01-07-04 or 1307
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From: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults and Children" <pubyac@prairienet.org>
To: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults and Children" <pubyac@prairienet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 11:01 PM
Subject: PUBYAC digest 1307

    PUBYAC Digest 1307

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) holiday resources -- ML King Day, Chinese New Year, Islamic New
 Year
by Aaron Shepard <AS@aaronshep.com>
  2) seeking storytime suggestions
by "Natasha Forrester" <nforrester@wpl.org>
  3) weeding picture books compilation
by Rebecca Amstutz <amstutre@oplin.org>
  4) RE: sf and fantasy
by "Minkel, Walter (RBI-US)" <WMinkel@reedbusiness.com>
  5) Selecting children's music
by "Larry Gainor" <larrygainor@charter.net>
  6) regarding dragons programs
by Terrill <trumpeter2@shaw.ca>
  7) stumper me too monkeys
by "Tammie Beers" <beersta@oplin.org>
  8) Mock Caldecott Results for Sonoma County
by "Carol Edwards" <edwarc@mx.pon.net>
  9) Science Project Index suggestions?
by "Kimberly Venzon" <kvenzon@fountaindale.lib.il.us>

----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Aaron Shepard <AS@aaronshep.com>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: holiday resources -- ML King Day, Chinese New Year, Islamic New
 Year
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 02:17:12 CST

The following links to my Web site can be used to find free stories
and reader's theater scripts suitable for upcoming holidays.

Martin Luther King Day:

http://www.aaronshep.com/indexes/theme.html#Peace

Chinese New Year:

http://www.aaronshep.com/indexes/geography.html#China

Islamic New Year:

http://www.aaronshep.com/indexes/religion.html#Islam

Everything listed on these pages as "Online" is available for free use.

Aaron

Aaron Shepard
http://www.aaronshep.com

------------------------------
From: "Natasha Forrester" <nforrester@wpl.org>
To: "PUBYAC@img10u.ppi.net:PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults and
Subject: seeking storytime suggestions
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 02:29:30 CST

  We're doing our next storytime session with a "Getting Dressed" theme.
I'm looking for songs, stories, fingerplays, crafts, etc., etc., suitable
for toddlers and preschoolers.  I've already pulled some books, such as A
Hat for Minerva Louise and Froggie Gets Dressed, and I'm hoping someone has
suggestions to share so I don't have to reinvent the wheel!  Thanks in
advance!

  Natasha Forrester, Children's Services Librarian
  Winfield Public Library
  605 College  Winfield, KS 67156
  (620) 221-4470

  "Once again I teeter at the precipice of the generation gap." - Giles,
'Out of Mind, Out of Sight'

------------------------------
From: Rebecca Amstutz <amstutre@oplin.org>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: weeding picture books compilation
Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 03:02:36 CST

Thanks so much to everyone who sent me ideas...it was all very helpful
and now I get to start weeding.  Here is the compilation (it is a bit
long but good information):

Weeding Picture Books Compilation

I pull everything that hasn't circulated in 3 years and then discard
on a case by case basis. Some titles fill a particular niche or are
classics, etc. and those are kept but the rest just go to our book
sale. You can also look through Sunlink
http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed/ to see if their weeding
suggestions help.
Good Luck,
----------------------------------------------------------------

We weed our picture books constantly.  Before they are put back
on the shelf we check for the condition.  Missing pages and scribbled
up pages indicate that it is to be withdrawn immediately and they are
sent to tech services.  Every January, March, and August, we
concentrate on a different part of the collection.  We remove books
from the shelf that have a designated copyright date.  We go back 10 to
15
years for fiction and 10 years for non-fiction.  This January we will
look at books from 1994 and older.  We make a pile and the pages(high
school kids) check each title with Wilson's *Children's Catalogue* and
Gillespie's *Best Books for Children.*  If the title is in Wilson's we
write in the top left corner of the title page "Core Collection."  The
same with Gillespie's, we right "Best Books for Children."  Our patrons
find this helpful, especially the Home Schooling parents.  We don't
need to take books off the shelves that have already been marked.
Those books by well known authors such as Numeroff, Pilkey, Tafuri etc.
are also put back on the shelves.  Other books no matter how good the
condition are withdrawn and given to the Friends of the Library for
their book sales.  They also donate books in excellent condition to
shelters and doctor and dentist offices.  We also do this process of
checking the copyright,checking Wilson's and Gillespie's and checking
for excellent condition, hard bound books for a criteria for accepting
donation books to put in our collection if we don't already have it.  I
hope this helps.  Edie Danieli/ Hills Memorial Library/ Hudson, NH
----------------------------------------------------------------

