Tough Love: An Open Letter to Kids’ Book Publishers

This open letter by Diantha McBride published in  School Library Journal expresses real concerns of School Librarians around the world.

Read and find. 

 

 

Dear Publishers:

I’m a school librarian. During the past 30 years, I’ve worked with children and young adults from ages 3 to 18 (not to mention teachers, families, administrators, lecturers, and visiting authors), and I’ve read a lot of books. Because there are so many kids’ books being published these days, I’m not expecting total perfection. Still, there are many things I wish publishers would do differently, things that could make your books much better. Here are my top 10 suggestions.

Illustrations by Elwood H. Smith

1. Bulk up those bindings.

Ohmigosh, where to start? First, the good news: I have books in my library that have held up just fine for more than 20 years. On the other hand, I’ve seen new titles self-destruct the second our cataloger opened them! I know it’s unrealistic to expect every volume to circulate 100 times before its binding crashes. But are 10 readings too much to hope for? And, please, don’t bring up library bindings. There’s not a single library on Earth that has only library bindings in its collection. Bottom line? Nobody should be offered a book that falls apart on the first reading—and what’s with those irregularly cut pages?

2. Better editing.

It’s time to tighten up those stories. Unless you’re publishing Madame Bovary or The Brothers Karamazov, 200 pages is plenty. And, yes, I know all about “Harry Potter” and “Redwall,” two series that successfully exceed that limit. But they’re not the norm. And if a hefty book isn’t super popular, its length can easily overwhelm many young readers. Plus, long novels often smack of assigned reading—even for middle school and high school students. Still not convinced that less is more? Consider these relatively thin titles: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (167 pages), Charlotte’s Web (184 pages), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (155 pages), The Adventures of Captain Underpants (128 pages), Casino Royale (181 pages), Of Mice and Men (118 pages), and A Separate Peace (196 pages). I rest my case.

3. Give that cover a makeover.

I’m sorry if this hurts your feelings, but far too many book jackets (I won’t name names) are just plain ugly. That’s the only word for it. I’d suggest that you recruit some real live fourth graders to review your mock-up covers before you make any final art decisions. Even adults judge a book by its cover. So you can’t expect kids to pick up one that looks dull, dull, dull. What kind of covers appeal to students? The kids that I talked to like jackets with animals (puppies are popular). But covers with enigmatic images (you know, the ones that no one can figure out what they’re a picture of) or dreamy, mysterious images (read: snoozer) are a tough sell. If kids are turned off by a cover, they’re bound to reject the title no matter how great my book talk is. And while we’re talking about covers…. Please, no more stupid titles like Fair Has Nothing to Do With It (Farrar, 2007), How Could You Do It, Diane? (Clarion, 1989), and Does My Head Look Big in This? (Orchard, 2007). Really now.

4. Where’s the art information?

Every year I buy 400 to 600 picture books for our library. Here’s what I’d like to see in each one of them: information that describes the medium used by the illustrator. I recently took a truckful of books that were waiting to be shelved and went through about 100 of them at random. Guess what? Only 20 included that type of information. And when I looked at a stack of Caldecott winners (which I use with our second graders), it was even worse: only one in 20 included art information. Since I’m always teaching students about how illustrators work, it would be nice to be able to open any picture book—whether we’re studying frogs, dinosaurs, dragons, or holidays—and find out what the artists used to create their images. Oh, and one more thing. Please, no more picture books with characters named Arthur—and no more mice.

5. More boy books.

I’m afraid this won’t be popular, but I need more books for boys—as do most librarians who work with young people. I’ve noticed that lots of books with female characters aren’t really about being female. In fact, in many cases, the main characters could just as easily have been males—and that would make my job a lot easier. Our young guys love Anthony Horowitz’s “Alex Rider” series (Philomel), Dav Pilkey’s stuff, and Jonathan London and Frank Remkiewicz’s “Froggy” books (Viking). But a novel like Ann Halam’s Siberia (Random House, 2005) could have included a male protagonist. (Sorry, Ann, but it’s true.) And Gloria Whelan’s The Impossible Journey (HarperCollins, 2003) could have featured an older brother and a younger sister—instead of 13-year-old Marya and her younger brother, Georgi. Am I being silly? Probably, but some of our boys have never read a complete book in their lives. It’s important to offer them good, appealing stories, and, sad to say, that means stories with prominent male characters.

