Thanks for all of your help concerning this question – it seems that each
librarian needs to decide what works best in their own library.
Have a super day,
Cathleen Grady, Librarian
Luray Elementary School
cgrady@pagecounty.k12.va.us
• When I arrived at my library 7 years ago, there were only about a dozen
SC books, each of them compilations of different authors--as is the
"accepted" way to do it. However, the consensus among several of my
fellow middle school librarians was that LA teachers want students to
read "chapter books" or "novels" rather than short stories, so it was a
good idea to shelve any short story book--even one with all stories by
the same author (like Kipling's Jungle Book or Poe's stuff) in SC as
well. As I shelved fiction books and came across one-author-SS's, I
pulled them, and after about two years of this, along with purchasing
some story collections, I had developed an SC section of about 75 books
which were checked out often (in fact, if a student said they didn't
like to read, I'd direct them to the SC section as a way of reading many
different short pieces instead of a real long one!).
Now after 6 years, I've discovered the SC section isn't used as much, so
I'm in the process of weeding out one-author-SS's again and shelving
them back with the other fiction books by that author. I'll still have
about 35-40 good short story collections by multiple authors and will
add to it as I find good selections. And after sharing my decision with
the other 5 MS librarians, two of them said they are also doing the same
thing.
One of our middle school's LA dept does a big short story unit, so that
librarian really likes having all the short stories, whether one or
multiple authors, in one spot. My teachers don't emphasize this as
much, so that also prompted my decision to change back. I think what
you do with your SC section is what the needs are for your school.
• I gave mine the pre fix SC and place them in their own area.
• As an "experienced [40 years or so]" librarian, I have done Story
Collections a couple of ways, both ways separated from the fiction; one way was to
place them, cataloged SC then Cuttered for the author's last name - SC POE - BEFORE
the fiction collection started. I was lucky enough to have enough shelf space to
separate them so that they were by themselves, yet distinct from the fiction and
non-fiction shelves. In my current library they are still classified SC POE, but
they come at the end of the collection, right after the last fiction book. I don't
have enough shelves today, but they do separate their titles from the beginning of
our reference books. I try to push the story collections for many reasons, but have
never had much success. So, don't be discouraged and my best advice for any
situation that might arise in your library is to do whatever is best for your own
patrons. Try not to worry about "rules" per se, just ease of use for your students.
Good luck!
• Many of us put short stories in the fiction section. My experience is
that when they are shelved in their own section (SC is the usual Dewey
classification) they don't get used, but when they are in the Fiction
section, they are used.
• Normally, I keep Story Collections separate from the fiction collection
(I bought a rolling shelving unit just to house them here at our JH/HS)
but have, in places where there is space to do this, moved them into and
out of the collection just to keep the collection fresh (books on top
and bottom shelves move around this way). I have done the same with
mysteries and scifi, and with romances and westerns, again at other
(public library) employment places. It allowed the staff and me to
clean thoroughly and again, move some titles from the top shelves down
to eye level and some from the bottom shelves up into the light. I
didn't move them every year - once every three to five years - depending
on what I found during weeding. It can spark new browser interest in SC
titles to put them into the fiction section and if you pull them out
again in 5 years or so, you can highlight them. Do keep them marked as
SC on their spines and in the catalog.
Moving things around at any time can excite new interest and bring
things that were somewhat hidden by their shelf location into prominence
and give them new life. Maybe a schedule where once you get a class
through (e.g., our 7 - 12 building, once the 7th graders graduate), move
things around then. Keep it in mind as you gain experience yourself.
I'm guessing elementary students need more structure and consistancy,
though, so maybe you will find it not as much of a need.
• I have a separate short story collection (not interfiled with fiction)
because that's what works best for my patrons -- especially when they have to
specifically read short stories as they have a section of shelves to browse. I
also keep my biography & autobiography filed in one sections, rather than in the
Dewey area related to the subject. Since I have several English classes who are
assigned book reports on biography & autobiography, it makes good sense to have a
browsing section for them.