Weeding picture books is definitely not as cut and dried as nonfiction,
but here are some guidelines I use.  1) Items that haven't circulated-
if a book isn't a "classic" and hasn't circulated in 2-3 years, it
probably isn't worth keeping around.  2) Condition- books that are worn,
torn, colored in, and generally look nasty.  Of course if it's your last
copy of a high-demand title and you don't have the replacement budget to
get a new one you may not want to be as strict here.  3) Ephemera- I
love this Collection Development and Management 101 term.  Do you have
Bananas in Pajamas books in your collection?  I hope not, but if you do
it may be time to purge them.  4)  There are some books that just don't
stand the test of time.  The illustrations may look dated, or the story
may be something that just doesn't appeal to kids today. 5) Do you need
10 copies of that title everyone had to have in 2000?  If not, maybe
some can go to the book sale.
----------------------------------------------------------------

That's what I thought of off the top of my head.  I hope you have a good
replacement budget (I sure wish I did) to replace ratty-looking books.
We're going to be closed for rebuilding in the not-too-distant future,
so weeding is a big priority here.  Good luck, and if you have any
specific questions I can try to answer them.

Steve Webber
DC Public Library
----------------------------------------------------------------

The newest edition of A to Z: Subject Access to Children's Picture Books
by Carolyn Lima is very helpful.  It helps with making decisions on
special topic picture books which may not circulate heavily.  The other
important thing with popular picture books is to make sure they are
still in print before assuming you can replace a worn copy. Many seem to
go in and out of print and some are later only available in Paper even
though they are very popular.

Lillian Nolan
Children's Librarian
Fond du Lac Public Library
309 Winnebago Drive (temporary)
Fond du Lac, WI  54935
920-929-7083
920-929-7082 Fax
nolan@fdlpl.org
----------------------------------------------------------------

We start with circulation statistics.  If a picture book has not circulated
in the last three years, we consider it for discard.  Since we are a large,
main library, we will not discard if it is by an important author or
illustrator (we have a lot of students of children's literature who will
read/look at books here, but not take them out).  We also check the
title in
Children's Catalog.  If it is there we won't discard it either.  But, if
it's not "important," or circulating we discard it.  We will also
discard it
if the concept or story is dated.  If the book is worn out, but still
circulating, we will try to replace it before discarding it.

Hope this helps.  Good luck.
Susan Fichtelberg
sfichtel@lmxac.org
Woodbridge Public Library
George Frederick Plaza
Woodbridge, NJ  07095
732-634-4450 ext. 225
----------------------------------------------------------------

1.  Circulation.  We aim to have a current popular collection so if it
has not gone out in a year, its gone.
2.  Condition.  Is it beyond repair? You may want to replace
classic/popular titles.
3.  Out-of-date?  Some older titles may have dull/uninspiring
illustrations or out-of-date stereotypical images.
     Hope this helps.  Picture book collection is one of the easier ones
to weed.
Janis Marshall
Milton Public Library
Milton, Ontario, CANADA
----------------------------------------------------------------

I know it's hard to get rid of books, but here are our standards:
1. Condition
2. Circulation--less than 3 times per year
3. Recent circulation--not gone out in more than a year

Of course, it's still somewhat subjective, but this is a start.  Hope
this helps.  Email me if you need more information.
Pat Rainey
Brunswick Community Library
Brunswick, Ohio
----------------------------------------------------------------

I think it depends on when the collection was last weeded. You may find
very old stuff if it hasn't been been weeded for years. Some of this
qualifies as classics, though, so condition is a factor here. Check with
best books lists, Children's Catalog, etc., if you're not sure what a
classic is. Is there a colleague in a nearby library you can use as a
mentor? That would help too. Otherwise, these are the criteria we use
for run-of-the-mill picture books:

