Way way back in 2002: a look back at 10 years as a teen librarian by Heather Booth

Some perspective on teens, teen books, and time, with apologies to the Beloit Mindset List…

Some of these titles are so ingrained in the YA cannon that we’ve replaced well-worn copies twice and would never be without them.  Some of them were more ephemeral and are being replaced by newer versions with updated pop culture references.  One of the above has sadly not circ’d at my library since 2007, despite my attempts at increasing it’s visibility and rescuing it from two weeding projects. 

So what does this mean?  To me, it means that I need to rethink my reader’s advisory perspective on time a bit.  What I think of as “newer” really isn’t any longer.  I need to release the books that don’t circ anymore when valiant attempts at creating a buzz have failed.  But more importantly, I need to bring some books back out of the shadows.  The books I no longer think to suggest, or consider and then set aside because, “Surely, everyone who’s reading The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavin has already read Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz,” could be fresh, new-to-me titles. 

I thought about this as I pulled books for my last booktalk of the school year.  When I ask teachers what they’d like me to talk about, “new” is usually top on their list.  But I think what they want is not new so much as attention grabbing.  Shiny and new grabs your attention, but so does a great story, no matter when it was written.   Since our budget only allows for so many copies of the newest, hottest titles, I decided to pull a few books with broken in spines that I knew were on the shelf to add to the mix.  Books that were on my list of “New and Hot for 2002” could get a second life in this new generation of teens.

If your budget is straining and your hold lists are growing long, try leading a teen toward a book with a comfortably broken in spine.   Your memory of the character’s names might be hazy, and you might need to do a quick skim to recall the city it’s set in, but a hidden gem might be hiding in that slightly worn hardcover, and the dog-eared paperback could become a fast favorite. 

Ask yourself, what are the blockbuster favorites that are being forgotten because of a once upon a time overexposure at your library?  Jurrasic Park the movie came out in 1993, based on the 1990 book – that was before today’s high schoolers were born!  There will come a day that a young patron walks into your library looking for an epic struggle between good and evil, with interesting characters, magic, and a vivid setting that they can relate to and you’ll have the thrill and honor of introducing him to Harry Potter.

What are your favorite golden “oldies” to share with teens?

*And here’s where my grey hairs finally make sense.  It’s not the mortgage, the marriage, the two dogs, or the two kids I’ve gained in the last decade.  The defining author of my own years as a teen reader passed away before next year’s sixth graders were born.

Heather Booth is the (wicked cool) Teen Librarian at Thomas Ford Memorial Library. She is also the author of Serving Teens Through Reader’s Advisory (ALA Editions, 2007). Heather also started the Teen Programming in Libraries (a collaborative board) on Pinterest. You’ll want to check there for more great teen programming ideas.  And now she is a regular contributor to TLT.  Welcome aboard Heather.