How do we choose books for our Libraries?

At the senior library we have hundreds of new books, and audio books (Borrowbox) a year to review and decide to purchase. What do we consider?

For a book to engage a teenage reader or YA (young adult), it needs to engage right from the start. First we look online to see what others say about the book, how many reviews and ratings it has. (Usually https://www.goodreads.com/). We also look for contemporary themes and issues. Often young adults have interests and questions which are being dealt with in a book. We look for different voices, male and female, diverse cultures and different genres. Dystopian and fantasy are always popular with students, but as teenagers progress through senior school, often biographies or autobiographies capture their attention, as they seek to understand people and events and develop wider insights. Sometimes students have a particular interest in subject, e.g. Physics and Black holes and will read extensively on the subject.

Teenagers also want to hear their own voice in novels, learn about relationships, challenges in history and seek understanding of current issues.

Librarians try not to exercise censorship or reflect their own point of view on students, but occasionally there are books which do not “fit” into a senior school library. This might be because of extreme violence or graphic content. Sometimes however, this content is important, as it is within the context of the story and very relevant in a well written novel. We also try to read as many books or at least the beginning to gain more of an idea. Our ISC Bookclub students also help choosing books their peers would like and offer us valuable insights into what is popular with students .We keep in mind also that in the internet age there is no limit to what our students can access so books can be a safe way of exploring complex themes.

This article in The Guardian is well worth a read. YA Marginalised books

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/15/torn-apart-the-vicious-war-over-young-adult-books

 It explains how publishers and authors are being pressured to censor content in their books as they do not want to be accused of racism, bigotry and marginalisation. We need to keep in mind that just because we read something it doesn’t mean we are going to agree with it. Teenagers are even more likely to question and form ideas by reading widely.

H