Me: Do you order nonfiction books based on award lists such as the Orbis Pictus or the Sibert awards?
Ms. Brabham: No, we don�t normally order our nonfiction books based on awards. Instead, we order them first, based on teacher request and then we get input from our book vendors.
Me: How do you feature new books, award-winning books, etc.?
Ms. Brabham: All of our new books are displayed around a pillar in our library. They are marked with �New Books� signs, and all of our students know exactly where to go when looking for what�s new in our library.
Me: Have you noticed any trends in circulation? Specifically, what do students tend to check out and how do nonfiction books measure in terms of student popularity?
Ms. Brabham: As far as trends in circulation, our fiction circulation has gone up dramatically in the last couple of years. Most notably are our checkouts of fantasy/science fiction books. For the most part, nonfiction books are not checked out due to popularity except for our low-level/high interest books. Most nonfiction books are checked out for research purposes.
Me: Do you carry magazines? If so, are there any that can be incorporated into the content areas?
Ms. Brabham: Yes, we do carry magazines. However, due to databases and the high cost of those databases, we have cut back significantly on our magazine subscriptions. For the most part, we try to carry hobby/interest magazines for students and teachers to read. As far as research magazines and magazines that could be incorporated into the content areas, we rely on our databases for those.