This discussion has had us debating all day so I figured I would post to
everyone.
Using the argument that this is the way we have always done it does not
invalidate the the idea that shelving by genre might better serve our
constituency. It does seem that library patrons are not happy with the way
we arrange the our books which is why so many of them use Barnes and Noble
instead. Children constantly come in asking for books by genre and it is
much more difficult to find them when they are shelved by author. In an
elementary school using the computer can hamper a child's ability to find
books so only connecting the books that way doesn't actually make it easier.
How much do we want to emphasize the process over giving children access? In
our catalog, if you type in mystery you will find 330 titles. How do we
expect a fourth grader to browse the catalog to find a book that looks
interesting? It just becomes overwhelming. And while it is easy for us to
skim through the catalog this way, the question becomes does it make sense
to kids? Does this actually teach children that libraries are just
unfriendly places?
On the other hand, learning to read and alphabetical order are skills we
really try and teach children so keeping books by author supports the
curriculum, both ours and the classrooms'. Arranging books by genre might
also split an author's body of work into several different areas, however,
it would still be easier to track an author than a genre in the catalog.
Also, deciding which genre certain books fall into is much less concrete
than shelving by author and the next person at your job might not understand
why you put Coraline in Fantasy and not Horror. The sheer amount of time and
energy it would take to redo a collection is definitely an issue as well.
We're not really sure where we stand on this, but it does have us thinking :
) We're now considering polling the students and faculty to see what they
think.
Thanks so much for such an invigorating topic.
Tali Balas
Librarian, PreK - 3
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
tbalas@ecfs.org
212.712.6293
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU]On Behalf Of Deb Evers
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 12:13 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: GEN, MID/SEC: Reorganizing Fiction by Genre
The October, 2005 issue of Library Media Connection included an article
written by Middle School LMS Elizabeth P. Dumas. The article, "Give 'Em What
They Want: Reorganizing Your Fiction Collection by Genre," outlined steps to
"merchandise" the fiction collection by rearranging and shelving fiction in
like groups (Mystery, Historical fiction, Romance, Fantasy, etc.) This would
make the fiction collection more user-friendly since the kids are used to
finding books arranged in this way in bookstores. It would also answersome
of those infernal questions like, "Where are all of the funny books?" or "I
can't find the fantasy books."
I guess my question to you venerable sages is...What do you think about
this? I keep thinking about the pros and cons, and mulling it over. I
realize that it would require a LOT of work initially, but I can't seem to
shake the idea that it would be a good idea. HELP! Talk me out of it!
Deb Evers, Library Media Specialist
Cushing High School
Cushing, OK
devers@cushinghs.k12.ok.us
A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to
bring up children without surrounding them with books.... Children learn to
read being in the presence of books. - Horace Mann
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