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Genrefication 101: A School Librarian's Quick Guide on How to Genrefy the Library
Genrefication is a new trend in both school and public libraries. Librarians all over the world are starting to organize their collections in new ways. In the midst of this move away from traditional organization, many librarians find themselves asking some important questions. Why is this trend so popular? Is it really making a difference for users? Will our readers be damaged for life if we don’t teach them how to function in “traditional” library organization?
If those questions sound familiar, you’ve found the right book for you. In this book, we will discuss:
• What it means to genrefy your library.
• Is genrefication right for you?
• Why genrefication is the worth the work.
• How to keep genrefication from taking over your life and making you crazy.
• Tips and tricks to make the process work even if you attempt it midyear.
Genrefication 101 is written for school librarians by a school librarian who has actually survived genrefying her own school’s library. With ideas for how to win over reluctant administrators, suggestions for a variety of ways to genrefy, and simple tips to make things go more smoothly, this book is a great resource for any school librarian who is considering genrefication.
About the Expert
Laura Holladay is in her fifth year as a school librarian and her twelfth year in education. Nothing makes her happier than helping children find books that they love. Her other hobbies include organizing books on the shelf, decorating her library, and having book clubs with her students. Believe it or not, she does have a life outside of the library. Laura and her dreamy husband enjoy reality competition shows, reading, and are working to adopt a child internationally. Laura has lived in three countries, five states, and currently calls South Carolina home. She thinks pets are nice for other people, has no children at the moment, and is super involved with her church.
HowExpert publishes short "how to" guides on unique topics by everyday experts.
If those questions sound familiar, you’ve found the right book for you. In this book, we will discuss:
• What it means to genrefy your library.
• Is genrefication right for you?
• Why genrefication is the worth the work.
• How to keep genrefication from taking over your life and making you crazy.
• Tips and tricks to make the process work even if you attempt it midyear.
Genrefication 101 is written for school librarians by a school librarian who has actually survived genrefying her own school’s library. With ideas for how to win over reluctant administrators, suggestions for a variety of ways to genrefy, and simple tips to make things go more smoothly, this book is a great resource for any school librarian who is considering genrefication.
About the Expert
Laura Holladay is in her fifth year as a school librarian and her twelfth year in education. Nothing makes her happier than helping children find books that they love. Her other hobbies include organizing books on the shelf, decorating her library, and having book clubs with her students. Believe it or not, she does have a life outside of the library. Laura and her dreamy husband enjoy reality competition shows, reading, and are working to adopt a child internationally. Laura has lived in three countries, five states, and currently calls South Carolina home. She thinks pets are nice for other people, has no children at the moment, and is super involved with her church.
HowExpert publishes short "how to" guides on unique topics by everyday experts.
49 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 11, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 10, 2021
I'm not a librarian so this was an odd read for me, but last year I spent quite a bit of time deciding on a sorting order for my home library (approx. 105 ft of books) and had arranged them accordingly, so when this popped up as a recommendation on Amazon I thought I'd take a look at how the pros (in this case, a school librarian) are doing it. I more or less genrefied my own collection, ignoring how Library of Congress (which I prefer over Dewey) would have done it, so it was nice to see my choice validated.
(Sidenote: my bigger issue was in deciding on the order of the genres, since I only have a small number of books in each small subsection. I wound up trying to minimise the distance between each adjacent category, so that each section felt relevant to the adjacent ones. For example, I put dataviz next to data science, which led on to books about HCI and design in general, and so on. Although in many cases I wound up needing a hard break between sections due to my limited shelf space - I have four shelves of fiction sitting on top of biology and nature books.)
Of course a librarian has a lot more people to answer to, and thus there was a lot of content that wasn't very relevant to me, but it seemed like good advice overall. Even if all that content was important, though, $9.99 seemed like a lot for a very small amount of content. I'd have liked some more interviews with other librarians instead of hearsay, and maybe a listing of all the genres the author has picked out for her own school library, a map of her library to see how the genres are laid out, etc., to justify the price.
(Sidenote: my bigger issue was in deciding on the order of the genres, since I only have a small number of books in each small subsection. I wound up trying to minimise the distance between each adjacent category, so that each section felt relevant to the adjacent ones. For example, I put dataviz next to data science, which led on to books about HCI and design in general, and so on. Although in many cases I wound up needing a hard break between sections due to my limited shelf space - I have four shelves of fiction sitting on top of biology and nature books.)
Of course a librarian has a lot more people to answer to, and thus there was a lot of content that wasn't very relevant to me, but it seemed like good advice overall. Even if all that content was important, though, $9.99 seemed like a lot for a very small amount of content. I'd have liked some more interviews with other librarians instead of hearsay, and maybe a listing of all the genres the author has picked out for her own school library, a map of her library to see how the genres are laid out, etc., to justify the price.
April 28, 2018
Great read if you're thinking about genrefying or just don't know where to start. I learned so much, and the author's advice to be flexible and focus on what is best for the users will calm any fears in beginning. I am not usually one to buy how-to books (prefer to do my own research) but this is worth the money and the one hour of time to read it, and it will be a resource for me moving forward.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews