[CASL-L] Follett Book Recommendations

[Cathy Andronik]

 Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  This makes me so glad I spent my librarian career in Connecticut, and in my retirement jobs I  prepare teachers and librarians who think for themselves when selecting books and other materials.
One of the students in a university class I teach did a midterm project on diversity audits.  (In favor of; a year ago I wouldn't have needed to add that clarification.).  She included information on the role of the major jobbers.  Follett has tools to help build a diverse collection.  Those tools highlight books that have starred, or at least positive, reviews, and/or have won awards.  If those books are what the BOE in question calls "inappropriate," well, them's fightin' words.  You can tell the BOE hasn't spoken to its librarians about what constitutes a collection development policy; I'm pretty sure the librarians  know how to spell "Follett," and it's not "with an 'e'," a la "Anne of Green Gables."  Now, if the district in question does not have certified librarians in its schools, and the paraprofessionals or volunteers staffing the school libraries do not know about collection development policies or how to use multiple review sources to select books, that's a different problem the BOE needs to solve, and it has nothing to do with "Follette."
Cathy Andronik(Retired) Brien McMahon HS, Norwalk
    On Wednesday, 23 February 2022, 09:44:54 am GMT-5, Cheryl Robertson <robertsonc at guilfordschools.org> wrote:  
 
 I agree with Barb.  Just because a book is recommended doesn't mean it's an automatic purchase.  Librarians know what to do, and their professionalism should be respected.
On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 9:31 AM Barbara Johnson <bajohnson at colchesterct.org> wrote:

Hey there!I am hoping that like anything else I select for the Library, multiple sources are used and a District's materials selection policy includes professional reviews and recommendations from a variety of sources.
Barb
On Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 9:24 AM Maureen Schlosser via CASL-L <casl-l at mylist.net> wrote:

Hello, Everyone!Does Follett market books to persuade librarians to purchase the books?This seems like a ridiculous question to me, but I am retired in Florida now, and the local superintendent and a BOE are investigating the following question: 

"Investigate the Follette Learning School System’s process for recommending books to ourschools. Are there other library/media center library systems that offer the same or similarservices as Follette and Renaissance but with stricter practices on their recommendations?"
They believe that Follett pushes books that are inappropriate for school libraries. I loved Follett when I worked in CT. I remember being able to read book reviews and click on collections based on awards. I don't like the picture they are painting of the school librarians here. This whole idea makes the school librarians look like they have no agency over what Follett sends them. To me it's absurd, but if there is any truth to it, I'd like to find out before I speak at the next BOE meeting.Thank you for your help!I miss CT!

Maureen SchlosserAuthor: Lessons Inspired by Picture Books for Primary Grades
Blog: Library Lessons With Books and KnowledgeQuest 







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