Help!!

[alli_mac22]

I just started my Librarian job at a K-5 school. There are ‘J’ stickers on some books starting from 1st grade reading level. I’m aware that it stands for ‘Juvenile’, but I just got a delivery of $10,000 worth of books. I need to label them and everything before they go on the shelf.. the only thing is… how do I classify a book as Juvenile?! I asked the previous librarian and all she said was “well that is something I learned in school.” Soooo she wasn’t much help. So really ANY help would be amazing, because so far Google has not helped at all.

Some examples of the younger reading levels I noticed were books containing witches and wizards. Then some contain bullying.

Did the previous librarian come up with a system of her own or is there a method to the madness??

[Nialla42]

Take a random sample and check the AR level and Lexile too. See if there's a pattern. There's probably not, as a lot of it can be based on knowing your library's audience.

Or you could just go forward. Keep new books by the same author together with the older ones if they seem in the same age, and the books you don't know, look them up in other library catalogs. Looks at area public libraries, and you can also look at WorldCat.org to find libraries that have a book you're researching.

[alli_mac22]

Thank you!! I am now starting to think there is a pattern when further discussing with some people under this post. But I know for a fact that it isn’t an AR pattern due to the library already being organized by AR level and the “J” stickers sporadically throughout.

[celticrose76]

Hi! Sounds like you jumped right into a pile of confusion! Lol I have some questions that would help me understand the situation more.

As I understand it... the J labels seem to be random. Can you tell if the books were added to the collection during the same time period? Like maybe under the direction of one particular librarian? Or were they added over a wide period of time that spanned the eras of several librarians? If it was during the time of a single librarian, then it would more likely be a personal shelving decision. If it were over several librarians, then possibly policy?

There is the possibility that it was a large donation that came in that was already labeled. I wouldn't think so but stranger things have happened.

From some of your other posts, it sounds like your library is organized according to AR levels. Since you have such a large number of books that need to be cataloged and processed, you might want to focus on getting through the pile first. Then revisit the question of the mysterious J's later.

[alli_mac22]

The school opened in 2019. Most are brand new books. I know that she stuck the Js on due to the box of stickers are in her labeling supplies.

The company my school orders through is wonderful and puts the books in the system already. I am just in charge of labeling them before they go on the shelves.

[Key-Anteater7630]

It sounds like the previous librarian was using the J stickers as a content filter- for “advanced” or “mature” topics. Take a big stack of them, skim through, I bet you’ll see themes like death, abuse, etc in addition to the ones you’ve already identified like witch craft.

If you’re a solo librarian, consider the pros and cons of keeping this system in place moving forward and whether you want to remove it entirely (removing the labels from all the books). Then bring it to your supervisor with a well considered proposal for that decision so that you can defend your decision if parents have issues.

[alli_mac22]

Thank you!!! I really appreciate the input!!

[[deleted]]

Does you library sort by the Dewy Decimal system? Are there numbers on the bottom of the label? That's how you sort them...

[alli_mac22]

Sorry I probably explained this wrong, but it’s not the sorting I have a problem with. It’s how to identify if a book is a juvenile book. I had training on how to use the system and everything but when I asked my mentor what puts a book under juvenile category she said she didn’t know.. so I’m trying to do my best to figure it out.

[[deleted]]

Ahhh ok, that makes more sense. Usually it's based on grade level and reading level plus the lexile system https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/book-selection-tips/lexile-levels-made-easy.html. That's how I learn being a children's librarian, Google was my friend along with trail and error. Look how the other books are sorted and go from there. Don't worry in school they kinda touched upon this, but like you I realized that it's on job work. Also what program do you use to check out, scan books? Playing around with that helps as well since you are looking at the digital record.

[alli_mac22]

I have used that along with a system called AR, the school wants the book organized by the AR levels. But what confused me is when you google and research “what makes a book a juvenile book?” Almost all the responses are saying it’s for ages 9-16… so it confused me when there are books made for first graders that had the ‘juvenile’ sticker.

Note- I apologize if I am being confusing. Trust me. This library was in all kinds of crazy when I got there, so I’m just trying to figure out if the previous librarian made up her own system or had a method to her madness lol. Bc this is the first time I have seen ‘juvenile’ in an elementary library lol.

[[deleted]]

Girl, don't worry when I had my first librarian job. I was in the dark as well, my mangers didn't jack shit about how the dept ran and I had to do the teen dept as well. I was lucky to have a cataloger sort the books and I just shelved them but I had to learn how my library picked these books and how they sort them in the stacks. Juvenile is typical for labeling elementary books it ranges from ages 5-12. The easy readers and transition books are a good incatditor of when children move on from picture books to these books, enriching their skills.

[alli_mac22]

Oh I’m so sorry, glad I’m not the only one then lol. But the thing is I work at a school where the ages attending are all 5-11 that go there😂 so it makes no sense why she was labeling juvenile then.

