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Apologies.  Someoone has brought to my attention the fact that I sent
this doc out previously in html.  As such non-html browsers seem to be a
tad confused.  Reposting as text here.  Sorry.

Wow!  I AM impressed with all the folks who were kind enough to point,
nudge, or push me in what they considered the right direction.  Of
course now I've got more to do than solicit opinions on the subject!
Replies to my original posting concerning how we go about
choosing/refusing magazines
for our libraries follow:


 *   While it is important for us to support curriculum, we also have a
mission of creating life long learners and readers - and supporting the
"interests" of our clientele - and this is how I "justify" magazines
not directly curricula related.
    I get Right-On, Nintendo Power, Teen, American Girl, Jet, People,
Better Homes & Gardens, Hockey Digest, Baseball Digest, Basketball
Digest, Field & Stream, Boys Life, Girls Life, BMX, Hot Rod-- most
popular being Right On, Seventeen, Teen, and Nintendo PowerMagazines.
    I get for curriculum - and the kids never touch unless they
have a specific assignment - Russian Life, Japan, Popular Science,
Popular Photography, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, China
Today, Nutrition Action Newsletter, National Geographic, Classroom
Connect.
    I have dropped Scientific American, Flower & Garden (but we have a
horticulture club who never used it), Discover, Oasis.
    Each year I wrestle with this - and don't reorder magazines that
kids
don't read.  I have lots of kids who would never read a book but will
read a magazine - and as long as they are reading - I'll grab for
whatever I can get.


*    While this area is not within my expertise, may i suggest you
contact your
local public library, to see if there is any policy in place regarding
age-related guidelines for magazine checkout (you implied that parents
might be unhappy about the choices made available to their children, but

do those children already have access to these materials anyway?).


*    I buy magazines that support the curriculum only. I try to pick
some
that are generally interesting (Popular Science, Good Housekeeping)
as well. Some years ago I got the idea that we didn't have much that
was interesting to the girls, so I subscribed to three girls
magazines, only to see them stolen almost as fast as I put them out.
I dropped the subsriptions.
    I agree with you when you say that faculty/staff should buy their
own
magazines. I also think that magazines that are strictly for the
personal enjoyment of a small group of students should not be
purchased with school funds. I have no problem with someone donating
the subscription price and then the magazine is placed in the
library. That's how I would handle Ebony.


*    If you have a limited budget for subscriptions, I would slash
People
magazine first.  ;-)   I'd look for mags that support the curriculum -
your local university probably carries some decent selection tools you
can use to make wise decisions.  Try Magazines for Young People (ed.
Bill Katz and Linda Sternberg Katz).  The other possibility, if you can
offer it, is to create a list of websites of magazines on the web.
Typically, mags do not offer their current issue to non-subscribers, but

you can access their archives, which include last month's issue.  Look
up Electronic Newstand on the WWW.
    I would offer ethnic-type mags for your 6% minority.  My daughter is
of
Asian extraction and the only non-white in her class.  She would have
really appreciated having her race acknowledged in a place where she
spends one-third of her life.  I wouldn't lose any sleep over not
offering mags for every ethnic minority there is.  You are on a budget,
after all.
    And speaking of budgets, I've heard of librarians who take care of
that
issue easily;  they do a brisk business in getting members of the
community to contribute subscriptions  (from an approved list, of
course).


*    Re:  magazines.  I do not believe that all magazines have to have
"redeeming features" or be educational in the sense that Cobblestone is
educational.  More than half of my magazine purchases are for leisure
reading, and, in fact, with the easy availability of full text on cd-rom

or on-line, I will probably go even heavier on leisure reading.
Our leisure reading magazines such as dirt bike, hot rod, transworld
skatboarding, American Girl, Teen, Seventeen, Guitar Player, etc. are
truly read to death (I give away the "remains" of this type of magazine
at
the end of the year.)  I may wish that the kids read more books and less

magazines, but I do not think that lowering the number of leisure type
magazines will accomplish that.
    (and p.s. - we have a large number of students (grades 6-8) who read

People in the library and who take it out when it is available for
borrowing.  I guess that different schools have differing "cultures".)


*    I don't "buy" mags that aren't listed in an index like Info Trac or

Reader's Guide.  That way I know it supports the curriculum or, at the
very
least, it can be found in an indexing source so kids will use it after
it
hits the back room.
    I get donations for "fun" mags and do a student survey for what they
should
be.
    EBSCO has a gift department and they do the leg work.  I get 10 mags
from
McDonald's through them.  Sports clubs sponsor mags for their clubs like

tennis, skiing, etc.
    If the kids don't ask for it, we don't get it.  Teachers work, I'm
here for
the kids.  I work with the teachers but the mags I buy them are Phi
Delta
Kappen and Education Digest.  We get People but it's in reader's guide
and
kids use it in bio research often.


*    I make my decisions based on MY knowledge of what
is read.  I would choose skateboarding over archaeology because more
students are interested.  I am in charge of the choices.  I  choose
American Girl, Astronomy (we have a science teacher who inspires
interest),
Outdoor Life, and others because I truly feel that it is MY library and
I
will purchase what I feel will meet the most needs.  I always listen to
suggestions, and I revamp each year.  We are a K-6 school and some
classes
are more "into" a subject than others (horses, etc.).


