Reading Between the Lines: Motivation Lessons Learned from the Forest of Reading in Ontario

Abstract

Readers’ choice programs have the potential to spark a lifelong love of reading. However, the motivation for student participation in these programs and their impact on student reading are understudied. This mixed method study combines interviews and questionnaires to illustrate the factors at play in a large Canadian readers’ choice program, the Forest of Reading. Our findings highlight the role of librarybased programs in building intrinsic motivation through love of reading, the role of extrinsic motivation in building autonomous motivation, and the extent to which large readers’ choice programs promote student reading.