6. Thanks, but no tanks.

I’m almost sorry to make this next suggestion (but not quite!): put a moratorium on children’s and young adult novels about World War II, please! My library already has 162 war novels. No other period of history comes close, not even the Middle Ages, another hugely popular period (with novelists anyway). We own dozens of books on the Holocaust and death camps, Japanese internment, battles and bombs, hiding and starving. Enough, I say… at least for awhile. Do I hear some publishers whispering that since I buy our library’s books, I should simply select something else? I would, if there was anything else to buy. And are you suggesting that authors like to write about WWII? Well, calling all authors: pick a new historical period for a change. There’s plenty of relatively unexplored territory. Our library, for example, has only one novel about the Byzantine Empire (it’s Tracy Barrett’s Anna of Byzantium [Delacorte, 1999], and I love it). And Caroline Lawrence’s series of Roman mysteries (Roaring Brook) is incredibly popular with our kids. (OK, she did visit our school, but that’s not the only reason her books are such a hit.) Let’s have more novels about ancient Greece or India or China or Thailand, more stories about medieval times in areas other than Europe.

7. Indexes are essential.

If you’re publishing a nonfiction book for young readers, be sure to include an index. Even in books for younger children, they’re a huge help. Children’s Press’s “New True” books (for students in grades one to three) each include an index, a table of contents, a glossary, and a well-designed title page—no wonder they’re so marvelous for teaching lots of things besides just the subject. When my third graders were doing their reports on other countries, a girl asked me if there was any information about artists in Mexico, the People (Crabtree, 2002). So I immediately turned to its index. No, it did not, but the index was there, so I could sneak in a handy little lesson.

8. Cite, cite, cite.

One more thing I’d love to see you add: citations. Lots of Web sites have them, and my students are getting used to seeing them. Did you say kids need to learn to write citations without that crutch? Well, maybe. But we encourage our kids to use EasyBib and Citation Machine to learn how to write proper citations, and I’d hate to think books aren’t setting a good example.

9. Stop changing the title in different countries.

I don’t care, I just don’t care, what reason you say makes you do this: stop it. No Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s—oops, the Philosopher’s Stone. No Golden Compass. Nope, please stick with Northern Lights, the book’s original title when it was published in the United Kingdom. And what about Flame by Hilari Bell? It’s now called Fall of a Kingdom, but that change came after I’d bought the first book in the series (and, by the way, Flame was a darned good title). Maybe you think everyone stays exclusively in their own country. Nope. Many of us move around. I work in a school in Spain where there’s a 30 percent annual turnover among my students and 50 nationalities. I buy books from three countries and in several languages. Leave those names alone, folks! And while we’re on that subject…

10. Out of order.

I just finished reading Elizabeth Wein’s wonderful novel The Lion Hunter (Viking, 2007), Book 1 of the “Mark of Solomon” series. I enjoyed it immensely, but somehow I had a hunch it wasn’t the first book in the series—it felt like a sequel. When I searched online, I discovered there was a book that came before it! It’s The Sunbird (Viking, 2004), Book 3 of the Arthurian-Aksumite cycle. In fact, I’ve discovered there are five books in Wein’s saga, but there’s no simple way to figure out the order in which the books should be read. Thank goodness for the Kent District Library’s “What’s Next? Books in Series,” an online tool that lists the chronological order in which series should be read. Otherwise, we might never find which comes first.

A lot of this confusion could be avoided, of course, if you put numbers on the spines of series books. Big numbers, so librarians can tell which book we have and which ones we need to order. Brian Jacques’s “Redwall” titles, for instance, don’t have any numbers. Believe me, kids want to know. Or at the very least, add a list of each volume near the front with all of the series’ titles in chronological order. Trust me, this matters.

Thanks for listening. I really do love publishers. After all, where would I be without you guys?

---

Author Information

Diantha McBride (DianthaMcBride@asmadrid.org) is lower school librarian at the American School of Madrid in Spain.

A month full of School Library

October is the International School Library Month (ISLM).

The International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)’s gives insight into this special month of school libraries all over the world. Earlier it was International School Library Day (ISLD) which was celebrated on the fourth Monday of October every year.

“ The change to International School Library Month was approved by the IASL Board in December 2007. An announcement was made by the coordinator, Rick Mullholland of Canada – "In early January 2008, the executive of IASL, upon recommendation from the International School Library Day committee, approved the change from International School Library Day to International School Library Month effective October 2008. This change cooincides with the tenth anniversary of IASL celebrating school libraries. International School Library Month will allow those in charge of school libraries around the world to choose a day in October that best fits their specific situation in order to celebrate the importance of school libraries".

James Henri, IASL President, stated, "International School Library Day just got a whole lot bigger. In fact, it has grown into International School Library Month (ISLM). This means you can choose the day or the week or indeed fill up the whole month in dedication of your school library and what it means to the school community".

