From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:07:15 -0800 (PST)

Most of the responses on this topic confirm my feeling that kids (and many adults) value series, and they play an important part in the reading lives of lots of children and teens. At our library we keep popular paperback series (not the "linked books" like Ramona, etc.) in a separate, very visible location, and they fly off the shelves, especially in summer. The circulation of these paperback series books is slightly higher than that of our regular fiction collection, though it's about half the size. About 22% of that circulation takes place during June and July as our Summer Reading Program takes off. Every year I think we've purchased a few too many copies of "Magic Tree House" and "A to Z Mysteries," and every year (so far) I'm wrong, since we're about cleaned out around June 30th. And I think it's great. I know many of those kids move on to other fiction (or non-fiction), if not that summer than somewhere down the line. And when they do, I think their series reading often
 prepares them well for more challenging fare. "The Book of Three" may be easier for the child whose already read "Secrets of Droon," and even "Mary Kate and Ashley Mysteries" can lead to "Sammy Keyes" or, who knows, maybe even "The Westing Game..."
   
  - Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library
    503-526-2599 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us

                
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Received on Thu 01 Dec 2005 01:07:15 AM CST