Bibliotherapy Intervention for Combating Aliteracy in High Schools: School Libraries to the Rescue

Abstract

Aliteracy, the lack of interest in reading by capable readers had been observed to be prevalent among high school students and this has been a source of concern for education stakeholders. This study examined the remedial influence of bibliotherapy in reducing aliteracy among high school students in Ilesa, southwest Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to discuss the prevalence of aliteracy and examine the importance of reading among the high school students as well as describe the remedial impact of bibliotherapy in combating aliteracy among the high school students. All the 18 participants who identified as aliterates were exposed to Focus Group Discussion (FGD) which involved bibliotherapy. Content analysis was employed to analyse the responses of the participants to self-designed questions after the bibliotherapy sessions. The participants affirmed that exposure to bibliotherapy sessions helped in reducing aliteracy irrespective of their gender and that they needed the support of their parents to sustain an appropriate attitude to reading. Therefore, school librarians with the knowledge of bibliotherapy could be of help in reducing aliteracy among the high school students.