Category: Collection Development

Reader’s Advisory – Young Adult: The Booklist Reader

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The Booklist Reader blog was in our course document as a Collection Development resource, but I also thought it would be a great resource for Reader’s Advisory. It’s a great site, as it is very current for a book review blog, and it is written by two YA librarians who really know their stuff!

I think this blog would be a great way of generating recommendations for Young Adults, especially because they do a lot of posts on trends and subjects. For example, they had one in March on March Madness, which highlighted YA books about basketball (a great reluctant reader subject!).

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I also like how they do “Cover Trends” posts, which feature books with similar covers. For a reader who doesn’t know exactly what they want to read next, a cover similar to something they’ve responded to positively in the past could be a great starting off point! Chances are, the publishers know what they’re doing and it really is a similar read.

Cindy and Lynn also do their own “Best Of” lists, and annual “Book Awards” with really fun, unconventional award topics such as “The Book that Had the Most Holds at One Time (even before the author appeared on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah).”

Reader’s Advisory – Young Adult: The Booklist Reader

Weeding School Library Collections

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This is a nice, succinct overview of weeding a school library collection. It was published by the California Department of Education, and while it does not have any “unique” information from the CREW manual, it is nice to see something pared down to two pages.

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It includes a nice acronym of the MUSTY definition (although this one combines the I-E into one encompassing “Irrelevant”), a short guide to more bibliographic resources on weeding, suggested guidelines on weeding by copyright date (broken down by Dewey subject), and a few other helpful tips!

I also appreciate that it is well designed, and easy to read. This can be rare for library publications!

Weeding School Library Collections

Young Adult Collection Development – Welcome to LSYC! | Library Services for Youth in Custody

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This is a really great resource for YA collection development, specifically in the environment of juvenile detention center libraries.

The LSYC website has a whole Resources for Collection Development  link. This includes specific collection development policies for incarcerated youth from different counties, such as Alameda County’s in the Bay Area (this one is not much different from their general YA Collection Development Policy, although it does mention specifically working with the Juvenile Justice Center to select appropriate materials for incarcerated youth), and Hennepin County’s, which is specifially for juvenile detention center libraries. This one includes a list of restricted materials, considered not  “appropriate reading material” for this population.

The “Resources” link also talks about the In the Margins book award, which I had not heard of before, but which often deals with authors and topics surrounding incarceration in the youth community. The award’s mission statement is as follows:

 

To seek out and highlight fiction and nonfiction titles (Pre-K through adult) of high-interest appeal to youth, ages 9–21, that reflect marginalized and/or street culture with a preference for marginalized books (books that are self-published or from small independent publishers).

 

Young Adult Collection Development – Welcome to LSYC! | Library Services for Youth in Custody

Elementary School Collection Development – 4 Tips for a Diverse School Library | NAESP

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This is a short, but helpful resource for Elementary-age collection development. While it could definitely apply to all age groups, it was produced specifically by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

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There isn’t anything super different from what we’ve read in class so far (especially in the Naidoo text), but it does suggest some interest tips.

One is that the Junior Library Guild, which is a subscription service that sends a collection of books monthly to different public + school libraries, now has a specific “Multicultural Books” category.  Their website describes the collection as:

“…12 books that feature plot lines with ethnically and culturally diverse characters that may help foster an awareness and understanding of others.

Perfect for: Elementary readers seeking books about diverse characters and cultures”

Another tip the article recommends is having your library participate in a diversity reading challenge. This would ensure that your elementary school library collection is covering all the right areas! They specifically name the Diversity on the Shelf challenge, which unfortunately I don’t think is happening anymore. However, I was curious about this and found a few more, such as this one & this really cool Diversity Bingo idea (it may include topics that would be harder to find in elementary-aged reading materials, but it could definitely be adapted for younger readers!)

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Elementary School Collection Development – 4 Tips for a Diverse School Library | NAESP

Middle School Collection Development – Middle School Monday: Building a Middle School Public Library Collection, Part 1

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This is a neat resource for Middle Grade collection development. It touches on a lot of the points that our class observed during our Community Analysis Reports. Namely, that in a lot of public libraries middle graders are “falling through the cracks” in terms of programming, resources, and collections. It seems like public libraries are focusing primarily on early literacy, and then jumping straight to an emphasis on teens.

This blog entry from YALSA talks about the importance of building a strong middle school public library collection, and makes a few interesting points as to why. First, the author claims that “childrens” books are getting older as a whole. This means that middle grade novels are increasingly edging toward “teen topics” such as serious relationships, drug use, and other heavy-hitting themes. This is leaving a hole in collections for actual materials that would appeal to middle graders. The issue with this is as follows:

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If they cannot find books that speak to them, they may determine that books in general don’t speak to them.”

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When you can’t figure out where to find books for your age group, it’s not only frustrating but can also leave you feeling lost as to where you belong at the library.”

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This is a super important topic to consider, as no public library wants to lose this base of young, yet important readers. Plus, I loved that this librarian decided to name her middle grade collection “Middle Ground” – de-emphasizing a specific age demographic but at the same time highlighting its user base.

Part 2 of this Middle School Monday blog entry is also worth a read, as it goes much more into the specifics of selection criteria and the actual collection development process.

Middle School Collection Development – Middle School Monday: Building a Middle School Public Library Collection, Part 1