Professional Collections


There are far too many excellent school library resource books to mention them all here, but this list will give an idea of what is available for selection and evaluation of materials and literature enrichment for school libraries. Those that are online sources are linked to a web page. Many of these can be borrowed from the School Library Coordinator’s office. (Call (907) 269-6569 to check them out.) Also watch the professional journals for recommended new releases designed to provide professional guidance for school librarians.

 

A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children's Picture Books. 7th ed. Carolyn and John Lima. Libraries Unlimited, c2006, $91. Presents a guide to nearly 27,000 children's picture book titles grouped in over 1,200 subjects and indexed by author, title, and illustrator. ISBN: 1-59158-232-6

 

A to Zoo : Subject Access to Children's Picture Books : Supplement to the 7th Edition. Carolyn W. Lima and Rebecca L. Thomas. Libraries Unlimited, c2008, $49, A guide to more than two thousand children's picture books published between 2005 and 2007, including both fiction and nonfiction titles; grouped in 769 subjects, with title and illustrator indexes. ISBN: 1-59158-672-0

 

Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification and Relative Index. 14th rev. ed. Joan S. Mitchell. Forest Press, 2004, $99. An abridgment of Edition 22 of the Dewey Decimal Classification system for organizing knowledge represented in any form, including books, documents, and electronic records. ISBN: 0-910608-73-3

 

Across Cultures: A Guide to Multicultural Literature for Children. Kathy East and Rebecca L. Thomas. Libraries Unlimited, 2007, $60. Includes over four hundred entries, providing annotations for fiction and nonfiction multicultural resources which are ideal for use in preschool through sixth grade classrooms. Arranged by theme, including identity, family, friends, traditions, and more. ISBN: 1-59158-336-5

 

Alaska Native Oral Narrative Literature: a Guidebook and Bibliographic Reference. John Smelcer. Salmon Run Press, 1992, Essay on storytelling and folklore in the Alaskan tradition will help teachers understand the Native point of view that underlies these tales. Follows with an extensive bibliography of folktales. Excellent resource material. This is out of print, but might be found at a used bookstore in the state.

 

 Author a Month (for Nickels). Sharron L. McElmeel. Teacher Ideas Press, 1990. $24. Includes activities to promote books and reading in school libraries by featuring an author a month, with emphasis on displays and classroom activities highlight their books. ISBN: 0-87287-827-9

 

Best Books for Boys: A Resource for Educators. Matthew D. Zbaracki. Libraries Unlimited, c2008, $49. Profiles five hundred fiction and nonfiction books that will be interesting and motivating for boys, with entries organized by genre providing information on each book's plot, reading level, and author. "This work is a very thoughtful and credible effort and provides valuable information for youth services librarians" (Booklist). ISBN: 1-59158-599-6

 

Best books for Best books for children : preschool through grade 6. Catherine Barr, John T. Gillespie. Libraries Unlimited, c2008, $91. Contains brief profiles of 25,347 recommended books for children from preschool through grade six, each listing the author/editor, title, grade level, date of publication, review citations, and other information; grouped by major topic, with author/illustrator, book title, and subject/grade level indexes. ISBN: 1-59158-085-4

 

Best Books for High School Readers. 2nd ed. Catherine Barr. Libraries Unlimited, c2008, $92. Presents annotated listings of over 2,600 recommended fiction and nonfiction books for high school students, published from early 2004 to mid-2008, grouped in major subject areas, each with plot summary, publisher, price, ISBN, and review sources. ISBN:1-59158-576-7

 

Best Books for Middle School and Junior High Readers, Grades 6-9; 2nd ed. Libraries Unlimited, c2008, $92. Presents annotated listings of over 2,600 recommended fiction and nonfiction books for students in grades six through nine, grouped in sixty-five major subject areas, each with a plot summary, publisher, price, ISBN, and review sources. ISBN: 1-59158-573-2

 

Books Kids Will Sit Still For: The Complete Read-Aloud Guide. [multi-volume set] Judy Freeman. Libraries Unlimited. $136. More than 2,100 recommended titles for children from preschool through the sixth grade. Annotated read-aloud lists arranged by grade level, bibliography and indexes for author, title, illustrator and subject. ISBN: 1-59158-477-9

 

The Children's and Young Adult Literature Handbook : A Research and Reference Guide. John T. Gillespie. Libraries Unlimited, c2005, $63. Presents a comprehensive research and reference guide on over one thousand publications, and contains a wide variety of information on children's and young adult literature, authors, and illustrators. ISBN:1-56308-949-1

 

Children's Core Collection, A Selection Guide 19th ed. H.W.Wilson, c2006, $195. For collection development, readers’ advisory, and curriculum support.covers fiction and nonfiction works, story collections, picture books, graphic novels, and magazines recommended for readers in preschool through sixth grade. Entries provide complete bibliographic data, price, subject headings, a descriptive annotation, and evaluative quotations from a review when available. The catalog also includes an annotated list of recommended web resources for children and professionals working with children. Published in 4-year cycle, includes hardcover volume plus 3 annual paperbound supplements. Also available online for a yearly subscription fee. ISBN: 0-8242-1073-5

 

Choosing Books for Children : A Commonsense Guide. Betsy Hearne with Deborah Stevenson. University of Illinois Press, c2000, $23. Offers advice on how to choose books for children, and features essays about various genres of children's books, each followed by an annotated bibliography of recommended titles. ISBN: 0-252-06928-5

 

Classic Teenplots : A Booktalk Guide to Use With Readers Ages 12-18. John T. Gillespie and Corinne J. Naden. Libraries Unlimited, c2006, $60. Profiles one hundred critically acclaimed and popular young adult novels spanning thirty years, grouped by genre, providing character lists, plot summaries, background on the works and authors, brief information on themes and subjects, and lists of passages for booktalking. ISBN: 1-59158-312-8

