When your child starts to read independently, it’s not uncommon for the initial feelings of joy and excitement to be immediately followed by worry that you won’t know how to support this newfound skill. What should they read next? How will I know what is appropriate for their reading level?
What can further complicate things is that schools use any one of a variety of leveled reading systems and public libraries do not have a system that directly correlates with these reading levels. The two most commonly used reading levels are below:
- Lexile® Reading Levels are the most commonly used in K-12 education. The first digit of the numbers (from 10L - 2000L) roughly correspond to grade level.
- Accelerated Reader Levels (ATOS/AR) analyzes the average sentence, and word length, vocabulary grade level and number of words. They are given a number where the first number indicates grade level and the second number is month of the school year.
- In addition to these, there are DRA levels (reading assessment based information) and GRL (guided reading levels) though they are more useful for early readers rather than older readers.
In our new library catalog, you can find Lexile levels for books in our catalog. In many of our catalog entries, you will find an "audience" category with a number followed by the letter L. This is your Lexile Level!
In addition, you can filter your searches by Lexile Level if you know the sweet spot for your young reader!
Here at BCLS, all of our branches have the following in each youth services department:
- Board Books – cardboard books meant to withstand throwing, ripping, and occasional chewing
- Easy Fiction – picture books meant for reading aloud
- Easy Readers – ideal for emerging readers
- Chapter Books – short, manageable chapters for new readers
- Junior Fiction – spans a large range of reading levels, generally from grades three to six
- Teen Fiction – in public libraries, these are generally books over a fifth grade reading level
