HIT: Coding collections for different levels, Part IV

[Charlotte Snyder <csnyder@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us>]

Dear Friends:
So far, these are all the replies that I have received. Once again, thank
you all for your thoughtful responses. I am happy that I was _not_
inundated with replies telling me that this is tantamount to censorship. I
do feel that the school acts in loco parentis and that it is our job to
help children choose books wisely. Thanks again to everyone.
* * * * * *
I work in a K-8 school in Barrie, Ontario.
Every year when I do orientation with the students I give them a 'tour' of
the library and I talk about my coding system of my fiction. I have
coloured stickers that I put at the top of the books to indicate reading
level. (colours purely arbitrary) the books are shelved by colour and by
author.
Pink - few words, mostly pictures, Green - half words, half picture (e.g.
Step into reading series) Purple - mostly words pictures throughout book
(amelia Bedelia, Cam Jansen etc.) Blue - beginning novels (The Littles,
Bailey Street Kids etc.) No sticker goes on the Junior novels (e.g.
Ramona, Paulsen novels, Eric Wilson novels, Call of the wild - good grade
4- 6 novels.
I put a YA sticker on the top of books that have moral issues, difficult
concepts, 'romance', 'horror', books with some 'language' in them, and
books that have a high reading level, e.g. The giver, issues about war,
holocaust, death and dying, gangs, light romance novels, novels by Cynthia
Voight, Classics - Huckleberry Finn, Who has seen the wind (Canadian
author), Chrysalids, Cooney books. I tell the students that I only have
Young Adult books on the shelf (I won't buy Stephen King - he is an adult
author. I offer information about the public library membership. I allow
the grade 6,7, & 8's to take these books out.
some grade 5 students may take some books out with their teachers
permission. Chatting with them I can tell whether they are true readers or
not. I ask them if their parent let them read anything. I also talk about
how their parents might choose movies in their houses. If there are no
restrictions then what is on the shelves should be appropriate. If their
household has a strong religious belief or their parents are very
restrictive then they should check with me before choosing certain books.
I choose the books carefully and I tell the kids that I have read most of
the YA books and I feel that they are good literature. I also stress that
the students should become their own censor board. I buy books based on
the reviews and the knowledge of good literature and they must know what
is accepted practice in their household. I lay it on pretty thick about
personal responsibility. I also rely on the staff to help me monitor the
shelves.
I have not run into any difficulty so far. We have Goosebumps books on the
shelf (Junior section) most of them are donated. I discussed it at a staff
meeting. We talked about the issues of good literature vs books kids want
to read and this was our compromise. Together we decided that I would not
buy the books but our school would allow these titles because we believe
that it gets some kids into books and then the staff as a whole is
responsible for moving them into other literature. We have had no
complaints form the parent. I guess one has to really know ones community
and respond to it. I try not cross the line when choosing books. I chose
not to put When she hollers by C. Voight on the shelf because the topic is
a little too tough for just anyone to pick up. I had the grade 8 teacher
read it for her opinion. she agreed with me. I have it in a drawer and it
is their if this teacher feels that a student would or should read it. I
guess I am a censor. I also put picture books about tough topics in the
800's or the 300's - Rose Blanche, picture books on death and dying, Van
Allsberg books and long story books for example. Story books about
religion are in the 200's. all of this seems to work. I hope it is some
help to you.
* * * * * *
My library serves PK-3 through 4th grade. We do not use a reading
program and the children and teachers use the library materials for
instruction in reading as well as for recreational reading. It was
important that make the collection more user friendly. I haven't yet but
I'm thinking of further marking the picture books as a means of marking
those that will appeal more to the3rd and 4th graders--I'm afraid they
miss a lot of good reading in the picture book sections.

I have about 18,000 items and about 430 students, Circulation last year
topped 27,000 so I think this system is working. Maybe you vcan adopt
some of it for your collection.

I have a picture book (P) collection (various reading levels); a
beginning to read section (E)(stickered with an ABC sticker on the
spine) wher I keep controlled vocabulary books, highly predictable
(Jump, frog, jump), and things like The Sound Box books on individual
letters of the alphabet, an Intermediate section (I) with beginning
chapter books etc. with reading levels below 3.0 included there are Marc
Brown's Arthur books, Frog and Toad, Nate the Great, Amelia Bedelia,cat
in the Hat series, Polk Street Kids, Junie B. Jones etc., and a fiction
(F) collection. Books in the fiction section that are 3.0-4.0 (about) or
are easier in plot, have more illustrations, or have school or other
familiar settings are denoted with a green sticker on the spine (in the
on-line catalog it looks like : *F). This seems to help teachers and
students choose appropriately.
* * * * * *
 In my school (PK-8)  I have several different sections for fiction:
E-Picture books, EE-for Easy readers, jF-for Junior Fiction, ie,
beginning chapter books or appropriate books with fewer than 100 pages,
F-for regular fiction, YA-for 6th with parental permission, 7th & 8th.
I write to the parents at the beginning of the year about the YA section
and the fact that some of these books contain language and realistic
situations about teens that some may find offensive.  Parents are asked
to sign a permission slip for their 6th graders if they want to allow
them to choose from this section.  This has worked out well for our
libraries and has encouraged more use of the library by 7th and 8th
graders.  Hope this helps.
* * * * * *
Before taking my current position in a high school, I was the director of
a public library.  The librarians before me had split the children's
collection into 4 groups:  picture books, easy readers (approx grades
1-3), juvenile (approx grades 4-6) and young adult (gr 7 - up).  My
predecessors assigned different call no. prefixes (E, CJ, J, Y) for each
group.  I don't know where they came up with the prefixes, especially CJ,
but the basic divisions worked well, and I maintained the collection that
way.  Kids know where to look for books appropriate to their grade/reading
level, and parents are more comfortable knowing younger children aren't
likely to pick out inappropriate reading.  It also helps you determine
which areas of your collection may need strengthening.
        When I helped update our elementary school "library" (not a real
library as there is no librarian), we didn't have the manpower to retype
all the spine labels, so we kept the call numbers the same, but bought
transparent color spine label protectors and used a different color for
each age/reading level (basically the same divisions as above).  We then
rearranged the books to shelve like colors together.  Of course this
procedure means you still have to change your card catalogue entries to
note the color, which is a major undertaking.
        I think it's a worthwhile project, but be sure to allow plenty of
time and try to arrange for lots of help (and/or some paid time over the
summer).
Good luck.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Charlotte Snyder, Librarian         *
* The Waldorf School of Baltimore     *
* and Baltimore County Public Library *
* csnyder@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us         *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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