I just did a workshop that addressed this component of library
administration---selection---and tried to make a point to include that as
librarians we should use selection tools that are specifically designed for
librarians. By this I mean, collection development tools should be things like
Wilson catalogs (great for current and retrospective collection developement--- Jr
High Catalog, Senior High Catalog, Elementary Catalog, Middle School Catalog ---
ALL help you to determine what you SHOULD have in your collection as a "staple"
title.
For current selection tools, we should be reviewing our professional journals.
Many of us choose various titles for whatever reasons (training, personal
preferences, etc.), but among those journals that SHOULD be included (not all, but
some) include: Booklinks, Horn Book, Media and Methods, VOYA, School Library
Journal, LMC, Teacher-Librarian, Booklist, Kliatt, etc.
Remember that online bookstores are in the business to SELL BOOKS....so you might
see a "great review" that was written not by an unbiased reader / librarian with
the idea of how the title might impact students, teachers, parents, but rather by
the employees of the online bookstore who want to help their company sell the books!
If you're using Amazon as your primary book review source, purchase a print source
to get the whole picture. Amazon (and others) are there to sell you the book, not
to help you select titles for your library. Regardless of what great reviews you
might find (and you will find some titles with reviews from School Library Journal,
etc. on them), you need to weigh those reviews with what MIGHT be written in WHOLE
within the print journal----you're only getting part of the picture.
You wouldn't go to a dentist who didn't have the best and most current tools at his
disposal to help you with your dental problems....so, you as a professional, should
also have the best and most current tools (selection tools) at your disposal to
make the best decisions about the titles that you're placing in the library.
Remember, if you're faced with a book challenge you'll need the best reviews that
come from the most professional resources available. Don't make "Don's Best Books
Online" be the source you use for supporting your professional book selections.
Just my opinion.....
~Shonda
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
US / Technology Librarian
4200 Country Day Lane
Fort Worth Country Day School
Fort Worth, TX
817.732.7718 ext. 339
"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible and suddenly you are doing
the impossible."
~St. Francis of Assisi
sbrisco@fwcds.org
http://www.fwcds.org/campus/libraries/default.asp
>>> Raynette Schulte <rschulte@WATERTOWNSD.US> 03/03/06 3:09 PM >>>
Where do you guys look for good and accurate book reviews? I bought a book that
was on a list of great reads for YA's. I read both reveiws that are on amazon.com
for the book. It sounds like it's the best book ever written. Well, I couldn't
get past page 15! Every page had swear words in it, and every other page had 'the'
swear word, the one beginning with F. I dare not spell it our, or the message
won't make it into most mailboxes! It's written in comic form, and one bubble has
the F word in 3 times, and there are only 2 sentences! Mind you, I am not a prude,
I know kids that age swear, and could even admit that my own 15 & 18yo have been
scolded from time to time. But this books is atrocious! I don't believe in
censoring books, but am hesitant to put this one on our shelf. Is there any place
out there that reviews the book for it's entire content, and not just the story
line??
Raynette Schulte
Young Adult Librarian
Watertown Regional Library
Watertown, SD
rschulte@watertownsd.us
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