Here's a great way to boost the circulation of titles that are not "moving". This suggestion comes from Liz Frame, courtesy of LM-NET.
=====================================
PROMOTING "INVISIBLE" BOOKS
The past two weeks I have decided to see if I could boost circulation of some of our books that are "invisible": you know the ones, hidden by a shadow, in a tight corner, or just not close enough to Garfield comics and snake books. In my first attempt I used books between Dewey 570 - 590, which totaled about 150 books. I placed ten - twelve books on tables, and told the students (1st - 5th) that they could check out one extra book, if it came from the table.
By the end of the week, 119 of the 150 invisible books were in the arms of students. WOW! I was overwhelmed! Some of these excellent books had never been checked out and looked to be in brand new shape. But was this just an anomaly? I had to try it again this week.
This time the Dewey collection was a somewhat tougher "sell": I chose Dewey 270 - 360, which included 211 titles and copies. Once again, an amazing 149 books found their ways into the arms and lives of students, but only if the student had returned at least one of their extra books.
Now, my students are eager to see what kind of interesting books I will have on the tables for them to choose. Many have asked if they can check all of their book limit out from the tables. Yes! Any books you want!
From my experience, I realize that my books need better exposure and I need to allow students to check out books that interest them, even if it means taking more than the "allowed" two books home.
Hoping you can learn from my lessons,
Liz Frame
Librarian
San Antonio Christian Elementary School
=====================================
