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School Librarian’s s Corner
Welcome back to the School Library Corner of
Christian Library Journal.
by Leslie Greaves Radloff
This column is a
first for me.
Although I have talked about children’s
books and library issues for years, I have
never before written about them on a
regular basis. When Nancy asked me to
take over the column, I thought, “Wow! Big
shoes to fill.” This column was one of the
first parts I read in CLJ after its arrival. So,
with Nancy’s input I began thinking about
topics and materials that I had recently read
and used which might prove helpful to
other school librarians or media specialists.
Two resource books crossed my desk as
I was thinking about the column. One was
Selecting Books for the Elementary School
Library Media Center: A Complete Guide
by Phyllis Van Orden, and the other was
Coretta Scott King Award Books: Using
Great Literature with Children and Young
Adults by Claire Gatrell Stephens. Since I
am always looking for resource books to
help me with selection and for materials
that my teachers can use with novels, I’d
like to share them with you.
The first is a very useful, practical
guide for both beginning and experienced
librarians. The thirteen areas covered
include a discussion of the selection process
for collections which will support
curriculum and information literacy for all
students and library users. The general
guidelines may be applied to a variety of
circumstances. All book buyers know that
the price of books has risen in the past few
years and that budgets or gift moneys do
not cover the needs of school libraries. The
author has included tables and criteria to
help understand pre-selection and selection
as well as calling attention to the need for a
selection policy, a subject which I discussed
in an article for Christian Library Journal
several years ago. Each library needs one,
in print, clearly written, and available for
people to see. If you don’t have one,
borrow a few from other libraries and tailor
one to fit your own, keeping in mind the
purpose of your school, its special mission,
and philosophy of education.
Van Orden’s book is logically arranged
and moves from general selection
information to the specifics of selection of
materials to reflect diversity; picture books,
the different genres of fiction, non-fiction,
folk-tales, rhymes and poetry; and reference
aids (an area where many of us have trouble
choosing for our unique circumstances) and
professional books. Since many of us use
our money for items other than professional
books, this title could be recommended to
teachers building their own professional
libraries, although if the budget would
allow, I’d say buy it for the media center.
All this information comes with a hefty
price—$49.95. If the cost is prohibitive,
check the public library or
college/university libraries, especially if
there is a library school attached.
The second volume, Coretta Scott King
Award Books, fills a need and a niche.
With so many teachers wanting to teach
with Newbery and Caldecott award books,
many find like the author, that the media
center cannot supply enough titles. The
lists of winners for the Coretta Scott King
Award should help that crunch. Most of us
have the titles on our shelves already.
Some of the titles listed include: In
Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African
Americans Celebrating Fathers by John
Steptoe; Taylor’s Let the Circle be
Unbroken and other titles; Walter Dean
Myers The Young Landlords, and many
other titles.
While I was not a teacher who used
worksheet after worksheet when I was in
the classroom, the ideas here could be
adapted to use with students and include
higher level thinking skills. Stephens has
also included a bibliography and suggested
Internet sites, which may or may not be
useful, depending on grade level,
maintenance of the site itself, and suitability
for use with a particular grade.
These books came to me from a special
collection lending library in Minnesota
where teachers, school librarians, and those
interested in the area can check out
materials without having to buy them. See
what your own states have to offer. Even if
there is a small fee attached for borrowing
privileges I have found it to be well worth
it for the amount of materials that I can
borrow. If they seem like titles that I will
use again and again, I often purchase them;
if not, I am not out any money.
Titles discussed:
Stephens, Claire Gatrell. Coretta Scot King
Award Books: Using Great Literature with
Children and Young Adults. Libraries
Unlimited, 2000. 1-56308-685-9.
Van Orden, Phyllis. Selecting Books for the
Elementary School Library Media Center.
Neal-Shuman, 2000. $49.95. 1-55570-
368-2.
S P R I N G 2 0 0 1 6 C H R I S T I A N L I B R A R Y J O U R N A L