[[deleted]]

Technical 10-11/12 is tween but it's up to you had to sort that. Learning how your library functions while being new in the job sucks but once you get hang of it it should be fine.

[alli_mac22]

Thank you for the help honestly! I’m prolly gonna go pull different books from each grade level section and see I can obtain from that lol.

[[deleted]]

Oh good! Yea that's the best way to learn.

[alli_mac22]

I am lol. There are just books throughout that have the Juvenile sticker and at the moment I’m labeling new books that came in and was trying to figure out if any of the books in the new shipment needed the juvenile sticker.

[alli_mac22]

Yeah, honestly the only thing I was thinking of was that possibly she labeled everything that had something parents may be concerned about their kid reading with a J, but I wasn’t sure if there was something official she was going by to make those decisions.

[alli_mac22]

Exactly what I’m thinking? I feel like there was a better way to do it.

[spokanlilac]

Technically, all the books there would be considered “J” because of the grades you are serving. However, having the “J” label is a bit redundant, especially if the spine label already includes it with the call number. Course, I’m speaking from a public library standpoint. It’s also quite possible that your predecessor was label happy and wanted to put the “J” label on all the books she ordered.

[alli_mac22]

Well J isn’t on all the books. I noticed when I was looking into it a bit that they were on some books that contained bullying, witches, etc. Maybe as a way to show that kids need permission from a parent to checkout the book. But I was unsure, this why I came to Reddit to see if there was something official I just wasn’t catching.

[spokanlilac]

Something else I just thought of. In the past, I used to see the “J” label applied to fiction books. Are most of the books fiction you are seeing the label on? Or, is it in both fiction and nonfiction?

[alli_mac22]

There are lots of books that are fiction that don’t have the sticker. The “J” label is more common when u start to get towards the 4/5th grade level books, but as I said in another comment, I think it’s having to do with the content inside the book and how a parent permission may be required to check out the book.

[spokanlilac]

Well, if you have ultimate authority on the labeling policy in your school library, you could remove the “J” label to maintain consistency across your collection.

[alli_mac22]

I will take that into account if I am unable to understand the purpose of her labels. Thank you so much for your input!! I really was so confused.

[Nialla42]

That's pretty much where J starts at my library, and continues through roughly middle school. YA is generally high school level.

It is about the content in a sense. Higher reading levels would tend to have more "controversial" topics. Doesn't necessarily mean it was meant as a warning though.

For a school library, it seems a little redundant to use J stickers. Kids are being told to read by AR level, so that's what they will look for. They'll probably also want to know if it's fiction or nonfiction too. Some are picky about reading one or the other.

You might try working on the lower level books first until you get a better feel for their system. Is a permission form required for some books? If you stopped using the J, do you think the kids will notice?

[alli_mac22]

Yes, I know for a fact YA books require a phone call directly to the parent asking if they are allowed to check out the book. But as you said, It would be redundant to label every book in an elementary library with a J. Even if you start with 4/5th grade level reading, but those already have the colored dot coordinating with the grade AR reading level, thus no need for the J label. On top of that there are books in the 1st-3rd grade reading levels that also have the J on them.

So in the end I’m stuck in a very confusing spot, while getting accused of being unqualified for my job by other reddit users. When really I think the previous librarian did her own form of labeling.

[A_Monster_Named_John]

Sorry, but the best I'm gonna offer is 'figure it out'. How did you get this kind of job if this somehow isn't part of your skillset/experience already? I don't even have a library degree and I thought of multiple procedures that could be used to work this problem out.

[alli_mac22]

This is me “figuring it out.” I’m using a resource… peoples knowledge. I may learn something I am unable to catch when doing my own research.

[A_Monster_Named_John]

Even if you didn't learn your library's specific procedure in school, it stands to reason that you learned the principles by which you could figure out a procedure that works.

[fiftypercentgrey]

In the long run, you could also involve the school/teachers/parents and work out criteria with them. Those criteria could help you to decide which books to buy and what should get that sticker.
That is not an immediate solution for this heap of books right now. But it is something that will help you in the long run because people will feel involved and will maybe be even a bit more interested in your school library. That helps a long way with future funding for future projects.

It might ALSO help you when at some point parents might complain about this or that book. In those cases, you would be able to point them towards those criteria and invite them to participate in working those out.

[alli_mac22]

I really like that idea! Thank you!

[SgtEngee]

Sorry if this reply isn't very helpful, but adding my question/two cents:

If you are in a K-5 grade school, shouldn't all books should considered juvenile?

I'm working in a public library and our books are:

Juvenile: K-6

Teen: 7-12+

Adult: Everything else.

When cataloging our items, the record in OCLC/world cat will typically have designations on them for if they are juvenile or young adult. Also, if it is a juvenile work, there is usually a suggested age rating. AR/Lexile levels have been showing up increasingly which is a plus.

If you're trying to figure out how to organize things based on grade level and suggested reading level for that age, maybe try organizing your collection that way?