Youth Collection Demystified- Teen Fiction

Join us today as we continue exploring the Youth collection and discover how to find Teen Fiction in the library.

Overview
Once readers enter middle school and begin to outgrow the Juvenile Fiction collection, they are ready to move on to Teen Fiction, which is divided into two sub-categories: "Y" Fiction (or Youth Fiction, for grades 7-9) and "YA" Fiction (or Young Adult Fiction, for grades 10-12).

What It Looks Like

Many of the libraries in the Ozark Regional system shelve Juvenile Fiction separately from Y/YA (aka Teen) Fiction, though as mentioned in an earlier post, some of our smaller branches still combine the two sections into one.  Like Juvenile Fiction titles, the spine label on a Teen Fiction book is white and is labeled with a "Y" or "YA" designation, as well as with the first three letters of the author's last name.  For example, a book by Sarah Dessen would have a spine label that reads "YA Des".

Left: The cover of a Teen Fiction title.  Right: A close-up of the spine label.

How to Find It
Here's an image of the catalog card for pictured book...

Author entry card for Sarah Dessen's Whatever Happened to Goodbye?

We know this title is Teen Fiction because our catalog card locator mentions that the book is labeled with a "YA", followed by the first three letters of Dessen's last name.  We know we can find this book shelved, alphabetically by the author's last name, with the other "Y" and "YA" titles in the Youth area.

There's our book!

And that's it- an overview of Teen Fiction and how to find a "Y" or "YA" book in the library!  If you've missed any part of this series on demystifying the youth collection, you can catch up on Board Books, Picture Books, Easy Readers, Juvenile Fiction, or the Paperback Collection at your convenience.  Next up: the Nonfiction Section!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Youth Collection Demystified- Paperbacks

Join us today as we continue exploring the Youth collection and discover how the J/Y/YA paperback section is organized.

Overview
If readers don't find what they're looking for in the Juvenile Fiction section, they might try the library's collection of paperbacks for Juveniles, Youth, and Young Adults (titles in this collection run the gamut, with books for grades 3-12).  Paperbacks often have a shorter shelf life (pun intended!) than hardback titles, but don't let their dog-eared appearance fool you!  You can find lots of great reads in this section, in a variety of genres: adventure, action, mystery, historical, fantasy, science fiction, contemporary, and more.  

What It Looks Like
Since paperbacks are flimsy by nature, they aren't processed as heavily as a hardback counterpart would be.  For example, paperbacks don't have spine labels.  When you want to know what age range a paperback book is geared toward, you just open the book and look in the upper left-hand corner of the white check-out card for the "J" for "Juvenile" (grades 3-6), "Y" for "Youth" (grades 7-9), or "YA" for "Young Adult" (grades 10-12) designation.

A peek at the white card for Mark Williams' Dragon Sword- by checking the upper left-hand corner of the card, we can see that this is a Juvenile Fiction (JFIC) from the paperback collection (PB).

Since paperbacks tend to rotate in and out of the collection much more quickly than hardback books, they are also shelved more casually- usually lumped by series or genre, rather than alphabetically by author's last name.  The paperback collection is a perfect place to browse for interesting titles you may not have stumbled across otherwise!

How to Find It
As I mentioned above, paperback books aren't processed as heavily as hardback titles.  Aside from not having spine labels, this also means that these books are not listed in the library's card catalog.  If you're looking for a paperback book, just browse the section until you find what you're interested in, or feel free to ask your local librarian for help!

And that's it- an overview of J/Y/YA paperbacks and how they're organized in the library!  If you've missed any part of this series on demystifying the youth collection, you can catch up on Board Books, Picture Books, Easy Readers, and Juvenile Fiction when you have time.  Next up: Teen Fiction!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Youth Collection Demystified- Children's Fiction

Join us today as we continue exploring the Youth collection and discover how to find Juvenile Fiction in the stacks.

Overview
After fledgling readers have mastered the challenge of Easy Readers, the next stop in their reading journey is the Juvenile Fiction section.  Juvenile fiction is intended mainly for readers who are grades 3-6 and varies widely in content and style. 

What It Looks Like

Left: The cover of a Juvenile Fiction title.  Right: A close-up of the spine label.

Many of the libraries in the Ozark Regional system shelve Juvenile Fiction separately from Y/YA (aka Teen) Fiction, though some of our smaller branches still combine the two sections into one.  The spine label on a Juvenile Fiction book is white and is labeled with a "J" for "Juvenile", as well as with the first three letters of the author's last name.  For example, a book by Erin Hunter would have a spine label that reads "J Hun" (see above picture).

How to Find It
Here's an image of the catalog card for this book...

Author entry card for Erin Hunter's The Fourth Apprentice.

We know this title is Juvenile Fiction because our catalog card locator mentions that the book is labeled with a "J", followed by the first three letters of the author's last name.  We know we can find this book shelved, alphabetically by the author's last name, with the other "J" titles in the Youth area.

Here it is!

And that's it- an overview of Juvenile Fiction and how to find a "J" book in the library!  If you've missed any part of this series on demystifying the youth collection, you can catch up on Board Books, Picture Books, or Easy Readers at your convenience.  Next up: the Paperback Collection!

Keep reading!

Shaen