Condition - replace much-loved books with new copies where possible
Last circulation (in our case we have a very active circulation, so
anything that has not circulated in a year is suspect)
Content - some old books are racist or sexist and should not be kept in
the collection

Paula Lefkowitz
Head, Children's Department
Main Library, Parsippany-Troy Hills Public Library System
Parsippany, NJ
paulalef@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

Here at McComb - I look at the age of the book - I recently weeded a huge
amount of books from the 1960s and 70s...but mostly I look at circ - my
director has given me the ok to withdraw anything with a circ of 5 or below,
you also need to consider if it does have a large circ- have you gotten your
money out of it and its time to purchase something new
my feeling is we have so many new beautiful picture books - once we weeded
out the old, it's much easier for our patrons to see what we truly have
to offer them
Good Luck
Jane Schaffner
McComb Public Library
-------------------------------------------------------------

Picture books are hard to weed, admittedly, because even the least
interesting seem to circulate a lot.  Here, we check for condition first
(scribbles, stains, torn or bent pages, gray usage shadows along the
sides and bottoms of the pages, etc.)
Then we  weed by date-- anything that is 10 years old or older (replace
classics with a fresh new copy if _kids_ like them, and plan to ILL
anything classic that you keep only because an adult wants a nostalgic
read).
Items between 5 and 10 years old need to be evaluated for dated topics
(if it was hot 6 years ago, today's picture book readers weren't even
born), inaccuracies, trivialities, or something that the kids in your
community don't read often--get rid of them.  (When I first weeded the
picture books in TSPL's collection (in 1990), I had to get rid of a book
from the 70's that talked about girls growing up to be secretaries and
mothers and boys growing up to be president!)  Just a few minutes ago I
was weeding beginning readers and got rid of a 10 year old series that
was illustrated mostly in black and white line drawings--so different
from the stuff being published now--and you probably would want to prune
that sort of thing from the picture books, too.
Believe experience--once you've weeded, your circ will rise!!

Willa Jean Harner, Tiffin-Seneca Public Library
----------------------------------------------------------------

When weeding picture books I use the Best Books for Children Preschool
through grade 6 book.
The copy I have is the 6th edition by John T. Gillespie. I found this copy
below on Amazon.....

Best books for children : preschool through the middle grades
by John Thomas Gillespie
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0835213323/qid=1072721020/sr=1
-14/ref=sr_1_14/002-2039298-2204806?v=glance&s=books

It pretty  much lists all the notable and award books as well as just good
picture books that should be kept. If I find a book that is MUSTY I first
check in this resource book and if it is not listed then I weed it. If it is
listed in the book then I put it aside to try and find a newer copy of the
book.

MUSTY is a term we learned in one of my library school classes.

M=misleading and/or factually inaccurate

U=Ugly-worn, and beyond mending or rebinding

S=Superseded by a truly NEW edition or by a much better book

T=Trivial of no discernible literary or scientific value (rugrats books,
scooby books, sponge bob, grocery story type of picture books etc...)

Y=Your collectoin has not use for this aterial, irrelevant to the needs of
your clientele

I hope this was helpful.

kelly morris
Youth Services
Auglaize County Public Library-Wapakoneta
----------------------------------------------------------------

The criteria are reallly not much different from weeding other areas.
Obviously shabby, ripped, and written in books go. That weeds a lot
right there. Then I look for circ numbers. If it isn't checking out then
it goes. The exception to this is I try and keep a good selection of
multicultural books that do not tend to check out, just so that I have
them for the smaller segments of my population.Another  exception might
be out of print classics which I then pull and put in my storytime
collection. You also need to be careful and look for older books that
might have harmful stereotypes or insulting pictures etc.. Often we will
have multiple copies of a book that was an award winner or very popular.
After a few years I will weed those down to 1 or 2 copies. However I
will add 3 or 4 copies of the very popular books that tend to wear out
easily, like Arthur or Clifford. Also newer editions of popular books
tend to check out more than the older books(we reallly do judge a book
by it's cover) I would make sure that I kept the old one if it had a
better illustrator or fabulous pictures. It can be a tricky judgement
call. Hope this helps Trish Hull
----------------------------------------------------------------

