Magazines - When to discard and when to keep

Question: How long should we keep magazines? What about SDA periodicals? What are some good periodicals for a school?

Response: This is a great question. I will give you some guidelines, but please note that you can do what you want! If you want to keep magazines or other periodicals and you have the space for them, keep them!

That said, some weeding guidelines indicate to discard periodicals after two years unless they are indexed for reference. For example, if you subscribe to “Model Airplane News”, those could be discarded after two years since the information is likely dated. “American Girl” might be very popular in your school and you may choose to keep them for 4 years or even longer. If you subscribe to “Cobblestone”, that magazine can be kept as long as you would a book. I have Cobblestone magazines from the early 1980’s in my library.

SDA periodicals would be treated the same way. Discard after two years unless you have space or want to keep them longer.

Here is a list of periodicals that might interest you. I have put them in categories that might be helpful. You likely will not be able to subscribe to all of these. This list is just a guide to get you started. Look at the websites and you can get a feel for the magazine. Ask for preview copies of those that look good, but you aren’t familiar with, preview it, and choose the ones that you feel will best serve your school. Donating a subscription is a great way for church members to help, too.

Miscellaneous
American Girl
Consumer Reports
Crinkles – focuses on one subject each month
Health
Highlights for Children
Kids Discover – focuses on one subject each month
Mission Frontiers - free
Popular Science
US Kids

Sports and Activities - These are popular at our school, but we watch the advertisements in the back and throughout and rip them out if they aren’t appropriate. Sometimes scantily clad women are promoting the products.

Model Airplane News
Model Railroader
Motocross Action
Mountain Bike Action
Radio Control Car Action
Ski
Sports Illustrated for Kids


Cricket Group – These are great magazines to have. The subscriptions are a bit pricy, but might be worth the cost especially if you keep these for a long time and treat them like a book.

Appleseeds – history for younger grades – 3rd and 4th
Cobblestone – history – grades 5 – 8+
Dig – archaeology – middle grades
Faces – people and places – middle grades
Spider – younger, easy stories – grades 1 and 2
Odyssey – science subjects – middle to upper grades


Teacher Resources
Bookbag – Literature units and other activities with books
Booklinks – Book Reviews
Horn Book Magazine – Book Reviews
Mailbox – Intermediate
Mailbox – Grades 2 – 3
Mailbox – Kindergarten
Science and Children
Teaching Children Mathematics
Technology and Learning


Scholastic magazines – can purchase classroom sets if you like
Career World
Choices – family, life skills – grades 7 - 12
Current Health 1
Current Health 2 – similar to Current Health 1, but for junior high and above
Current Science


Nature
Canadian Geographic
National Geographic – someone might donate this to your school after they are finished reading it.
National Geographic Kids
National Wildlife
Ranger Rick


SDA periodicals
Adventist Review
Guide
Listen
Primary Treasure
Insight
Winner

Have a great week,
Audrey