Progress!!!

So...last week was the first week kids came into the library to check out books. And for the first time ever during "opening week" of the library, I did not check out ONE SINGLE Junie B. Jones book!!!! And only a handful of "Goosebumps" books!!! Yessss!!!!! Slowly but surely the kids are starting to realize there are other books out there in the world!! I feel like this is marked progress during my tenure as librarian here!!

A little background on why this is such a great feat here...when I first became the librarian, the majority of the kids would always make a beeline to the shelf containing Junie B. Jones or R.L. Stine books. Now these books are really more of a 2nd or 3rd grade level, really not advanced enough for middle school. Apparently, the kids had been introduced to these in elementary school and their loyalty ran deep. I used to get so frustrated that I could not convince an 8th grade girl that there might be something she could relate to and enjoy a little more than Junie B. for her book report. But as I have slowly brought more relevant books into the collection and forced them into the kids hands, I see the interest in other genres increasing, much to my relief!

Here's to another Junie B free week at Pearl C.!! Let's leave her in 2nd grade where she belongs!