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> I have noticed that we have several copies of certain books and they do not > all have the same call numbers and are not shelved together. Is this routine > to ease students in finding it or does it need to be fixed? It depends. How will the student look for the book? For example, at my high school library I had books on the Salem witches in both American history AND the occult--100s and 900s. Both were used equally, for different reasons. The students who were interested in aliens and Bigfoot got a little bit of history for a change. I pulled all my career books out of the sections (careers are supposed to be mixed in with their topical Dewey numbers--careers in theatre arts shelved with the theatre books) but my students have to do career reports and it was easier and the students were exposed to possibilities they hadn't thought about before if they were told to go to 331.7 and start there. Also, in some > areas the books grouped together seem odd. For example, there are books > about horses and then one about another animal and then more books about > horses, but the books are shelved according to call numbers. You'll find that with animals. There's a difference in Dewey regarding animals as pets versus animal husbandry. One is the care and feeding, the other is training and breeding. Go back and look up the numbers in your Dewey abridged and see if that's the case. > > I do not want to spend huge quantities of time redoing call numbers and > shuffling the collection, but I do want it to be "right." The "right" way is whatever works for your library media center, to be honest. My right way will probably not be your right way. In the long run, it's whatever works best for the students. And that will change over time as students and their interests and skills change. I noticed a group two years ago that were extraordinarily well-trained in library usage, and I've concluded it was because they had Miss X in 5th grade. Go figure. > > Also, what are some opinions on housing parts of the collection separately. > The previous media specialist had separate sections for Newbery, Caldecott, > easy chapter books, first readers, middle grades paperbacks, primary > paperbacks, oldies but goodies. This seems a bit much to me, but I again I > have no real experience. > I would appreciate feedback, and please keep in mind I am new. :-) TIA > What was "right" for my high school was similar to this. I had reluctant readers who hated looking at miles of shelves of books. I pulled all the horror fiction out, gave it a call number line of HOR/KIN (as an example, for horror fiction by Stephen King), and shelved it separately. I did the same thing for mysteries, and science fiction/fantasy. My circulation for fiction, and what I'm now calling sub-genre fiction, quadrupled within weeks. The kids that read these sub genres READ, but that's all they want to read right now. As they mature, their tastes will too, but the important thing for them to learn now is that libraries have books that they like. One note--when I was working in an intermediate (grades 4-5) media center the paperbacks were separate from the hardbacks. I relabeled them and intershelved, and circulation of paperbacks stayed the same while circulation of hardbacks increased. They liked Roald Dahl, regardless of the binding. I can't see keeping paperbacks separate. > Donna Neill > Media Specialist, Apollo Elementary, Titusville, FL > donnan1250@aol.com > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= > All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. > To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: > listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: > 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST > 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv > For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=