In the same way, master reading teacher LaDonna Moulder prepares her students to select a book from the listening library at South Side Middle School.  This new program, which is shared throughout the building with the other reading classes, is only one way that Mrs. Moulder enlightens her students and leads them to engage in the magic of reading.  The listening library cart holds around 50 different titles with accompanying audiotapes.  Each student uses a cassette player, headphones, and a folder to keep track of daily classroom reading and completes various other activities before, during, and after the reading.  According to Mrs. Moulder, “the benefits of listening to an audiotape include increasing vocabulary, enhancing comprehension skills, reading a book higher than the student’s independent reading level, and listening to a professional reader’s use of tone and phraseology.” 

     Giving students choices strengthens their interest in reading.  Because it plants those reading seeds, the listening library is expected to yield a great new harvest of young readers.