School libraries occupy a unique position within the educational ecosystem. They sit at the intersection of learning, literacy and community, and are one of the few spaces within a school capable of meaningfully engaging students, teachers and families alike. A recent Primary Parent–Son Book Club, held in the library and deliberately designed as a shared reading experience, provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on the role school libraries can play in fostering sustained family engagement in learning.
Research strongly supports the importance of parental involvement in children’s literacy development. While early childhood reading practices are often emphasised, evidence suggests that shared reading continues to have a significant impact well into the primary and secondary years. An article published in The Conversation synthesises international research demonstrating that when parents continue to read with their children after they have become independent readers, students show stronger reading comprehension, higher levels of engagement and more positive attitudes towards reading. The social dimension of shared reading, including discussion, questioning and the modelling of reading behaviours, is consistently identified as a critical factor in these outcomes.
More recent research further reinforces this connection between family engagement and reading success. Hu, Zhuo and Guo’s 2025 study published in Children and Youth Services Review examined the relationship between parental involvement and adolescents’ reading performance. Their findings indicate that parental engagement remains a significant predictor of reading achievement, even as reading increasingly occurs in digital and multimodal contexts. Importantly, the study highlights that meaningful involvement extends beyond direct instruction to include shared experiences, conversations about texts and visible valuing of reading within the home environment.
Parent–child book clubs hosted through the school library offer a practical and research aligned way to translate these findings into everyday practice. In this case, families met informally in the library, shared pizza and engaged in guided discussion around common texts. The term’s focus was historical fiction centred on World War II, with text choices designed to support Year 5 and 6 reading levels while also inviting deeper discussion around themes of loyalty, resilience and survival. Three text options were offered to families to allow for choice and differentiation, while maintaining a shared conceptual focus across the group.
Morris Gleitzman’s Once was selected as one core text due to its accessibility, emotional resonance and status as the first novel in a well established and popular series for young readers. Titles by Katrina Nannestad were also chosen, particularly for her sophisticated yet accessible use of language, syntax and narrative imagery, which strongly support comprehension, vocabulary development and cognitive engagement. A third option offered greater flexibility, with some families selecting narrative non fiction biographies and others choosing popular fiction titles connected to the historical context. Wherever possible, Australian authors were prioritised, reflecting a deliberate commitment to celebrating Australian voices and ensuring students encounter texts that reflect national perspectives and storytelling traditions.
From a library perspective, initiatives such as parent–child book clubs serve multiple strategic purposes. They position the library as a welcoming and inclusive space, reinforce families as active partners in learning and create authentic opportunities for shared literacy practices that extend beyond the classroom. They also provide a tangible means of embedding research informed practice into school wide literacy approaches, demonstrating how libraries can move from advocacy to action.
Engaging families through the school library strengthens relationships, builds a shared language around reading and reinforces the understanding that literacy development is a collective responsibility. As school libraries continue to advocate for their central role in whole school literacy, family focused initiatives such as book clubs offer clear, evidence based examples of how libraries can connect learning, community and research in meaningful and sustainable ways.
Learning through the Library 