Choosing Fiction for the Library

Hello,
I received a great question today. Many of us have concerns about our fiction section and want to make sure we are putting in good quality books, but we also want the kids to be reading what we put in our libraries. We can put wonderful stories in there, but if the kids won’t read them, it is a waste of money.

So what do we want to put in our libraries? What are other libraries from Adventist Schools putting in their libraries? Am I the only one who hesitates to put fantasy or just silly stories on my shelves?

Here is one way that I select books for Rogers Adventist School library. I have the following goals and selection criteria in my library policy.

Goals

Rogers Adventist School Media Center has the following goals for the media center collection.
1. To provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the pupils served.
2. To provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards.
3. To provide materials representative of many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and their contribution of our American heritage.

Criteria for Selection
The Media Center Director is guided in selection of materials by professional book reviews and standard bibliographies. Recommendations from the patrons will be given careful consideration for purchase.

The Library’s collection will be built to meet the needs and interests of Rogers School. Materials are selected to reflect the varying age groups, abilities, and interests of the patrons. All materials to be selected are subjected to the following criteria as they are applicable:

 Current interest and usefulness
 Permanent value
 Comprehensive in scope
 Relevance to the existing collection
 High standards of quality in content
 Cost in relation to the individual title and to the overall collection
 Availability of funds and space
 Attention of critics, reviewers, and public
 Balance of viewpoints in the collection
 Strengths and weaknesses of the existing collection
 SDA values


Our students know that books such as Harry Potter and other high fantasy do not really belong in a SDA library. Most of us have no problem deciding on this. Some of us have no problem including the Chronicles of Narnia in our libraries since this is religious allegory, but other consider it high fantasy and choose not to have these books in their libraries. But what about books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Lemony Snicket series? What do we do with other fiction?

I know that many students are reading books that we as Adventist teachers and librarians do not really approve. One problem is that we have parents who either don’t care what their children read or they don’t know what they are reading. When a student comes to me to ask if I have a particular title, we look it up on the computer and when it isn’t there, I ask them what it is about that book that they especially like. Is it the adventure story, or about kids doing exciting things, or that it is a thick book? Then I tell them that we have books about adventures, or thick books and guide them to what I have in my library. If they seem hesitant, I say in a casual way, “Why don’t you take this and start reading it? If you don’t like it, bring it back tomorrow and we’ll find something else for you.” I cannot stress enough how important it is to say this in a casual, offhand way. I almost NEVER say, “You’ll love this book!” Too many times it is the kiss of death for that book. I WILL say, “You might like this book. A lot of the junior high students have enjoyed it.” Now THAT is high praise especially for a 5th or 6th grader. “I’m reading a ‘junior high’ book?”

If a student continues to question why a certain book isn’t in the library, I suggest you discuss this with them in an interested way. If you haven’t read the book, or even if you have, ask them why they feel that the book belongs in our church school library. You might make out a little form that students can fill out with the book information and a little essay describing how it fits SDA values. Ask them to help you evaluate the book by filling out the form. If the book is worthwhile, you might have a new book in your library. If not, the student will at least have been heard and treated with respect.

For the record, I do not have Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the Lemony Snicket series in our library. I feel that those books they can get at the public library or at a book fair. I have kept both those titles on my book fair shelves, and read the Lemony Snicket series myself. When I am asked by students why I don’t get them for our library, I tell them that they really aren’t the kind of books that fit in an Adventist school library. If you have them in your library, I am not here to criticize you for it. I just decided that it wasn’t a fight I was willing to fight. Those titles weren’t worth the fight.

I hope this helps. Library life can get a little sticky sometimes. For those of you who are new this year, check out my blog and see my previous posts.

Have a great week.
Audrey