How to select materials

There are a variety of methods for finding quality and popular materials: 

• Review journals
  Subscribe to at least a few, and find time to read, periodicals such as School Library Journal, Horn Book, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Kirkus, Booklist, and Book Links.  Not only do they have extensive book reviews, and assist you in making quick decisions via starred or featured reviews but they often contain articles on the philosophy and process of selection, trends and offer aid materials

• Publisher’s catalogs, including small press, will keep you abreast of new releases.

• Popular interest
  Talk to young children and parents and find out what they are hearing about, watching or reading.  Very often television shows spin off into book series such as Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Train. Parents’ magazines may suggest bibiotherapy books or other materials suitable for the parent/teacher collection.

• Word of mouth
  Talk with your peers, subscribe to listservs such as PUBYAC to find out what is out there, who has a new book coming out, etc.   Talk with preschool teachers who may tap sources you are not familiar with.

• Award lists such as:
   
  • “Caldecott Award,” a national award overseen by the American Library Association and given for the most distinguished illustrated book of the year. The “Caldecott” has been awarded annually since 1938.  A list of winners can be found at http://www.ala.org/alsc/caldecott.html.
  • Charlotte Zolotow Award administered by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) is given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the preceding year.  More at: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/zolotow.asp, and check out the many other resources available through the CCBC.
  • Parents' Choice Foundation, the nation's oldest not-for-profit evaluator of children's books, videos, toys, audios, computer software, television, and magazines, sponsors the “Parent’s Choice Award.” “Parent’s Choice” materials make good choices for libraries.  More at: http://www.parents-choice.org/

Use the following criteria when making selections:

• Will it be popular and appealing?
• Is it an important addition-does it fill a need?
• Is the material of high quality and effectively presented?
• Does the size and format fit the content and intended audience?  For example, there has been a trend of late to turn popular picture books into board books. Arthur (Marc Brown’s aardvark) stories are coming out in board book format. The text and illustrations are simply scaled down to size. This is not an effective use of format and does not reach intended audience effectively.
• Do the illustrations appropriately fit subject and age of audience and are they accurate?

Excellent information on selecting materials can be found in From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books (1997, HarperCollins), written by Kathleen Horning of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center in Madison WI.

Ensure the collection reflects and presents an ethnically diverse community. It has been said that understanding is a primary weapon in the fight for tolerance among culturally diverse groups.  Literature gives a voice to those of different cultures.  It portrays the differences, yet emphasizes the things all people have in common such as love, family, and feelings. It fosters in all children a sense of self-esteem and broadens understanding of people and places.

Every culture has its folklore. There are wonderfully written and illustrated folk tales from all parts of the world and from regions all over the United States.  But folklore is only the beginning of multicultural collection.  Picture books, stories with multicultural characters, such as the easy nonfiction book Families (Morris), that positively portray diversity must be a part of every collection. There are books that allow children to experience life around the world, like those that feature and celebrate daily life, food, festivals, people, and land, as well as the poetry and story of various cultures. There are also books that present in subtle ways the diversity within America, and within a child’s own neighborhood. Examples include: Jamaica and Brianna (Havill), Bein’ With You This Way (Nikola-Lisa) and Matthew and Tilly (Jones).

Stanley Steiner, in his book Promoting a Global Community Through Multicultural Children’s Literature (2001, Libraries Unlimited), lists criteria for building a collection of multicultural literature promoting a global community:

• Strong Characters:  Look for books with strong characters keeping ethnic and gender diversity in mind.
• Authenticity:  Look for books with accurate representations of the cultural attitudes, feelings, and perspectives, both visually and literally.
• Interconnections:  Look for books that bring diverse people together in realistic ways and ones that reflect universal similarities of all cultures.
• Historical Representation:  Look for books that dispel misconceptions by reflecting truths.
• Balance:  Continually strive for a balance of diversity in the literature, both ethnically and across the genres of children’s literature.
• Become Proactive:  Read and recommend quality multicultural literature to students, teachers, librarians, curriculum committees, administrators, and parents.

There are a number of helpful multicultural bibliographies such as Steiner’s to guide you in making effective purchases of quality materials.  In addition to regular professional journal book reviews, it is helpful to read and use special journals such as Críticas and Multicultural Review.  You can also be ensured of quality when you add materials that have won the “Coretta Scott King” http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/corettascott.htm, “Pura Belpre” http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/belpremedal/belprmedal.htm, and “Americas” http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CLACS/outreach/americas.html Awards.  

The Idaho Commission for Libraries has created and makes available to libraries within the state a traveling book exhibit “Building Bridges: Books That Bring Us Together” which comes with multiple copies of a booklist entitled 60+ Great Multicultural Books, annotated by Stan Steiner PhD.  This exhibit will not only provide staff and library users with a chance to peruse a beautiful collection of multicultural materials but will aid library staff in collection development.  You can find more information about the display by visiting the Read to Me web site: http://libraries.idaho.gov/node/393.

When selecting non-print media (videos, audios, CD-ROMs, etc) use the same general criteria as for books: quality, accuracy, and artistic merit. These formats are professionally reviewed just as books are.  Production quality is another area to review. The Association for Library Service to Children creates annual lists of notable children’s videos and audio recordings. You can find them online at: http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/awardsscholarships.htm.

Criteria for choosing toys:

Toys in the library and toys for lending should be those which are designed for particular developmental levels and assist cognitive and motor skill building such as those in the Lamaze™ or Discovery Toy™ lines.   Library toys should be the kind of toys that trigger the imagination and foster pretending.  They should not depend upon some predetermined or preprogrammed action for use, but upon industriousness and fantasy.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children, in a brochure entitled “Toys=Tools for Learning” includes a chart that starts at birth to three months, and goes up to five and six-year olds, and lists characteristics of children and types of good toys for each group.  It also provides suggestions to parents for buying toys that relate to library accession as well:

• Will my child be interested enough to play with it over and over again?  For several minutes or even an hour at a time?
• Is it constructed well?  Will it hold up to lots of use?
• Does my child provide the power and imagination to operate the toy?
• Will my child feel successful using the toy?  Does it challenge my child’s abilities just enough?
• Can my child use the toy in different ways?  Can it be used creatively?

The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio (1999), a useful guide to toys for staff and public, would be a good choice to include in the parent/teacher collection.  Parent’s Choice awards are another sign of quality, reviewed materials.

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