Self-selecting books in a children’s fiction collection arranged by genre

Abstract

Given school librarians promote reading and assist students in the self-selection of texts, this case study examines youth information-seeking practices, specifically book selection, within the context of a genrefied fiction collection. It examines how sixth grade students interacted with the collection along with their teachers’ perceptions of the collection’s recent genrefication. Data includes observation and video recording of 16 sixth grade students’ browsing activity during four checkout times, interviews with eight students, and survey responses from eight classroom teachers. Findings include that students used prior knowledge of genre for beginning book selection, preferred browsing with a peer and were more likely to leave with a book when they did, and tended to browse across genres even when coming to the library with a particular genre in mind. Classroom teachers viewed genrefication as a means for supporting students as readers, and appreciated that the library’s organization reinforced their curricular goals around teaching the concept of genre.