Why There Should Be a Middle Grade Section in Your Library, a guest post by Librarian Jennifer Rummel

When I was in middle school, I would rather do anything than ask for help. It made me so anxious; I was so insecure. It took me several moments to gather up the courage to ask any question. And I only asked if my mother forced me.

Years ago, Young Adult Librarians fought for teen spaces. Now they’re in most libraries. Creating a Middle Grade Section is just an extension of that fight. Students in middle school need to feel welcomed at the library just as much as any other age group. One easy way to do this is to create a book section just for them.

Having all the books in one place makes sense. It’s easier to browse the materials if they are not in two places. It’s also easier on library staff. They don’t have to wonder which section the book might be in. It clears up confusion on purchasing decisions if your Children’s Librarian and Young Adult Librarian are both purchasing items to fill that gap.

We are in a Golden Age of Middle Grade novels right now and the readers are gobbling these books up. We want to show readers these amazing books and what better way to do that than by creating a section just for them?

How it worked in my library:

There’s a lot to go into creating a new collection. Several questions must be answered before you start pulling everything together.

1. Spacing: Where is it going to go? Do you have space for it? Remember that you’re taking books from an existing collection. Moving these books to a centralized location will give you room somewhere on the shelf.

Shortly after I arrived at my current library (2015), it was clear that we had a space issue. With some additional bookcases built by our janitor/handyman, he added more room which allowed me to create a middle grade section. 

• Naming: Decide if what you’re going to call the collection. Middle Grade? Tween?

We chose tween. It’s in the call number but not on the spine. It has a different code in the item record so we can pull stats.

• Call Number: How will the physical book look? What new stickers do you need?

We wanted the middle grade readers to feel empowered, so we made the books look like teen books. They are differentiated by black tape on the spine, which makes them easily identifiable and easy to shelve. They also are cataloged differently for statistical purposes. The middle grade books have ¼ of the room while the teen books (grades 9-12) occupy the rest of the room. We also have a middle grade graphic novel section that precedes the middle grade fiction collection. Our middle grade nonfiction is mixed with the teen nonfiction on a bookcase just outside the teen room.

• Ages: What will be the primary ages for this collection?

In creating the collection, we made the decision that it would start with the ages of our middle school students. Middle school starts in 6^th grade in Colchester, Connecticut; therefore most of the books containing twelve year old characters are shelved in the Tween section.

• Budget: Where the money coming from? Children’s? Teen? A new budget?

There isn’t a separate budget for the tween section and as I purchase both the Teen and the Children’s books, it tends to come out of both budgets. It’s sometimes hard to know where to place the book. Mostly, I go by the ages of the characters. If they are twelve years and older, it goes into the Tween collection. However, I do place some of books that look more juvenile in the Children’s Room. I keep those downstairs for the 5^th graders who are a little more mature, but also aren’t comfortable going upstairs to the Teen Room. Most of the middle school students aren’t interested in going into the Children’s Room and often they start checking out books from the Tween collection in 5^th grade.

Once you’re figured out all the nitty-gritty details, it’s time to get to work.

• Moving: Determine which books you’re going to move. Since our middle school starts in the 6^th grade, that’s the ages we use to determine the location. Unless it has a really young cover, all books with 12 year old protagonists are shelved in the tween section: examples include Canterwood Crest series, Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Spy School series, City Spies series, Rick Riordan’s books and Rick Riordan Presents books.

I moved books from the Teen Section (Alex Rider) and books that were in the Children’s section (Tim Green). This age has a lot of series books, which is great, but it also does take up shelf space.

• Reclassify: All of the books had to be updated with the records and codes. All of the children’s books needed relabeling and all the tween books needed black tape.

Once this task is accomplished, take a beat and acknowledge the accomplishment. Too often in librarianship, we’re moving on to the next item on our to-do list. But it’s nice to take time to celebrate.

• Marketing: Now you want to make sure your readers are finding the section. Talk it up everywhere – at the school, on social media, at programs. Make sure to mention it to the readers but also their parents. Don’t forget to highlight the collection during summer reading and vacation times when readers are looking for fun books.

Circulation Numbers:

Obviously, during the summer months the circulation skyrockets as middle schoolers have more time to read for pleasure. The fiction books average 100 a month and the graphic novels average 50 a month outside the summer reading months.

Number of items in the Middle Grade/Tween Collection: 1905 (fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novel).

Turnover each month 5% (not summer reading months).

Popular Middle Grade Titles during the last 12 months:

What that tells me about the popular titles:

1. Graphics!
2. Drama in graphics in particular (friendship drama, school drama, and family drama)
3. Action/adventure books for the win!
4. Fantasy series

So in summary, make that middle grade collection.

1. It makes the library welcoming to a group that is often overlooked
2. If the books are all in one place, it makes it easier for readers to browse the collection.
3. Most Middle School students don’t want to go into the Children’s Room for books
4. It’s hard to ask for help at that age.
5. If you have a YA Librarian and a Children’s Librarian, it makes it tricky to know who is ordering which book. If you have a dedicated space, that eliminates duplication.
6. It’s also easier for staff when searching for a book to have them all in one location
7. Distinguish the books differently somehow from the teens and children’s books
8. Classify them differently for statistical purposes
9. Move all the books to one central location (hopefully not in the children’s room.)
10. Don’t forget the graphic novels and nonfiction for this age group

If you don’t have a middle grade/tween section if your library, I hope you create one. It does take work, but it’s well worth the reward.

Jennifer Rummel, MSIS
After spending 11 years as a Young Adult Librarian, I moved libraries and became a Children’s and YA Librarian. I love love love books and talking about reading (which is why I started my blog YA Book Nerd)

My favorite types of books include romance, mysteries, thrillers, and spy books. I adore crafty books, regency romances, and cozy mysteries. When I’m not reading or talking about books, I love baking, crafting, watching the Celtics, or snuggling with my two dogs.

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