The Libraries of the Affiliated Schools
Keio University's Integrated Education: Diversity in Unity
The Libraries of the Affiliated Schools
(Posted April 2025)
Chutobu Junior High School—Reading Memos—
The Chutobu Junior High School library is located on the second floor, the same floor as the third-year students' classrooms. While it is of course surrounded by books, it is a space where sunlight streams in when the curtains are open, and the cheerful voices of students enjoying the courtyard echo through.
Now, at Chutobu Junior High School, all students work on "Reading Memos" (reading journals). These are notebooks for recording their thoughts and impressions of the books they read over their three years at the school. It goes without saying that the experience of reading books during one's school years is invaluable. These memos are for jotting down what they notice, their own feelings, and their thoughts from their reading. Librarian-teachers and homeroom teachers read them and provide comments in return.
Perhaps... some may hear "reading journal" and think it sounds like a chore. However, it is perhaps only after time has passed that these notebooks truly begin to shine. Like a diary, they are like a drawer from which you can pull out what books you read and how you felt at the time. To put it grandly, the Reading Memos make it possible to go back and meet your past self. We hope that even after graduation, students will continue to at least keep a record of the titles of the books they read.