Sever, I. and Pearl, S.E. (1990). Reading and playing: The laboratory of children’s librarianship revisited. Libri,

40, December, 327-35.

Abstract

Sever and Pearl’s research on children’s information seeking/retrieval behavior took place from 1989-1990 in a laboratory environment at Haifa University in Israel designed specifically to give children as much autonomy from adult assistance as possible. In the Laboratory of Children’s Librarianship, the collection was arranged to make children feel comfortable when selecting, evaluating and using library materials. The researchers state that, “for obvious reasons,” interviewing children about their feelings and thoughts while in the lab did not elicit quite enough useful data. Data collected while observing a class of seven year olds is discussed in the paper, but younger and older children were also observed.

The authors find that children who read for pleasure appear to exhibit aspects of playtime, or behaviors of spontaneous activity. These actions were found in real-life mimicry (such as pretending read a menu at a restaurant), actually reading books aloud to each other, and using skills like printing and spelling in other games of pretend. Some skeptics of this co-formed behavior contend that children’s libraries have historically separated individual silent reading time from group play, and that this sends a mixed message regarding the purpose of library spaces for children. Discovering that children’s literacy habits are integrated deeply into modes of play and collaboration informs the design of the Laboratory of Children’s Librarianship, and negates the assumption that play is an empty activity devoid of developmental benefit.

In the Lab, the primary goal is to encourage children to read, not to circulate materials. It is through this goal, the authors believe, that play behaviors manifested. Children were seen “both engaged in solitary reading as expected, but also and perhaps more in playful behaviors… sharing, participating in group acti