Looking at the collection of an average Elementary school, print and most nonprint resources can be broken into three broad categories. Picture books and straight visual materials, fiction, and everything else. This everything else part of the collection
is comprised of nonfiction materials. While it is not valid to say that nonfiction materials make up most of the collection, it is highly likely that they represent almost half of any given collection.
It is necessary to thin this broad topic down somewhat, just to get a good grip on it. Although they are certainly not fiction, but can be fictionalized, biographies constitute enough of a sub-genre to be only briefly mentioned here. Poetry and Traditiona
l Literature are also well established sub-genres and are in my opinion much more closely tied to works of fiction. All nonfiction works can be used as reference works. Some reference works, those which would never be read cover to cover, deserve to be pl
aced in their own category as well.
The Literature Connection calls those print resources which are
left
informational books. Expanding this to include nonprint resources yields the phrase informational resources. These, in plain language, are the resources that answer the endless kid-type
questions Who is?, What is?, and How or Why does?.
Nonfiction Materials and the Learning Process
The nonfiction collection plays a key role in the learning process. According to The Literature Connection, "Nonfiction arms students with the facts and background they will need to connect new concepts and knowledge" (p10). Nonfiction materials do
more than simply provide the information needed to complete children's assignments, they satisfy a child's personal curiosity about the world around them and provide exposure to new ideas.
Nonfiction materials are a vital tool in the effort on the part of the Media Specialist to suppon classroom teachers and help meet the standards of learning set forth by the state. In fact, except for some of the Language Arts SOLs which require the stude
nt to appreciate works of fiction, poetry, and folklore, nonfiction materials are the only materials suitable for the job.
Selection Criteria for Children's Nonfiction
Reading levels are a key consideration when purchasing nonfiction materials. In an elementary school one will encounter a broad range of reading abilities, from near High school ability to nearly no ability at all. Because all these students share the sam
e media center, they are going to be exposed to and become influenced by each others interests. It is important to cover topics that you detect are popular in a wide range of ability levels.
For nonfiction books, illustrations are closely linked to frequency of
circulation. A child with an interest in a topic is often perfectly happy
checking out a book way above his or her reading level just to look at the
illustrations, photographs, or diagrams. Sometimes the child will barely
be able to read the captions that accompany them. This child may get a
parent or sibling to read the book to them, or they may peck at it
themselves. Either way it is exposure to a higer level of reading,k and
that is a good thing. Unlike a work of fiction, in which the whole body
of work must be finished to be fully appreciated, information based
nonfiction can be consumed in smaller information segments without
frustrating the consumer.
Unlike fiction resources, in which quality has a certain timelessness
about it, nonfiction resources must be current. Information flows quickly
in the computer age, and much of it becomes outdated before the book you
have ordered can even be shipped from the publisher. It may be wise to
plan to get information on particularly volatile topics, such as
geographical and technological information on-line and spend book money on
more stable subjects.
Accuracy, like currency, deals with whether the information was correct when it was written, not whether it has become outdated. For example, look at either a contemporary picture book about modern heavy construction equipment or a low reading level book about highway construction. If there is a steam shovel identified there, and there often is, you have an accuracy problem. About the only place a steam shovel belongs these days is on the pages of Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne.
Because nonfiction materials are the media specialist's best tool in
supporting the currriculum, it is important that materials selected have
enough depth to cover both the personal interests of the reader and the
instructional objectives of the classroom teacher.
Your Collection and Circulation Records
In addition to professional journals, your own collection can provide you
with selection ideas. There may be a subject or two in the media center
about which you simply cannot keep books on the shelves. An example would
be "How to Draw" books. Lee J. Ames writes a series of books published by
Doubleday books called "Draw 50." In all there are twenty-five books to
this series covering how to draw everything from dinosaurs to vehicles to
holiday decorations. These books hardly ever make it from the circulation
desk back to the shelf.
You may also find very young patrons consistently wanting to check out
materials which are far above their reading level. A prime example would
be books about dinosaurs. This indicates that books about dinosaurs at a
low reading level should definitely be on the want list.
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Elementary Resources/Children's Lit
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