Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Tuesday Slice: Please read these!


The latest shipment of new library books crowds the top of our middle row of shelves in our elementary library.

Fiction novels, picture books, biographies, college football.  Fractured fairy tales and tales about wall art around the world.  Humor, adventure, science fiction, fantasy.

Buying books is one of my favorite parts of my job.  I love scouring the Kirkus reviews, perusing the book suggestions made by students and staff, following up on the recommendations of my graduate professors, authors, and fellow librarians.  I start another online shopping cart as soon as an order is placed, and add to it often.  Since I only place big orders two or three times a year, it feels like Christmas when the boxes arrive, with exclamations of "Oh!  I forgot I ordered that one! Isn't it great?".

But like an art gallery owner on opening night, I get a touch of anxiety, with thoughts of  "Will the students like what I've chosen?"  "Why hasn't that book been checked out? I thought for sure it would go quickly."  I start pointing books out to the staff, too, hoping they will find them useful, especially the ones that seem to fit so nicely into the curriculum.

We had a few straggler books left over from the last shipment, and I put the latest arrivals on display yesterday afternoon.

Fingers crossed that like great food at a party, they get snatched up quickly.

4 comments:

  1. I LOVE putting out new books! I love watching the students pick one out to check out. I do wonder sometimes why certain books don't fly off the shelf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! My goal is to stretch my readers this year. Seems they go time and time again to known series and books (which is not always a bad thing!), and then complain they are tired of reading. Time to try something new!

      Delete
  2. I just received a box of books from Scholastic and it really is like Christmas morning! I couldn't wait to start handing out books to the kids that I had in mind when I made the order! There is just something magical about putting out brand new books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that you select books with specific children in mind! And I hope the students clicked with what you chose!

      Delete