LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Attached are the responses for my request:
We have acquired quite a few juvenile books for our library. We want to put
them into an individual collection. Does anyone have a good term to use to
describe that collection. We need a term that will not "turn off" our high
school reluctant readers and non-readers.
Sorry for the delay. "Thank you!" to everyone that responded. We are using
"Fast, Easy Reads."
Put them on a shelf as "junior fiction"
Picture Books and Easy Reads separate from Fiction
We use HI?LOW for high interest low reading ability. We don't tell the
students exactly what that means. I keep these
books on a special cart so teachers can pull them out when they need them.
The traditional call number for the juvenile books ('picture' books) is E
and then the first three letters of the authors last name
(I'm sure you knew this) even in my elementary school I have tried to move
away from the stigma of our poor readers
choosing books from this area by explaining that the E stands for Everybody
reads (instead of the previous designation
of E for easy.)
We tend to call them "quick reads".
We call it Popular Reading
Intermediate---"I".
I too have had this problem and have never solved it to my satisfaction in
my high school library. What I have done, I consider only temporary until I
think of or find something else. I have a special section called
"Children's Literature"...it consists of the very lowest level
books...picture books, books that will most likely be read to children and a
few higher. Then I have a special display of what I call "Leisure
Reading"....it consists of all levels of mostly fiction and includes the
really easy books. My 9th graders use this heavily especially for "Reading
Workshop" ...which is assigned class time for leisure reading. When the
books are not in these special displays they are interfiled with the rest of
the collection. When I first started 21 years ago, I had labeled these all
"Easy Books" ...NOBODY would touch them with a 10 foot pole. So now I label
them in whatever special display I can think of and then interfile them when
they are not in any special display. This works the best of anything I've
found. I would appreciate hearing of how others have solved this problem.
Never too old for picture books!
How about "Light Reading"? We've used that term in our 10-12 high school
with no complaints. Some of our kids even look for these books!
We use the term Children's Literature (Ch Lit as the first line in the call
number), but I'm not totally happy with it. Awhile ago using E for Easy
books was discussed on LM_NET. A creative librarian said that she used E
for books for Everybody. That would work in a high school.
I use the term Everybody , because everybody has days where they prefer more
pictures than words. Buy a Dilbert cartoon book or a good editorial cartoon
book to display when you use this explanation.
This is just tongue-in-cheek, of course, but ...if you put a sign
designating this the "I Want A Short Book" collection....EVERYONE will be
reading them!
Why designate them anything special. The juvenile books here at our high
school are just cataloged and shelved just like any other book.
Rather than putting them in a separate collection, why don't you intershelve
them? I have no clue the nature of this collection except that it has
juvenile books in it. Are they fiction or nonfiction? Since you're
concerned about them being for "reluctant readers," to label them would make
them really stand out. Can you make teachers aware of the titles, so they
can help guide students to them? In my YA fiction collection I have all
levels intershelved, and my nonfiction books are in a YA nonfiction section
for 3 months, and then moved into the adult collection. I see my role as
being aware of what's available at which levels and steering the YAs who
come into the library toward the one that is appropriate for them.
E-books, because as we know EVERYBODY can enjoy them.
young adult?
How about Quick Picks or Quick Reads.
how about "Books your parents don't want you to read".
We often say the "E" on our book spines means "E for Everybody". Kids are
not usually fooled by our adult "trick words" however.
We called our collection "Fast Fiction" (some of us can finish in one
sitting). We denoted them in the catalog as Pbk (instead of paperback), and
added a red stripe to the spine label. Just heard another name for the
collection: One Night Stands.
Easy picture books are often called Everybody's Books. For HS though, I
would suggest something like 'Graphic Collection'
best
Jim Neal
Library Media Specialist - Park Hill High School
<http://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/hs/media/media_center.htm>
Webmaster - LM_NET on the Web <http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net>
Trustee - Mid Continent Public Library <http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/>
The object of teaching a child is to enable the child to get along without
the teacher. Anon.
We need to educate our children for their future, not our past. Arthur C.
Clarke
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