We weed picture books mostly for condition.  If the binding is loose and it
is still inprint AND we think it is a good or important book we replace it.
If there are more than three torn pages we weed it, replace it if possible.
We  have also weeded out most  of the old tri-color 70's stuff, especially
the beginning readers.  My thought here is that if it ugly it won't inspire
the new readers to work at it.  We also have gone down to only 1 or 2 copies
of most things, exceptions are things like Chick Chicka Boom Boom which we
need about 5 copies of.  My assitant has started nagging me to weed out
books that are a only few years old but in perfect condition, suggesting
that no body is reading them.  My thought is that if we weed out the garbage
perhaps they will find the under used stuff.
We weed our picture books annually and every year I find several hundered
that fall in this category.  I have a large replacement budget, which in
fact is so big I have $10,000.00 left at the end of 2003.
Good luck. When I was a new librarian weeding the picture books was the
hardest thing I had to do.....mostly because so much of the good stuff goes
out of print so fast I was/am afraid to get rid of anything.  I finally have
realized that even though we are the largest library in southwest Washington
state we don't NEED to have everything....just most stuff!
If you want to chat about this my number is 360-699-8869 or we can e-mail
about it.  I just weeded the J398's, now that was very difficult because it
all is in pretty good condition and they never go out of style.
Ruth Shafer
Youth Services Librarian
Vancouver, Washington USA
----------------------------------------------------------------

We start by being clear WHY we're weeding. If it's just to refresh the
collection, it's pretty simple.
We weed for condition first. Then we run a "zero circ" list to see what
items haven't circulated in the last year or two. If we find them (and
often they are missing) we evaluate condition vs purchase date. If they
are clunkers, we discard them.

We also run a list of high circulation items to see if they will need
replacement copies bought.

If we're weeding to gain space, we may be weeding more than just the
shabby items. So we'll be looking at titles with multiple copies. We'll
probably keep those in best condition. We may rethink the role of that
branch as the recipient of "last copies" for archiving. Then we decide
if another library will get the materials.

Weeding picture books is very simple. Doing retrospective collection
development is a much bigger project.

Good luck!
Lori Karns
Ventura County Library
805 641-4449
----------------------------------------------------------------

i'll tell you up front, weeding is a real challenge for me!  i
tend to be emotionally attached to just about everything and can't bear
the thought of discarding anything - that said......i'd start with the
A's and just go through one by one checking for appearance, old + faded,
ripped + torn get pulled - if it's a classic i try to reorder or i check
our donations to see if the donated copy is in better shape than ours -
don't underestimate the power of a shiny new book - next i check for
timeliness, some illustrations+/or topics are dated - those can be
pulled - then i check for usage, if it has been sitting on the shelf for
the past 3 years without a single checkout then it obviously is taking
up precious space - the exception to this last one would be something
classic that every library should have regardless - our asst. librarian
once told me that we can interlibrary loan just about anything that our
patrons might need so we don't need to feel that we should have
everything on our shelves - taking the burden of "having everything"off
my shoulders has made all the difference!
!! just my 2 cents !!
   ~gayle byrne~
killingworth library
----------------------------------------------------------------

First, you need to become familiar with the popular authors and award
winners.  Find out which books the local teachers use every year.  These
books may be in rotton shape just because they have been checked out so
much. Either repair or replace works by these authors because they will be
asked for again and again.
You may also find books that look brand new, but they are ten years old.
Check to see how many times the book has been checked out and how recently.
If it has been sitting on the shelf for a year or two without going out,
that is a pretty good indication that  it wouldn't be missed if you weeded
it. The number of years you keep a book that isn't popular depends on how
pressed you are for space.  If you need room for new books, you have to be
more ruthless.
Get rid of series based on TV shows that were popular a couple of years ago
but are now off the air.  If you know you have newer and better books on a
topic, get rid of the old run-of the mill ones.  For example, there are
dozens of "good-night" stories.  Keep the classics and new ones, pitch the
mediocre ones.
Hope this helps!

