Here I want to jot down some of what I learned in class about collection development and my thoughts.
Noting all the reviewers-who you agree with and who you do not well help with a librarian build a solid collection. Researching a little about each reviewer and reading about their library system will help the librarian decide if the information she/he is reading is rely able. Buying known authors is a good idea and simply reading the last line of the Kirkus reviews is key to selecting material. That the review sources are free and online is very good news. If I had a very tight budget and enough time I would also try and read the first chapter of the book before I order it. I would also look at NYPLs lists as well as BPLs recommends and other award winners.
I never read middle school books that I can recall. I read the diary of Anne Frank (kinda) when I was in school. I liked Judy Bloom in 4th and 5th grade. I don't think that teens really like middle school books either besides the classics depending on the kid. I think of middle school books as having to be too safe to be interesting to normal teenagers. Harry Potter and other fantasy, horror-like goosebumps and biographies are the first kinds of books that come to mind. Buying books for a middle school library is a difficult job. Books that would be a shoe in: All Creatures Great and Small, Anne of Green Gables, other classics, tame Graphic novels and Manga, Art Books and the rest age appropriate Dewey. You mentioned looking at Chelsea House and Ocra Soundings for nonfiction, but that generally nonfiction for middle schoolers is expensive and hard to find. You also mentioned basing most of the collection development around the curriculum.
Knowing that I would be throwing away any science books that were not written in the last five years would make me think twice before building a large print collection of science books. I would spend the money that would have gone to science books on computers and databases. Luckily you never have to throw out philosophy or Folklore and classic literature.
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Yes, there are many different complicated pieces to collection development. I think middle school can be one of the tougher places to build collections, because you have all these teens or pre-teens who are on the brink (and therefore very excited about) of adulthood. So they're very interested in what it means to be an adult, to act like one, to live the life of one. So, in a way, the middle school books are almost, in a lot cases too young for them.
Still, there are teens/tweens at different points in their lives, so you'll definitely want to have some variety.
I think one of the main things to keep in mind is that kids tend to prefer to read up--so it's going to be mostly 10 and 11 year olds reading your middle school books. The rest will be reading regular YA fiction.
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