#032 – Research roundup – Young people’s reading habits and BAME and LGBTQ representation in children’s literature

4th April 2019

In this episode, Alix Robertson, Junior Researcher at CfEY, shares a selection of research that she has been reading lately, with Dr Sam Baars, Director of Research. Sam and Alix look at an article from The Guardian in March, which reports on the 2018 findings of an annual survey into the reading habits of 2,000 British 0- to 17-year-olds. They also discuss ‘Reflecting Realities’, a survey of ethnic representation within UK Children’s Literature in 2017 by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. Finally, they explore research from Sheffield Hallam University, which looks at the collections of LGBTQ* fiction for teenagers in English public library services.

In this episode Alix and Sam discuss:

  • How many children in the UK are read to daily by an adult and the value of this experience
  • Differences between boys’ and girls’ reading habits
  • The impact of screen time
  • How reading for pleasure should fit into the school curriculum
  • The under representation of BAME characters in children’s books,
  • The potential effect of this on young people, and how the situation might be improved
  • Themes and genres of children’s books that feature BAME characters
  • The prevalence of LGBTQ* fiction for teenagers in English public library services
  • Whether these texts are available in multiple copies or accessible formats
  • The value and potential of graphic novels
  • Barriers preventing libraries from having more diverse collections
  • Librarians views on their collections of LGBTQ* fiction and plans for improvements
  • Mixed methods research

Resources/people featured or mentioned

Alison Flood, Tue 5 Mar 2019

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Music credits:

‘Oui’ by Simon Mathewson and ‘Jump for joy’ by Scott Holmes both from http://freemusicarchive.org

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