Just Wondering...Where is a Book's Right "Home"?

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This post by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian and YSS Board Member Susie Menk explores questions about how we deal with the increasing number of books published only as paperbacks - and whether a book's location in the youth collection should be decided by format or reading level. And she's wondering....what do you think? 

Recently I have been cataloging a wide variety of books and have come across a conundrum.  What are we to do with paperback fiction books?  Now I’m not talking about the simple chapter books like Choose Your Own Adventure or Rainbow Fairies.  I’m talking about trade paperback books.  Books that if they were hardcover publications, would automatically go in the Youth Fiction section, not the paperback section. 

Publishers are coming out with more and more books in paperback formats.  What do you do with the books that are between 200 and 300 pages, but are paperback?  Do you put them in with the early chapter paperback books or do you catalog them as youth fiction and put them in the hardcover section?

This has been an ongoing conversation at my library.  What constitutes a paperback?  Is it simply whether the cover is soft or hard or is it the type of book it is?  Does page length matter? Subject matter? Reading level?  Do we keep longer books in the paperback spinners or put them on the shelves with youth fiction?  Where does the paperback novel go?

One of the practices that I have found that differs greatly between adult shelving and youth shelving is that youth has so many more categories than adult because youth books are categorized more by reading level than anything else. 

In our adult section we have a paperback area, but it focuses mostly on romance paperbacks.  Anything that is a trade paperback gets put in the fiction section alongside the hardcover books. So what about youth?  Do we look at the reading level, the format or a little bit of both? Here’s an article that comments on the difference between chapter books and middle grade books. 

If we are grouping books together by reading level, should the middle grade books be lumped in with the early chapter books?  So the question really boils down to deciding whether the home location should be designated by reading level or the format. 

What do you do at your library?  

Books, Reading Levels and Lesson Plans

While many public libraries don't level their books, some do and so do some school media centers. Whether we do or don't level books is a discussion for another day.

Today's post shares resources for answering questions our patrons ask about the Lexile level of a book, the Accelerated Reader points for a given book, or where to find books at their level. Some library catalog records will indicate the reading level of a given book, but many do not and due to the variety of leveling systems, records may not include the one a patron wants.

In addition, patrons may want resources for homeschooling, for their children, or for their classrooms. Readers' Advisory can get an added boost from these tools, too.

A sampling of resources:

Many Novelist K-8 entries include information on Lexile and other reading levels or points. Parents can be shown how to obtain Lexile information themselves if they are interested. All users can access Novelist K-8 and Novelist through Badgerlink, Wisconsin's Online Library, with a Wisconsin library card.

Scholastic's Book Wizard provides six different types of level information including Lexile, AR, and Guided Reading. This is a beta version geared for teachers, but useful for librarians, students, and parents or caregivers.

Scholastic also has a handy Leveling Chart that provides general leveling information across grade and age. View it HERE.

AR BookFinder also provides a tool for searching books for different audiences including librarians, students, parents, and teachers. Entries provide information about reading levels, as well as awards, ratings, and summaries.

Another resource for guiding readers to the right book, TeachingBooks.net is also available through Badgerlink and has an abundance of resources for users. Lesson plans, book trailers, author interviews, and more like the ability to browse by grade level or subject make this a helpful tool.