Pam Hoesman, Oak Harbor Public Library
hoesmapa@oplin.org
----------------------------------------------------------------

I just got finished weeding our Easy collection not too long ago.  I did
broad guidelines, starting with a publication date of over 10 years.  I
then looked at each book that was pulled.  If the book was a classic, ie
Caldecott or written by a classic author like Keats or Carle, I would
look at its condition.  If it was in good condition, I would look at the
number of copies we had.  If we had an insane amount of copies (again,
looking at if it was a Caldecott - we have three colleges in this town
and they all have children's lit classes, so the Caldecotts can be in
high demand), I'd consider weeding the collection.  I'd also look at the
state of the individual book.  If it was a title that needed to stay in
the collection but was beyond reasonable repair, I'd chuck it and
replace it when I could.
 On the other hand, if a book had a publication date over 10 years, was
not by a respected author, hadn't circulated much, or was in dire need
of repair, out it went.  It helps to be in a "cleaning" kind of mood to
do this well.  Once you start have second thoughts about some of your
decisions, it's time to stop for the day and start again on another day.  J
 Good luck,
 Jeanne Pierce
Children's Librarian
The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal, and Forrest County
Hattiesburg, MS
----------------------------------------------------------------

We start with circulation statistics.  If a picture book has not circulated
in the last three years, we consider it for discard.  Since we are a large,
main library, we will not discard if it is by an important author or
illustrator (we have a lot of students of children's literature who will
read/look at books here, but not take them out).  We also check the title in
Children's Catalog.  If it is there we won't discard it either.  But, if
it's not "important," or circulating we discard it.  We will also discard it
if the concept or story is dated.  If the book is worn out, but still
circulating, we will try to replace it before discarding it.

Hope this helps.  Good luck.

Susan

Susan Fichtelberg
sfichtel@lmxac.org
Woodbridge Public Library
George Frederick Plaza
Woodbridge, NJ  07095
732-634-4450 ext. 225
----------------------------------------------------------------

Even though we are the main branch library for a population of 70,000, we
have very limited room.  We are at capacity. When we buy a book, we must
delete a book. Obviously we don't do it one for one, but we do major
weedings.

Our guidelines are that we keep books published within the past ten years,
plus classics, or rather books that have proven very popular. Librarians
used to buy multiple copies of picture books. We have weeded the extra
copies, except for those books which are very popular.

Obviously poor condition also gets weeded.

Renee Austin
Children's Librarian
Napa City-County Library
----------------------------------------------------------------

It's tough--I'm working on it right now myself! Nonfiction is a piece
of cake (most of the time). Fiction--especially picture books--is much
tougher. I may not be the best person to answer this question because,
while I love weeding, I have a soft place for a lot of fiction.
Here are some of the things I've been looking for:
Duplicate copies (the "quick and dirty" weeding)--if you don't need
more than one copy, don't keep more than one!
Circulation and condition are the biggies. If it doesn't circ or is
really ugly, it's a candidate. Not that it will go, but consider those
first.
I check to see if the book (and perhaps author) is in Children's
Catalog or Best Books for Children. If the book is in the current
edition, it stays. If it's not mentioned anywhere, it usually goes. If
it was mentioned in a previous issue....well, it depends on how far back
it goes. I feel fortunate to have Title Source II from Baker and Taylor
to use because it lists previous awards for titles and publications in
which the book has been featured for lots of years. The farther back the
mention, the less likely I am to keep it. Now if it's a Caldecott winner
or honor book, no matter condition or circs, it stays (of course if the
condition is bad, I try to replace it....although that rather defeats
the purpose of weeding, doesn't it....).
I also look for "standard" and "classic" authors (even if they aren't
mentioned in the afore mentioned aids). These may vary from location to
location. One hit wonder authors (unless their books themselves are
classic) are probables for discard. And, contrary to what others in my
library may say, I don't keep everything from any particular author.
Example: Anne Rockwell is one of my favorites for toddler time concept
books, but some of her things are (1) not popular with the public (2)
things that won't really work for story time and (3) not her "greatest
hits"--so I got rid of a few of them!
One other test: I make a cart of what I'm planning to discard. I let my
boss, a former children's librarian, look at it. So far, I think she has
only pulled one or two off to put back on the shelf--and I've discarded
several hundred (and need to do several hundred more....).
Hope this helps! Good luck--I know it ain't easy!
Beverly K.
Library Manager, Youth Services
Hurst Public Library
Hurst, TX
---------------------------------------------------------------

here's something i wrote up years ago for a collection
maintenance policy. it gives general guidelines &
explanation for use:

