Twice a week at the Borrego Springs High School library, a group of students and their intrepid teacher meet to discuss the finer aspects of reading. Not reading just for entertainment or subject study, but to understand the nature of learning.

“Today we place so much emphasis on testing to evaluate learning that we forget to teach how to learn in the first place,” said Kaitlyn Caruso, the library media specialist at the school. “The goal is to give the space to enjoy, understand and discuss” books of all types.

In a program developed by Ben Quinoes and Caruso, the students recommend and select the books to be read and discussed and then gather twice a week to discuss them.

The first book selected was a child called it by Dave Pelzer about the worst case of child abuse ever recorded in California. “It was something none of us had any familiarity with but we still felt it,” said the students. The second book, Belzhar, by Meg Wohlitzer, which they have just begun to read, revolves around a young girl losing her first love and learning to cope with her emotions, the world and people around her. It is hoped the program will keep students engaged in dynamic learning through reading.