In addition to Edith's points I would add it will depend on your level;
the age and needs of your patrons.
Elementary libraries do a booming business with magazines for their
patrons. Even having to resort to only one magazine at a time, ensuring
there are enough to go around. The magazine is an important piece of
the collection for this age level. We've seen hits of the most popular
titles.
At the secondary you have two very different reasons for a periodical
collection.
Research
At the secondary level, many of the magazines just sit waiting for that
one project that requires the magazines for current information. The
databases available today make those projects much more efficient, the
students are able to search quickly and more than one student can be
reading a particular magazine or even article. An online database is
updated constantly, providing our students with information that is
hours old! Our state provides us with access to this information
Kindergarten through the university level. Sure, sometimes it would be
nice to have the actual article, but when you balance it on the scale of
use to cost (cost=space to store, price and management time of this
portion of the collection) the online database is a much more efficient
delivery; and provides a wider breadth of titles than I ever could.
Recreational
I've worked at all levels of school libraries and never had the trouble
of magazines walking away at the elementary like you do at the
secondary. The secondary students seemed to view the magazine
collection in the library as their personal means of acquisition. Even
trading a current magazine for an ASB card or shoe didn't always mean
the magazine was going to come back.
Pragmatist (definition 4: practical, matter-of-fact) that I am over some
things; I decided I could use the budget for new titles (buy the
hardback hot off the presses instead of waiting for paperback) and the
students could use their own money to get the magazines they wanted.
Sure, some kids can't afford the magazines they like to read, means they
also can't afford the books they like either; I'd rather supply them
with the books. Then maybe they could use their three dollars to
purchase a magazine.
Jean
R. Jean Gustafson
Teacher/Librarian
Selah Jr. High
Selah, WA 98942
jeangustafson@selah.k12.wa.us
http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/JHS/Gustafson/Library.cfm
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Edith Campbell
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 9:41 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Do we really need magazines?
While there may be some professional insights to gain from this list in
asking if we should have magazines, I think this is really more of a
local decision. Before discontinuing magazines, see how well they are
used in the Media Center. Do students read them? If you've got a
population that doesn't particularly like to read or that doesn't read
well, you may want to keep some magazines that will interest them,
especially for boys.
Also, what kind of online access do your students have, both at school
and at home? If they have a lot of access at home, they probably don't
need a lot of publications at school. Do your teachers use old
magazines for projects? Do you have journals available in databases
that you're also subscribing to in print? Has you budget been cut so
that you need to reduce magazine subscriptions?
Edith Campbell
Media Director
Arlington High School
4825 N. Arlington Ave.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46226
317.226.2348 (office)
317.226.3859 (fax)
"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable,
those that are movable, and those that move."
Arabian Proverb
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