From: M Hall <mlhall30>
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 17:16:35 -0700 (PDT)

Greetings,

I agree with Katy Horning that "books for independent readers" is hard to define. For instance, I work in a public library and we have "chapter books" in our Early Reader section. Books such as Frog & Toad
(Lobel), Henry & Mudge (Rylant) and Nate the Great
(Sharmat). We also have transitional books for readers who have mastered the beginning readers but who are not yet ready for chapter books without pictures. Books that I recommend in this category include Amber Brown (Danzinger), the Time Warp Trio (Scieszka), Junie B. Jones (Park), Cam Jansen (Adler) and Horrible Harry/Mary Maloney (Kline). I know that these are all series books but I think that reading in a series boosts the self-confidence that these readers need. I also find that these books all have humor as a common thread, which is equally important to independent readers.

In our library, transitional books such as these are interfiled alphabetically with the longer fiction. As a result, they sometimes do not reach their intended audience.

How do other libraries shelve transitional books? Are they interfiled with general fiction or are they shelved seperately? How do patrons find them if they are interfiled? Do you offer a bibliography? Do the books have a special spine label? Are the books catalogued differently than fiction in the same way that beginning readers are?

I would be curious to know what you think about these questions.

Margaret Hall Youth Services Librarian Lisle (Illinois) Library District mlhall30 at yahoo.com


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Received on Wed 03 Oct 2001 07:16:35 PM CDT