• I like to have the short story collections at the end of Fiction. I
have teachers who look for short stories and this keeps the collections
in one place.
• I've always put books that are collections of one author with the other
fiction works by that author. I then have true short story collections at
the end of the fiction collection. My students know that if they want short
reading to go there.
• As odd as it sounds, our story collections are in two different places. If
it's a collection of stories by one author, the book goes in Fiction with the
author's other works. If it is mutliple authors, we have a story collection
section, near to fiction, where it is shelved. We are in the process of adding the
story titles to the records for the multiple author collections. Not a solution
that would work for many, but it works here.
• I'm a pretty new librarian myself. I have been cataloging short stories
within the fiction collection for a couple of reasons. My space is pretty small and
I don't have too many fixtures so there isn't really a place to make a short story
collection. Also my shelves are clustered in two sections (by a previous librarian)
fiction and non-fiction so it has just seemed the like the best way for me to do
it. I hope this helps.
• I'm a secondary librarian, and my best advice is that what might be right
for my library might not be right for yours. :} What you need to do is look at the
utilization of your library and decide what makes life easiest for the majority of
your patrons.
In my library, I have the short story books housed in a separate collection
that is located at the end of the fiction collection. My rationale is that short
stories ARE one kind of fiction, but I don't interfile them because our tenth
graders are required to do a short story critique as their major research project.
Having the separate collection makes it easier for them to just browse the shelves
and locate a short story to read. Also, the physical arrangement of the collection
gives me an opportunity to remind/teach the students about the arrangements of
libraries, what fiction is vs. non-fiction, and how short stories are a subset of
fiction. We talk about how fiction is arranged by author's last name, which still
applies to the story collection. (Tho with the added complication of anthologies
arranged by editor or title.) So my rationale is that this arrangement 1) makes
life easier for MY students
2) offers me a teaching opportunity
However, if my English teachers had a major paper requiring students to read first
a short story and then a novel by the same author, for example, THEN I might want
to interfile the story collections in fiction so kids could easily see which
authors wrote both novels and short stories. You really need to identify the needs
of your patrons and decide accordingly.
All that said, I also make every effort to add contents notes to every short story
title so that kids can also search our catalog for a short story title, and get led
to every book that includes that story. It's a lot of data entry, but the end
results are worth it when kids are looking for a particular short story.
• I'm only a 2nd year librarian myself, but I recatalogued and shelved all of
my
story collections together with the call number SC and author or editor's last
name. I figured that they would be easier to find for those wanting short
stories. The HS library where I did my practicum had them that way also.
• I have always shelved story collections (anthologies by more than one
author) in an area at the end of fiction books. I use the prefix SC and the
editor's last name to arrange them on the shelf. I file story collections by one
author with the author's other books in the fiction section. I also try to use a
short story label so the user will know the book is not a novel.
BTW, it still doesn't prevent "helpful" aides from putting the anthologies in the
fiction collection!
• I used to work at a middle school where story collections were
filed in a separate section - the students never went there. At my
elementary school they are considered fiction, pure and simple, and get
pretty good circulation. Hope this helps.
• I recently moved my story collection to the last section of shelving next
to the fiction. It is getting a lot of use this year. Spine label reads SC with
the author.
• At the end of the fiction section is where I have the Story Collection.
The spine label reads SC, and then the first three letters of the title. If the
collection of stories is by the same author I put the book in the fiction section.
The spine label reading for example Fic Cru, for Chris Crutcher's Atheltic Shorts.
I'll be interested in knowing what other people do.
• Our story collection (which is not very large at all, perhaps 50 books) is
cataloged as SC and kept together on a particular shelf.
• I have a separate section for SC books for collections of short stories.
The big question (and I have gone back and forth over the years) is were to put
books that are collections of several novels. I have one that has been moved
several times, a collection of Agatha Christie stories.
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