You will get ISLM resources including logos, posters, other promotional materials and ideas for activities from here.

Think beyond “Google”

• There are hundreds of search engines other than Google and Yahoo!
  Here is a list of some good search engines those are worth a ride.
  • A9
  • AOL
  • AURA!
  • blinkx
  • boing
  • bookmach.com
  • BOXXET
  • ChaCha
  • ClipBlast!
  • Clusty
  • collarity
  • CometQ
  • CONGOO
  • d e c i p h o
  • del.icio.us
  • digg
  • digg labs swarm
  • Ditto
  • dumbfind
  • exalead
  • factbites
  • fazzle
  • FEEDS|2.0
  • Feedster
  • FindSounds
  • GIGABLAST
  • girafa
  • gnn o d
  • GoDefy
  • goshme
  • GoYams
  • grokker
  • ICEROCKET
  • ixquick
  • KartOO
  • last.fm
  • Lexxealpha
  • like
  • LiveDeal
  • liveplasma
  • Local.com
  • lurpo
  • MetaGlossary
  • mnemomap
  • Mojeek
  • Mooter
  • MrSAPO
  • MS. DEWEY
  • nayio
  • Octora
  • OiHoi Search
  • Pagebull
  • PlanetSearch
  • pluggd
  • PODZINGER
  • Previewseek
  • pronto.com
  • QTsearch
  • Quintura
  • Releton
  • retrevo gamma
  • riya
  • ROLLYO O
  • SearchTheWeb2
  • SEEQPOD
  • sidekiq
  • Simply Google
  • Singing FISH
  • Slideshow
  • Slifter
  • soople
  • Speegle
  • Sphider
  • SPURL.net
  • S R C H R
  • SurfWax
  • Swoogle
  • TagJag!
  • thefind.com
  • Trexy
  • turboscout
  • UJIKO
  • url.com
  • VMGO.com
  • Web 2.0
  • Webaroo
  • WEBBRAIN
  • What to RENT?
  • whonu?
  • WIKIO
  • WiseNut
  • Yahoo! MINDSET
  • yoono
  • yoople
  • yubnub
  • YuFind
  • ZABASEARCH
  • zapmeta
  • Zippy
  • ZUULA

Credit: Charles S. Knight, SEO, Read Write Web

National Knowledge Commission Recommendations on Libraries

The main recommendations are,

1. Set up a National Mission on Libraries 2.Prepare a National Census of all Libraries
3.Revamp Library and Information Science education, training and research facilities (Indian Institute of Library and Information Science)
4.Re-assess staffing of libraries
5.Set up a Central Library Fund
6.Modernize library management
7.Encourage greater community participation in library management
8.Promote Information Communication Technology (ICT) applications in all libraries
9.Facilitate donation and maintenance of private collections
10.Encourage public – private partnerships in development of library and information services

Download the document here,

NKC NKC Recommendations on Libraries

KV Librarians Network got its 100th Member

 

The Online Social Network of Kendriya Vidyalaya Librarians expanded its member base to Hundred as Mr.Satyavan Richhariya, Librarian, KV Khonsa joined the family on 20th September 2009.

This Network is a platform for working Kendriya Vidyalaya librarians from all over the country and abroad. The members have their own pages where they can upload everything regarding their own library. They can start a discussion and participate in a live one along with other common networking activities.

Networking the unorganised School Library Professionals working in Kendriya Vidyalayas and thereby initiate strategic developments in the arena of School Librarianship in India is the prime aim of the  start up.

New Library Blogs

Kendriya Vidyalaya AFS Arjangargh, New Delhi

Kendriya Vidyalaya, AFS, Kasauli (H.P.).

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sec-12 Dwarka, New Delhi

Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, GCF, Jabalpur(M.P.)

In service Course for Librarians (Batch-1), 2009

The fourteen days In service course for librarians started on 17^th August 2009 at the KVS Zonal Institute of Education and Training, Mysore with thirty nine participants from five Regions, Delhi, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Kolkata. The participants included freshers who joined in 2009 and seniors who to be retire in this year.

The programme was planned in a way to familiarize the participants with modern day professional tools and techniques with demos on real life applications. The thrust areas were the New Library Policy, Library Automation, Digital Libraries and Library 2.0.

In the inaugural session on 17^th August 2009 Sh. Shaik Mohammad Saleem, Director, ZIET welcomed the chief guest and all the participants. Prof. Umesh H. S., Principal, Sarada Vilas Teachers College, Mysore formally inaugurated the training programme. On the key note address he emphasised upon the modern day skills a library professional should be mastered. Associate Director, Smt. Ruby Huria proposed vote of thanks.

