Trends in Ed Tech: Digital Citizenship and Personal Empowerment in Readers' Advisory

Reader's advisory is a big part of any librarian's job, but as trends in information sharing change with the advent of social media, so do patron demands. I often have tweens and teens come to me as a youth library associate and ask for a book that they saw was trending on TikTok or Instagram. These sites have their own subcultures ("Booktok" and "Bookstagram", respectively) where recommendations are traded and fans can share their opinions on certain books with others. Social media is an unavoidable part of a modern child's life, and so creating a conversation around digital citizenship with respect to social media helps educators and caregivers empower their child's usage of it. Combining reader's advisory with social media is a great way to get kids connected with formative and impactful reads; this is where Goodreads comes in.

Booktok screenshot. Image source: @jena.loves.books, tiktok.com

Goodreads is primarily a social networking site; users create an account and follow authors, genres and other readers to get reviews and recommendations in their home feed. They can also rate books and connect with reviews by liking or commenting on them. But Goodreads has an emphasis on reader's advisory through their user-curated lists and genres, which can be explored to find specific books. 

Image source: Goodreads.com

Recommending this site to kids who need help finding their next favorite read is great because it empowers them to do their own searching, thus giving them a digital voice and network. Digital citizenship is an emerging trend in education, and placing these tools in the hands of the student makes it easier to increase that awareness of digital citizenship. I consider sites like Goodreads to be a tool that works alongside a child's reading experience, as well as a social media site that they can use to create their own reading culture. Middle and high school age children often don't like to ask for help and are sometimes reluctant readers; by giving them a tool to perform their own readers' advisory, with the added benefit of a social networking appeal, it is easier to recommend books to kids and get them to love reading outside of the classroom and for their own personal enrichment.

Digital Citizenship and Goodreads: Video


Additional resources:

  1. What is BookTok? https://www.today.com/popculture/books/what-is-booktok-meaning-rcna70362
  2. Beginner's guide to Bookstagram: https://www.julesbuono.com/beginners-guide-to-bookstagram/
  3. Goodreads alternatives for children: https://bookriot.com/goodreads-for-kids-alternatives/
  4. Novelist: https://www.ebsco.com/novelist
  5. Libraryaware: http://www.libraryaware.com

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