[CALIBK12] Interfiling non-English books

[book-case at comcast.net]

This is an issue that I have struggled with, as well. I want the books to get the most use possible but I do not want students to feel they are limited to a certain section of the library. I have tried several variations over the years: red labels on books in Spanish, interfiling, separating some or all, etc. My current system has a special section (yes, after all of that) for Libros en Espanol, with transparent red tags over the shelf tags. That way they have the same call numbers but you can see at a glance that a book is in Spanish. This seems to give the highest usage with the lowest number of problems. I am certainly open to suggestions and look forward to hearing what others have to say.

Linda Beth Freese
Sonoma Mountain Elementary


----- Original Message -----
From: Rusty Tooley 
To: 'calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu' 
Sent: Mon, 2 Feb 2009 18:38:38 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [CALIBK12] Interfiling non-English books





















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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