An evaluation of book rotation in early childhood education settings

The importance of children's early experiences with books in promoting their emergent literacy has been documented repeatedly. The fact that an increasing number of children are experiencing group daycare makes it essential to evaluate early childhood education practices for encouraging children's interest in books. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate book rotation in six early childhood classrooms. In a time series experimental design, a once per week rotation condition was compared with a condition where the same books remained on the shelves for 3 or 4 weeks. In the majority of the classrooms more voluntary book use during freeplay occurred during the rotation condition than in the no rotation condition. Teacher involvement in the book area was also associated with greater book use. The ways in which children used books did not vary systematically across conditions. Qualitative information revealed that the children were actively engaged in classroom activities, affectionate touch occurred in the book area, and the children were the primary initiators of book use. The majority of the teachers preferred rotating the books on a weekly basis. Therefore, rotating books once per week in daycare classrooms may be an effective and efficient practice for encouraging children's interest in books in early childhood classrooms.