On Hold @ the Library: January 2011
They say that the hold shelf is a window into the soul.
Well, that might be overstating things a bit, but it is certainly a way to find out what kids are reading when given the freedom of choice. Let’s take a look at the books students are lining up to read at the 5th and 6th grade school where I work.
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Rivers of Fire (Atherton series) by Patrick Carman
As Far as I Can See (My America series) by Kate McMullan
Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn
The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) by Jeff Kinney
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
The Burning Bridge (Ranger’s Apprentice series) by John Flanigan
School’s Out – Forever (Maximum Ride series) by James Patterson
I’m seeing two common themes here:
- Series. While I sometimes poke fun at the proliferation if series books in recent years, it is cool that kids are able to continue on with characters and stories they’re into.
- Fiction. It seems like our hold shelf is always stocked with fiction titles. Do you get this too? My initial thought is that it’s due to the fact that with nonfiction, you can usually get another book on the same topic, so there is less need to put a specific book on hold.
Look for more On Hold @ the Library next month.
Filed under: Articles
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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Love this. So true about the hold shelf.
Is it just me, or is the grass always greener? I find that I scan the hold shelf when checking out and that makes me really, really, really want at least a couple of the books on the shelf. (which now do not reside on the bookshelves to be checked out).
Someone (maybe you) should post on top 10 books requested for reservations by genre or something like that. It would make me want to read them all!
and I’m not a reservations type of person. I can never seem to remember my password for my library account AND their server is impossibly slow AND my library won’t let me reserve books at the library. They ask that we do it from home. Is that weird? Do you do that at your library or is mine just unfriendly?