This has been tumbling around in my head for awhile.
All of us bemoan the fact that great literature appropriate for our students is
hard to come by. Once one does hit, it doesn't seem to matter, it suddenly will be
found in k-12 libraries; regardless of the age of the characters. Hmm, maybe I
should say that it seems to be YA items moving down, rarely have I seen an
elementary title in a high school collection because it is widely popular. Or, I'm
just not looking that closely and I do get the chance once a month to visit a
colleague's library.
Somebody stated, "If you have to question whether or not to place it in your
library, then you shouldn't!" Hear, Hear! Or, if you look at it from the
standpoint of if it weren't popular right now would I even consider this title for
our collection? If the answer is no, then why are you considering it just because
it is popular?
I have grades 8 and 9 on my campus, and a lot of the time, I will get students
saying oh, I read that last year what else do you have? I try really hard to have
age appropriate books for my students, the characters and situations fit my
students; cussing sure, very little sex and wanton mayhem. I have some language
stickers on the covers of a couple of books. When students bring things to my
attention, I ask several questions while listening. Should we keep it in our
library and does it need a language sticker, being two of them. Never has a
student said it should be removed, and only one decided the book should have a
language sticker, but stay in the library. (25 years and counting.) Doesn't mean
I haven't caught and pulled a few and sent them on to a more appropriate library,
but isn't that my job? Even though I've been here awhile, everything on my shelves
didn't pass through my selection process.
Sure, you will find some YA/Adult titles in my collection, generally that is where
the great mysteries lie. (Sorry, that is almost funny.) The characters are
adults, but the story lines are chaste or non-graphic in nature when dealing with
sex or murder and mayhem. Sure, not every title fits my students age levels
exactly, if we were to do that, then we would have very limited collections.
When students ask for things I don't have, if it is a lower title I ask didn't you
read it before, their answer usually is yes, I just wanted to read it again. Or,
if it is an upper title, I tell them they can read it when they get there, if I
have everything, what will you read when you get up there? They understand that!
They do! We do have inter-school loans now with the Union catalog we are using or
I ask if they have a public library card and send them there. We are a small town
and the public library is within walking distance for most.
We do NOT need to have every title on our shelves; we can develop a collection that
reflects our students without affecting a collection above or below us in the
public school systems. We need to consider the system; no longer can we develop
our library as a stand alone collection. What a great way to stretch our budgets,
let others in your system purchase and house those items that SOME of your students
might want and borrow the titles or direct them to the public library. Use your
dollars to develop the collection at your level to match the curriculum and the
majority of your students' interest and reading level.
Jean
R. Jean Gustafson
Teacher-Librarian
Selah Jr. High
Selah, WA 98942
jeangustafson@selah.k12.wa.us<mailto:jeangustafson@selah.k12.wa.us>
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