Children's Collection
A.    Easy Book Collection
Goals:
*To provide books exhibiting a variety of stories and
illustration styles to accommodate the varying
interests and comprehension levels of the intended
audience.
*To maintain a complete (as possible) collection of
standard, award-winning authors and illustrators,
replacing standard titles as necessary (or as
possible).
*To achieve and maintain a physically attractive
collection by replacing popular and standard titles as
needed (as possible) and weeding out titles that have
outlived their popularity.
*Good picture books are rarely in short supply when
ordering new titles.  For this reason it is not as
necessary to maintain duplicate copies of books. Only
when a book is continually in high demand will
duplicate copies be purchased.  In addition, popular
authors/illustrators and award winning titles may
warrant additional copies as they continue to
circulate.
Easy Book Evaluation Criteria for Weeding:
1.  circulation
2.  physical condition
3.  interest level
4.  format
5.  duplicate copies
6.  reading level
7.  quantity of books of that type or subject
8.  new editions or better books of the same nature
are available
9.  content
~j.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I am in the middle of weeding our pictures books in anticpation of a
move to a new building - I am pulling books that have not circulated
since 1999, are tattered, worn (and reordering good ones when I can) or
books that just look too dated. I also check to see what other area
libraries have when I'm in doubt - If we are the only librray in the
area with a particular book, I'll keep it. Of course we keep call award
winners, i.e. caldecott..

Hope this helps!

Joan Stokes
Southbury Public Library
Southbury. CT.
----------------------------------------------------------------

I've also just started a picture book weeding project - a pretty big chore
as we have several thousand (10,000+) on the shelf.
First, I am going through with a truck and pulling everything that looks
worn - then I'm checking those to see which are valuable - then deciding if
they need to go to Limited Access, either circulating or reference.  We have
pretty large collections of each.  Kids just don't want to check out ratty
looking books.
Second, I'm starting at the A's, pulling a shelf at a time and checking both
circ stats and general condition.  If it hasn't circed a reasonable number
of times in the last year, it's out.  But, if it's a really good book and I
suspect it's just been overlooked because it's hard to browse our
over-stuffed shelves, I'm gathering for a display.  Then, I'll toss if it
still doesn't circ.
If it hasn't circed, looks like a mediocre story or one that is just not
current or relevant, it's out.  Also, if it's on a topic that is of
particular interest to the pbk set, I'll look to see if we have a reasonable
selection before I toss books that are in decent condition.
So, basically I'm looking at whether its circulation stats and quality make
it deserving of shelf space.  If not, then it is evaluated for the Limited
Access collection - is it OP, valuable, and/or likely to be wanted by a
researcher or student? (Both Amazon and Books In Print are great resources
for this phase)
I hope this helps some - it's definitely more subjective that weeding
nonfiction.
Donna MacKinney
Dallas Public Library
Children's Center
Dallas, TX
----------------------------------------------------------------
Just a couple of suggestions. If the book is ragged and falling apart,
it's a no-brainer--toss it. If it is also a wonderful classic or popular
title, then try to replace it with a new copy. If you have any way to
determine the last circ date of your picture books, then you can
probably weed most of the ones that haven't circulated in at least 3
years. My picture book collection at my branch is so large, that I
generally weed books that haven't circed in 1 year, with a few
exceptions, depending on author, etc. When I weed my pic bk collection,
I often keep many of the weeded books in order to cut pictures from
them. I make a lot of magnet board stories, and use the pictures from
cut-up picture books for the story pictures. That way, I feel that the
books aren't totally going to waste. Hope this helps.
Beverly Bixler
bbixler@sanantonio.gov
San Antonio Public Library, TX
----------------------------------------------------------------

We purged our picture books last year. First a purge list was generated
for books that had not gone out in the last year and a half. The theory
being that picture  books should circ often or they probably won't circ
at all. Each of the youth reference people took a portion of the list
and pulled all the books. They were then turned over to the person who
ordered for that section sometimes with recomendations for keeping or
reordering, but generally trying to keep uppermost the philosophy that a
good purging increases circulation. The person who ordered for that area
made the final decision. Hope this helps. Pat Jones

