New books, new books, new books

Let's face it, I am a bit of a book geek. For the last several weeks there was been a nice steady flow of carts in juvenile literature, and it makes me happy. Today's batch includes books I ordered, along with selections made by another librarian in charge of a small annual budget given to the library to purchase juvenile literature. From a collection development standpoint, it is nice to have a second librarian making a contribution to the juvenile section of the library. Every librarian thinks he/she is building a well-rounded and unbiased collection. Generally speaking, this is the case. But, no matter how hard you try, some aspects a collection will begin to take on the personal choices of the librarian in charge of the purchasing.

After working as a children's librarian in a public library and teaching first grade, I tend to gravitate towards books reviewed as good for story time and group settings. The other librarian ordering has an interest in fantasy literature. Since she purchases that particular genre, I do not buy much fantasy. Today's cart has many very interesting titles, including Young Adult choices, graphic novels, picture books, and juvenile non-fiction:

• Alosha


• The Book of One Hundred Truths


• Babymouse Heartbreaker


• Games: A Tale of Two Bullies


• The Cartoon History of the Modern World


• Rubber Houses


• An Unlikely Friendship


• Flat Stanley


• Birdsongs


• Champions on the Bench


• A Lime, a Mime, a Pool of Slime


• Max Counts his Chickens


• Not a Box


• Our 50 States


• The End

The hardest part is looking over the cart and balancing what I want to read with what I will have time to read.

Tags: Collection development, Juvenile collection, Juvenile books, New books