The mandatory pre-test was conducted on the same day.

The participants were divided into five groups and allotted with assignments , projects and daily duties. The assignments were,

1. Check list to evaluate a Library and its services

2. A Format for Librarian’s Diary

3. An Inspection format for the Librarian

4. Status of Library services in KVS and operational difficulties

5. Solutions and suggestions for the operational difficulties and overall improvement of KV libraries.

From the second day the the participants were engaged in different theoretical and hands on sessions.

The expert panel of guest lectures included, Prof. M. Minhaj, SDMIMD, Mysore (Internet search strategies, Greenstone Digital Library, Creation of library websites), Dr. Amruthavally, Faculty, CIST, University of Mysore (introduction to computers and related technologies), Dr. C.P.Ramasesha, Deputy Librarian, Uiversity of Mysore (Electronic resources for school libraries), Mr. Swaroop, E-Lib Manager, Mr. Sunil, M.V., Librarian, Mrs. Taramalini, Assistant Librarian, SDMIMD, Mysore (Library Automation with NewGenLib) and Mrs. Sumithra Raghavan, Librarian, KV CLRI, Chennai (Getting strated with ThinkQuest).

All the theoretical sessions were followed by extensive hands on experiences in the ZIET labs.

The in house experts Sh. Shaik Mohammad Saleem, Director and Smt. Ruby Huria, Associate Director handled sessions on effective communication skills and skills for life. Resource Person Mr. S.L.Faisal, introduced web 2.0 and library 2.0 technologies (library blogs, social networks) to the participants.

The course discussed the New Library Policy in detail and consolidated the suggestions for further following. Preparation of a Library manual was another general project assigned to the participants.

Each participant was given with five individual projects on Library Policy, Library Manual, Internet search, Greenstone Digital library and Library Blogs.

Spoken English and life skill education also were taken up elaborately as a part of the course content as per the direction of KVS training policy.

All the assignments and projects were completed timely under the supervision of the course director and presented before the participants on the allotted days.

The participants visited the Library at SDMIMD to get a real life experience on Library automation. They also visited Ooty, Mysore palace, Brindavan Garden and Srirangapatna.

Post test was conducted on 28^th August. Twenty three participants secured ‘A’ and thirteen got ‘B’.

A cultural evening was organized by the participants on 29th August 2009.

The assignments and projects were presented and thoroughly discussed on 30th August in the presence of Director, Sh. S.M.Saleem.

Dr. N.S. Harinarayana, Senior Faculty, Dept. of Inf. Science, Univ. of mysore was the chief guest in the valedictory function. The Resource Person, S.L.Faisal presented the consolidated course report. In his speech, Director, Sh. S.M.Saleem, expressed satisfaction on the success of the programme.

Mr. Nisar Ahmed proposed the vote of thanks.

The fourteen days in service training programme was well planned and thoroughly executed. The success of it purely depended on the attitude and hard work of the participants.

Daily proceedings along with photographs were also uploaded to the blog KV Library Web pages http://kvlblogs.wordpress.com .

In service Course, Day 14

Presentation of Assignments and Projects

KVS Library Policy : Mr. Nisar Ahmed

Library Manual: Ms. Munawwer Sultana

Checklist to evaluate a library and its services: Ms. Manpreet Kaur

Librarian’s Diary: Mr.Sushil Mishra

Inspection tool for Librarians: Mrs. Geetha Panikar

Status and operational difficulties in KV Libraries: Mr. K.N. Tiwary

Solutions for operational difficulties and the overall development of KV Libraries: Mrs.Vandan Pal

Valedictory Function

Mr. Harinarayana, Senior Faculty, Dept. of Information Science,               Univ. of Mysore (Chief Guest), Mr. S.M.Saleem, Director, Mrs. Ruby Huria, Associate Director, Mr. S.L.Faisal, Resourse Person.

Mr. Harinarayana, Senior Faculty, Dept. of Information Science,               Univ. of Mysore

Giving away the Certificates, CDs and Photographs

Vote of thanks: Mr. Nisar Ahmed

Good Bye ZIET Mysore

In service Course, Day 13

Assembly: Group 5

Session1

Effective Communication (Role play, Extempore)

Life skills

Mrs. Ruby Huria, Ass. Director

Life skills

Sh. S.M.Saleem, Director

Cultural Evening

 

In service Course, Day 12

Assembly: Group 4

Session 1

HTML and Website designing

Prof. M.Minhaj, SDMIMD

Session 2

POST TEST

 

Preparing Certificates

Editorial team at work

Practice for Cultural Evening