------------------------------
From: "Minkel, Walter (RBI-US)" <WMinkel@reedbusiness.com>
To: "'S. Fichtelberg'" <sfichtel@lmxac.org>, "'pubyac@prairienet.org'"
Subject: RE: sf and fantasy
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Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 03:05:37 CST

Hi. I've also been a sf and fantasy fan all my life, & I think that the
genres should be kept together. I don't think they should be labeled SF
only, but "SF/Fantasy" so that it's clear that both genres are included. Why
the double label? It's because 1) many readers read both genres
indiscriminately, 2) so many books in the two genres cross borders, making
determination of what genre they are sometimes tough (Anne McCaffrey's
Dragon stories are technically sf, but we know that many readers read them
as fantasies), & 3) I feel there are too many genre labels now; creating two
separate labels confuse many readers who think, for example, that the
McCaffrey books are fantasy, when they're in a separate SF section.

Also, I think establishing a separate "Fantasy" section would be confusing,
because so many "mainstream" children's books are fantasy. Technically, the
Harry Potter books are fantasy, but how many librarians label them as such?
And what about animal fantasies? The lines between "high fantasy" (anything
vaguely medieval, with knights, Gandalf-style wizards, elves, dragons, etc.)
and other subgenres of fantasy are growing fuzzier as the "high fantasy"
genre is exhausting its materials & writers are looking for other variations
that will appeal to fantasy readers. Determining whether a new book is
fantasy or not can (as many PUBYACers know) be rough to do. It'll be very
easy for a lot of popular books to get lost.

I know a lot of librarians (and other adult readers) who will only read
mysteries with female detectives as the protagonists; does that mean we
should create a separate (adult) label for "Mysteries/Female Detectives"?

(Note: my points above suppose that all genres are shelved in individual
sections to make browsing easier. If they're interfiled with the mainstream
fiction, it's not such a big deal.) Best, W

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Walter Minkel, Technology Editor, School Library Journal
www.slj.com * wminkel@reedbusiness.com * 646-746-6721 * fax 646-746-6689


-----Original Message-----
From: S. Fichtelberg [mailto:sfichtel@lmxac.org]
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 12:54 AM
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: Re: sf and fantasy


As an avid fantasy reader, who does indeed like science fiction as well, I
would like to put a pitch in for separate labels.  If the purpose of putting
genre labels on the books is to help browsers find what they're looking for,
we should put fantasy labels on fantasy.  It helps fantasy readers find what
they are looking for.  It we say that it's too hard for us to figure out,
put a sci/fi label on it and let the readers figure it out, we're not really
helping them, are we?

I hate it when we put sci/fi labels on fantasy, which is what we did in my
library when I first came.  Then, we started putting fantasy labels on
children's books, and now they put them on adult books as well.  And with
the Harry Potter phenomena, I now have lots of readers who zoom in right to
the fantasy books.  It's true that it's hard to tell with some books, and
some books are a mixture, but many are not.  And it's our job to help young
people find the books.

Other genres can have blurry lines too, and we still put on labels.  For
example, historical fiction:  is a book that takes place in the sixties
historical fiction?  Well, it is to the children, but it's not deliberately
set 50 years ago (almost though).  Is a book that was contemporary when it
was written, but is historical now (like Little Women) historical fiction?
(My understanding is that the author had to intend it be historical, but I
know people who would label it as historical).  These elements may make it
harder to determine which books get the labels, but as professionals we make
the decisions and label the books.  The same should be true for science
fiction and fantasy.

Susan

Susan Fichtelberg
sfichtel@lmxac.org
Woodbridge Public Library
George Frederick Plaza
Woodbridge, NJ  07095
732-634-4450 ext. 225

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From: "Larry Gainor" <larrygainor@charter.net>
To: <PUBYAC@prairienet.org>
Subject: Selecting children's music
Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 03:07:12 CST

As someone who only occasionally works in the children's department, and =
whose selection experience is limited to books and a few videos, I was =
curious as to what publications list members use to select music for =
children.