 

Eyeopeners II! Children’s Books to Answer Children’s Questions About the World Around Them. Beverly Kobrin. Scholastic, 1995, $26. Provides an annotated list of 800 nonfiction books, arranged topically, for preschoolers through young adults, and includes tips for book activities and reading programs. ISBN: 0-590-48402-8

 

Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults : A Comprehensive Guide. Lynn, Ruth Nadelman. Libraries Unlimited, c2005, $74. Presents a guide to over seventy-five fantasy novels and anthologies, and provides reading levels, brief annotations, review citations, and related titles by the same author. ISBN: 1-59158-050-1

 

A First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Our Children Need to Know. 3rd ed., rev. and updated, E.D. Hirsch, Jr. ed. Houghton Mifflin, c2004, $14. Presents a comprehensive cultural reference dictionary for children in grades one through six and includes nearly three thousand concise definitions and literary entries in twenty-one different subject areas from mythology to science and technology. ISBN:0-618-40853-3.

 

Indispensable Librarian: Surviving (and Thriving) in School Media Centers in the Information Age. Doug Johnson. Linworth, 1997, $36.  Provides suggestions on how school librarians can keep their professions viable and their jobs meaningful and secure by developing and sharing unique skills and services, focusing on the use of technology in the school media center. ISBN: 0-938865-64-1.

 

Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. American Association of School Librarians and Association for Educational Communications & Technology. American Library Association, 1998, $42. Sets forth guidelines for developing the school library media programs needed to prepare students for success in the next century. Discusses how to improve literacy standards in schools, and explains how to use the changing technology of the late twentieth century to help students access and use information. ISBN: 0-8389-3470-6

 

Internet and Instruction: Activities and Ideas. Second edition. Ann E. Barron. Libraries Unlimited, 1998, $46. Provides basic information about the benefits of the Internet for teachers, students, media specialists, and administrators. Focus is on lesson plans and activities to encourage exploration and integration into instruction. ISBN: 1-56308-613-1

 

Inventive Teaching: The Heart of the Small School. Judith S. Kleinfeld, G. Williamson McDiarmid, and William H. Parrett. College of Rural Alaska, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1992, $25. An updated and revised rewriting of The Teacher as an Inventor, 1986, focuses on education in small, rural Alaskan schools. Describes innumerable resources, programs, and opportunities for teachers in bush schools. Out of print, but can be found in various UA and State Libraries, or used bookstores. ISBN: 1-87796-222-8

 

Librarian’s Yellow Pages. Available free to librarians. Call (800) 235-9723 or fax your request to (914) 833-3053. You can al access it in full-text on the web. (www.librariansyellowpages.com)

 

More Books Kids Will Sit Still For : A Read-Aloud Guide. Judy Freeman.R.R. Bowker, c1995, $63 A manual of ways to use children's books, with a series of graded annotated list of over 3,500 kid-tested and recommended titles, plus author, subject, and title indexes. ISBN: 0-8352-3520-3

 

New Steps to Service: Common Sense Advice for the School Library Media Specialist. Ann Wasman. American Library Association, 1998, $28. Handbook on setting up and running a school library media center.  ISBN: 0-8389-3483-8

 

The Newbery/Printz Companion : Booktalk and Related Materials for Award Winners and Honor Books. John T. Gillespie, Corinne J. Naden. Libraries Unlimited, c2006, $81. Supplies information about books that have won the Newbery and Printz Awards, arranged chronologically from 1922 through 2006, with plot summaries, discussion of themes and subjects, booktalk suggestions, lists of related titles, and recaps of Honor books. ISBN: 1-59158-313-6

 

Popular Series Fiction for K-6 Readers. Rebecca L. Thompson. Libraries Unlimited, 2008, $71. Contains annotated listings of some of the most popular fiction series for children, each with information on the author, publisher, date of publication, grade level, genre, and a list of titles; arranged alphabetically by series name. ISBN: 1-59158-659-3

 

Read-Aloud Handbook. 6th ed. Jim Trelease. Penguin, 2007. $13. Presents evidence in support of reading aloud to children, and features an annotated listing of recommended read-aloud books, including wordless, predictable, reference, and picture books, short and full-length novels, poetry, anthologies, and fairy and folk tales. ISBN: 0-14-303739-0

 

Read for the Fun of It: Active Programming with Books for Children. Caroline Feller Bauer. H. W. Wilson Company, 1992, $80. Programming ideas and activities to stimulate reading. ISBN: 0-8242-0824-2

 

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators is a categorized list of sites useful for enhancing curriculum and professional growth. It is updated often to include the best sites for teaching and learning.

 

School Library Management 6th Ed. . Book Report. Linworth, 1998, $45  . Examines the mechanics of library management; discussing collection development, technology, the Internet, budgets, facilities planning, and other related topics. ISBN: 1-58683-296-4

 

Sears List of Subject Headings. 16th ed. Minnie Earl Sears, Joseph Miller, ed. Wilson, 1997. $145. Presents suggested headings appropriate for use in the catalogs of small and medium-sized libraries, and provides patterns and instructions for adding new headings as they are required. The nineteenth edition features over 440 new subject headings, noting specifically the development of subject headings in the areas of Islam and graphic novels. ISBN: 0-8242-1076-X

 

Peggy Sharp's Top Picks for the Year "Peggy's Picks" is an annual list of books published during the year that she recommends as well-written, popular with kids, appropriate for a variety of uses in the classroom or library, they are unique, may be used with various age groups, and can be used effectively in one or more curriculum areas. Updates to the list are posted on the website.