[CALIBK12] Interfiling non-English books

[Rusty Tooley]

At my K-5 school, we have a small but significant Spanish-speaking population, and therefore a smallish amount of Spanish-language library materials for them; maybe 200 books, about 1% of the collection.

The Spanish-language picture books, early readers, and primary nonfiction are shelved together in the same area as their English-language counterparts, and I make those available (in fact, encourage them to take) to my Spanish-speaking students - especially kindergarten and first graders - who have someone at home who can read the story to them.

We also have Spanish-language nonfiction, transitional chapter books, and regular chapter books. These are interfiled with the English-language titles. I understand the reason for this is for Spanish-reading students to find these books beside the English-language titles when they are browsing. Truthfully, though, I have perhaps one or two older students who read Spanish well enough to want to check these out.

I struggle with my second - fifth grade students not realizing that some books they are selecting are in Spanish. Students see Harry Potter, Captain Underpants, or Junie B. Jones and take the book, not noticing that the title/text is in Spanish nor that there's a Spanish materials label on the spine. (Maybe I should put a larger label on the front cover.)

I'd like to pull these books out and shelve them separately as well, but I wanted to hear from others, especially in elementary libraries, what you do and if there's some reason not to that I am not considering.

Thanks!

--
Rusty Tooley
Teacher-Librarian
Barron Park Elementary School (M-Th)
Ohlone Elementary School (F)
Palo Alto Unified School District
www.pausd.org

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