*    I also struggle with those issues.  I didn't have much of a problem
with it while I was at an
elementary school, but find that it's alot more "sticky" at the junior
high level.  For the last couple of
years we have had a very
conservative school board, and they have instructed the librarians not
to subscribe to YM and Seventeen.  We were upset about it for awhile,
but decided it wasn't worth the fight.  We have Infotrac's SuperTom
Periodical database on a monthly CD-ROM subscription and internet access

to UMI's ProQuest Direct, so our students can get any research
information from magazines that way.


*    On a limited budget, I buy a few generic professional magazines for
staff
(Mailbox, Phi Delta Kappan, etc.).  I don't buy subject specific anymore

because (1) use rate was low, (2) each department has a budget, (3)
justifying my choice of math over health/p.e. became too stressful.  I
don't buy popular mags for staff; they can buy their own or drive to the

public library.  Subscriptions for students is tough enough: a history
mag
or a music mag? I've finally gone to a full-text CD-ROM for most of our
curriculum-support mags with popular reading in paper.  My biggest
problem now is newspapers; we
can't get enough!


 *    I agree with you that teachers should purchase their own
subscriptions to
People, et.al.   I do purchase some professional journals for the
teachers'
shelves, but otherwise I only buy what the students will use.  I
sometimes
even wonder why we carry three newspapers when that seem to be
predominately staff read.
    For multiculturalism, have you seen Faces Magazine?  (by the
publishers of
Cobblestone)


*    I think you should try for a good mix--magazines that support the
curriculum and magazines that provide pleasure to the reader.  One new
magazine that has been very popular and surprisingly wholesome is Teen
People.  I buy very few magazines that simply support one class, but I
even break that rule with School Arts.  I got it because the art teacher

requested it and promised to use it. Now that we have cd-roms of
research
magazines I have cut down on some of the reference titles.  I try to
have
one title for each big leisure interest and I do have Ebony and
Hispanic.
    Every year I re-evaluate the collection, look at what is used and
enjoyed and try some new titles the next year.


*    I struggle with this problem at my school. I really think of the
magazines as recreational readling and not "curriculum" related. I've
put in a big old sofa, easy chairs, coffee tables for the kids to curl
up and read magazines. I have all the girl ones (17, YM, All about you,
Teen, Teen People) the guy ones (hot rod, skateboard, snowboard, Sports
Ill, boys life, hunting, cars, Next, games, etc) I have some special
ones for writers (new moon, and blue jean) as well as scientific
america, history, discover, popular science, time, and so on. I have an
airplane magazine, and our MOST popular--Guitar World. Yes there is junk

there, but tons of kids come to read, give me ideas for other magazines,

talk about books, current events, giggle and take those tacky tests in
the girl magazines (even the boys). Reading is FUN, and teachers don't
EVER read the serious magazines or the professional journals I order.
They like all the people, good housekeeping etc.  I am cutting back next

year on some of the expensive school related magazines and ordering more

things the kids want to read. Isn't that the purpose of a reading area?
I want them in the library so I can tempt them with books :-)


*    I used the magazine index as my guide.  If somebody came in asking
for
the purchase of a magazine I'd check in the magazine index we used.  If
it was in there, then maybe.  If it wasn't, then I would ask for a
different suggestion.  Worked really well for me.  Doesn't help with
people, but you could look at it from the standpoint of, research
projects over the year, how many times is it accessed?  If it isn't
holding up it's end of the research projects, then I would change it.  I

gave it a two year test.  Depending on who is using the library and what

their projects were.


*    Thanks for acknowledging the problem...it's a big one I struggle
with every year.  I used to try various magazines, but recently I've
just stuck to the
same old ones.  I do get Seventeen...can't remember if I get 'Teen or
not.  I
get Hot Rod, Dirt Bike, and a few others like that.  I'd love to get a
snowboarding and skate boarding magazine, if I could find good ones.  I
cancelled American Heritage years ago because nobody ever used it, and
felt
disloyal to the academic world.   Having Newsbank and Infotrac has
changed
our use of magazines.  But I still have to really stretch the dollars.
I
wonder how much other schools spend on magazines for middle level?  We
have grades 6-8, 720 students, and I spend about $700 on magazine
subscriptions.  I suspect that is low compared to other schools.
    Your comment about Ebony really hit home.  I'm the person in the
school
who advocates multi-culturalism with every breath. But do I subscribe to

a "hispanic" or "african-american magazine?"  Afraid not.


    Interesting that a recurring theme appears to be money.  Who would
have thought  ;-)  Again, my thanks to those responding.  Should more
insights arrive, I'll post a sequel.
    (I wonder if the fact that I did not receive a single flame means
I'm becoming p.c.  If so, I must work harder in this area!!!)

sjp
--
S. J. Peterson
Library/Media-Technical Support Coordinator
E. M. Cope Middle School
1000 W. Cypress Avenue
Redlands, CA 92373
909 307 5420 x 344
Home or Work

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