habit among Children and Adolescents in Nigeria
Reading is very vital to progress and development human life and its in the development of children and adolescents cannot be over emphasized. The paper, therefore examines the role of school and public libraries in promoting reading habits among children and adolescents. In an age of modern information and communication technologies (ICTS), with proliferation of televisions and video players, it was uncommon to see children and adolescents carrying books to read. Technology is slowing but very steadying taking over the control of children and adolescents lives and cultivation of a good reading habit has gone with the wind. They have gradually abandoned book reading to pursue interests in movie watching and recently, surfing and chatting on the net. Empty school and public libraries are a silent witness of this dread picture. There are diverse ways of promoting reading habits among groups of young people which include programmes such as clubs, mobile reading tents, book talk, and story hours, among others. School and public libraries play a leading role in the reading habit of children and adolescents. The challenges and implication of poor reading habits were discussed. The paper concludes by admonishing parents to encourage the provision of reading materials and utilization to avoid information famine. Key words: Children and Adolescents, Reading Habit, School and Public Libraries, Nigeria.
Reading Habits of Secondary School Teachers: A Study of Selected Secondary Schools in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area
Access to information is crucial to individual advancement as well as corporate educational 
development. Information is indispensable, and, according to Yusuf (2007), bridges the gap between 
knowledge and ignorance. One of the major avenues for acquiring information is reading. Reading is the 
foundation upon which other academic skills are built. It offers a productive approach to improving 
vocabulary, word power, and language skills. Tella and Akande (2007) assert that the ability to read is at 
the heart of self-education and lifelong learning and that it is an art capable of transforming life and 
society. Yani (2003) posits that reading habits of Nigerians are a matter of concern in our educational and 
national development, stating further that in a developing country like Nigeria, the concept of reading 
habits should not be relegated to the background. Nweke (1990) states that it has a real role to play in 
development of the individual. Sangaeo (1999) observes that a reading habit must be promoted from an 
early age. This view is supported by Yusuf (2007), who says that that children imbibe good character 
during their formative years. The most important factor in student learning in schools is the quality of 
teaching. Teachers are the chief drivers of the education engine. They design the curriculum and the 
behavioral goals that are its products (Olajide, 2008). Since education involves interaction between 
learners, learning materials, and teachers, teachers must be avid readers themselves in order to ignite a 
lifelong reading habit in their students. Students should be motivated to read and know how to use 
reading materials to improve themselves and their social environment. Trelease (2006) observes that 
teachers are seldom seen reading. A good teacher must have a broad information base and should not 
depend on their lesson notes, which cannot contain all the information on a given topic. Teachers should 
provide reading lists to accompany what is done in class and give assignments that will prompt students 
to research in the school or public library.
Science Buddies: Advancing Informal Science Education
An innovative nonprofit enables scientists to present inspiring project ideas based on their own research to K–12 students, parents, and teachers. Every year, about 10 million North American kindergarten through high school (K–12) students complete a science project. What part of these science projects is the most difficult? Formulating a hypothesis? Designing an experiment? Analyzing data? The answer: None of the above. Science Buddies (www.sciencebuddies.org)—a nonprofit developer of software, content, and other resources for informal science and engineering education—found that students have the most difficulty selecting a topic and doing background research to inform their work. Meanwhile, scientists and engineers interested in advising and inspiring students often do not have a means to connect with them (see the first figure). To Science Buddies, these difficulties presented an ideal challenge, and we applied a business methodology to address them, viewing our users as customers and our output as products.