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Do teachers read book reviews?
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From: Holly Willett <willett>
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 12:20:39 -0400
Hello, everyone--I've been lurking for a few weeks, but I had to respond to Katharine Bruner's list of review journals that she subscribes to. And my response was to lick my chops! As an elementary school librarian in Dallas, I had a budget of 50 cents per student for periodicals and was permitted to subscribe to only one professional journal. That one was usually SLJ or Booklist because of the coverage. Neither of those journals is particularly appealing to teachers. Teachers could use their $50 supply budgets to subscribe to professional sources, but few of them did so.
Like Robin Smith and Susan Griffith, I found that word-of-mouth, going in both directions between the teachers and me, was most effective, as just one or two of them read reviews. I tried to schedule examination times for new books at least once during the school year (with refreshments to entice attendance) so that teachers would take some time to look at new books. Those who came really enjoyed the opportunity.
Holly Willett
Holly G. Willett willett at rowan.edu Library Education Advisor/Coordinator Secondary Education/Foundations of Education Rowan University Glassboro, NJ 08028
(609) 256G59
Received on Mon 21 Sep 1998 11:20:39 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 12:20:39 -0400
Hello, everyone--I've been lurking for a few weeks, but I had to respond to Katharine Bruner's list of review journals that she subscribes to. And my response was to lick my chops! As an elementary school librarian in Dallas, I had a budget of 50 cents per student for periodicals and was permitted to subscribe to only one professional journal. That one was usually SLJ or Booklist because of the coverage. Neither of those journals is particularly appealing to teachers. Teachers could use their $50 supply budgets to subscribe to professional sources, but few of them did so.
Like Robin Smith and Susan Griffith, I found that word-of-mouth, going in both directions between the teachers and me, was most effective, as just one or two of them read reviews. I tried to schedule examination times for new books at least once during the school year (with refreshments to entice attendance) so that teachers would take some time to look at new books. Those who came really enjoyed the opportunity.
Holly Willett
Holly G. Willett willett at rowan.edu Library Education Advisor/Coordinator Secondary Education/Foundations of Education Rowan University Glassboro, NJ 08028
(609) 256G59
Received on Mon 21 Sep 1998 11:20:39 AM CDT
