[Publib] checking out books to keep them from being weeded

[Elizabeth Thomsen]

Abigail Goben wrote [in part]:
> I have used the phrase cover-magpies when describing the love and care 
> of a children's chapter book section. Kids are drawn to bright and 
> exciting covers.  Adults are also--otherwise we'd never put books face 
> out.  I've been doing an indepth weed of chapterbooks and the classics 
> take me the longest to replace because I'm trying to find a cover that 
> is engaging. 

I agree that kids, teens and adults are all drawn to bright and exciting 
covers.  Well-designed covers really do convey a sense of what the book 
is about.

But in addition to the visual appeal, consider the importance of the 
book descriptions on the back cover or jacket flaps.  When I was in high 
school, I discovered literature at a bookstore that stocked the complete 
set of the beautifully-designed Signet Classics.  Every week I'd go 
browse through them all and choose one, and start reading it on the way 
home, totally enthralled.  And most weeks when I showed my new purchase 
to my mother, she would point out that we owned that book, and she'd 
pull down a plain hardcover copy from the shelves.  But those plain 
hardcovers were of no interest to me -- the books all looked the same, 
and I had no way of knowing what a book was about or why it might appeal 
to me.  I couldn't seem to force myself to read the first few pages of 
any book without some sense of what the book was about.

Today people have lots of ways to find out more about books, on and 
offline.  Reviews and booklists can be helpful, personal recommendations 
even more so, and there's nothing like a knowledgeable librarian 
handselling a book.  But when a person is browsing around alone in the 
stacks, those book covers with well-designed artwork and text really do 
help people figure out which books they will like!

-- 
Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
26 Cherry Hill Drive
Danvers MA 01923
Blog: http://www.noblenet.org/ethomsen/
E-mail: et at noblenet.org