Give Them What They Want The author recalls back to 2007 when students were starting to get into graphic novels, and she tried to lure students into more traditional literature by getting graphic classics. But students read what they wanted to read. Her budget up to that time was 75% in support of curriculum and 25% for YA fiction, magazines, and student suggestions- if the book had a good review. She never bought more than one copy of a book. Her fear was that once the craze was over the library would have multiple copies of books that were not being read (i.e. Harry Potter). But then she thought about it as a matter of usage. What is the point of getting a bunch of books that only circulate once or twice, while kids are clamoring for books that they will check out? In other words, buy a book for $15.00 that circulates 10 times means that you spent $1.50 per circulation, in comparison to another book which circulates once and costs the library $15.00 per circulation. And at the point that she started to weed books that she bought, she was getting rid of books that never circulated. But even more important, when the students realized that the librarian would buy, quickly, copies of the books they wanted to read, the more kids requested and read. Although the school is small, when she bought for the students it now is multiple copies, as many at ten or more of one title if highly requested. The result is a very dynamic library and many less unused books weeded. If there is one thing I have done pretty well since I started it is that I have listened to students and gotten books that they wanted to read. However, I don’t think I have ever gotten over 3 copies of a book. That was for the Magic Tree House series. So because of not having multiple copies, students have to wait or they end up going to the public library. I have bought tons of non-fiction books that I thought students would enjoy. At the k-6 level, mostly they do get circulated, but at the 7-12 level the titles do not circulate well. So it would be better to use that money to buy copies, multiple copies, of books that they will read. Sometimes, I think I know what the students want to read, but in many cases I guess I don’t, so I have to rely on students for timely suggestions. After reading this article, I think I need to analyze reading trends and be very aware of the tastes of my students, and listen to them. And if a teacher is not using print resources from the library, why should I buy non-fiction that looks nice on the shelf-because it is new-but is never checked out? References Chen, K. (2010). Give Them What They Want. School Library Journal, 56(10), 29-32. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The author recalls back to 2007 when students were starting to get into graphic novels, and she tried to lure students into more traditional literature by getting graphic classics. But students read what they wanted to read. Her budget up to that time was 75% in support of curriculum and 25% for YA fiction, magazines, and student suggestions- if the book had a good review. She never bought more than one copy of a book. Her fear was that once the craze was over the library would have multiple copies of books that were not being read (i.e. Harry Potter). But then she thought about it as a matter of usage. What is the point of getting a bunch of books that only circulate once or twice, while kids are clamoring for books that they will check out? In other words, buy a book for $15.00 that circulates 10 times means that you spent $1.50 per circulation, in comparison to another book which circulates once and costs the library $15.00 per circulation. And at the point that she started to weed books that she bought, she was getting rid of books that never circulated.
But even more important, when the students realized that the librarian would buy, quickly, copies of the books they wanted to read, the more kids requested and read. Although the school is small, when she bought for the students it now is multiple copies, as many at ten or more of one title if highly requested. The result is a very dynamic library and many less unused books weeded.
If there is one thing I have done pretty well since I started it is that I have listened to students and gotten books that they wanted to read. However, I don’t think I have ever gotten over 3 copies of a book. That was for the Magic Tree House series. So because of not having multiple copies, students have to wait or they end up going to the public library. I have bought tons of non-fiction books that I thought students would enjoy. At the k-6 level, mostly they do get circulated, but at the 7-12 level the titles do not circulate well. So it would be better to use that money to buy copies, multiple copies, of books that they will read. Sometimes, I think I know what the students want to read, but in many cases I guess I don’t, so I have to rely on students for timely suggestions. After reading this article, I think I need to analyze reading trends and be very aware of the tastes of my students, and listen to them. And if a teacher is not using print resources from the library, why should I buy non-fiction that looks nice on the shelf-because it is new-but is never checked out?
References
Chen, K. (2010). Give Them What They Want. School Library Journal, 56(10), 29-32. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.