After viewing the movie "Chuck & Buck," I found out that  a particularly =
catchy song (Freedom of the Heart) on the soundtrack was from an album =
of children's songs by Gwendolyn & the Good Time Gang.  Being too cheap =
to buy it, I was going to get a copy from Inter-Library Loan, however =
WorldCat doesn't show the CD as being owned by any member libraries.  I =
contacted Gwendolyn, and suggested that public libraries might be a good =
potential market for her work, but wanted to follow-up with a few =
publications that might be interested in reviewing her work.

Here's a link to the Amazon.com page for the CD with some audio samples: =
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DJEEG/qid=3D1073356955=
/sr=3D1-2/ref=3Dsr_1_2/103-0998037-3092646?v=3Dglance&s=3Dmusic

Larry Gainor
Fort Worth Public Library

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From: Terrill <trumpeter2@shaw.ca>
To: pubyac@prairienet.org
Subject: regarding dragons programs
Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 03:08:10 CST

Sheilah - Just to add a short suggestion for the development of your SRC
dragon theme, how 'bout the book "Library Dragon" by Carmen Agra Deedy ;
illustrated by Michael P. White. Atlanta : Peachtree, c1994.   Great
illustrations, fun story .... and hey ...... libraries too!

Terrill Scott
Fraser Valley Regional Library
British Columbia         Canada


"Let us read and let us dance, two amusements that will never do any harm to
the world."     - Voltaire

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From: "Tammie Beers" <beersta@oplin.org>
To: <PUBYAC@prairienet.org>
Subject: stumper me too monkeys
Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 05:01:40 CST


The request is for a children's book published before 1970 that may be
titled The Stowaway Monkeys and the monkeys say "Me too, me too!" in the
story.  I've tried title, subject, and keyword searches.

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Tammie Beers

London Public Library

20 East First Street

London, Ohio 43140

740-852-9543

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From: "Carol Edwards" <edwarc@mx.pon.net>
To:  <pubyac@prairienet.org>
Subject: Mock Caldecott Results for Sonoma County
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Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 05:44:56 CST


Greetings,
Sonoma County Library in Santa Rosa held a Mock Caldecott Discussion last n=
ight and we chose our winners, ending up with a tie we couldn't break. Gran=
ted no real committee would do this, I still must report that

"Harvesting Hope" by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Yuyi Morales and
"Creation" by Gerald McDermott

were our winners.

The one honor book was "The Day the Babies Crawled Away" by Peggy Rathmann.=


The other books on our discussion list were:

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chosos-Irvine
George Washington=92s Teeth by Chandra, illus by Brock Cole
Olivia and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer
Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee
How I Became a Pirate by Long, illus by David Shannon
The Dot by Peter Reynolds
Camping Spree with Mr Magee by Chris Van Dusen


Please excuse any cross posting! Ciao, Carol Edwards
Sonoma County Library Santa Rosa, CA


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From: "Kimberly Venzon" <kvenzon@fountaindale.lib.il.us>
To: PUBYAC@prairienet.org
Subject: Science Project Index suggestions?
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Date: Wed,  7 Jan 2004 05:45:14 CST

We would like to update our Science Project Indexes on the Reference
shelves.

We currently own:
Science Experiments and Projects Index by Lisa Holonitch c1994
Science Experiments Index for Young People by Mary Pilger
c1992 & c1988

I have found in my own searching:
Science Experiments Index for Young People Third Edition by Mary Pilger
c2001
and also a c1996 edition of the Pilger book
published by Libraries Unlimited

There are two public library projects that look promising:
Akron-Summit County (Ohio) Public Library Science Fair Project Index
database online at ascpl.lib.oh.us/scifair
hard cover published in 1974, 1983, 1986, and 1992 by Scarecrow Press
(edited
by Cynthia Bishop)

Lake County (Indiana) Public Library
Science Fair Project Index -- appears to be an index of the books they own.
self-published in Merrilville, FirstSearch lists the most recent edition as
the Fifth in c2002.

If a Lake County or Akron-Summit County librarian is on the list:
Lake County:  How could we purchase your index?
What suggestions can you offer if we are interested in undertaking such a
project for our own collection?

Does anyone else know of another source for an index to science experiments?

Thank you all!
Kimberly Venzon
Children's Services Librarian
Fountaindale Public Library District
300 West Briarcliff Road
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
630-759-2102 ext. 16

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End of PUBYAC Digest 1307
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