In our work with public school libraries, we partner with community and school groups to build robust collections of diverse, engaging, and high-quality books that are responsive and relevant to all in the school community.
We apply standard collection management strategies to keep school libraries responsive and relevant to students’ curricular and recreational needs through balancing purchasing of 1) new and compelling books 2) replacing entire outdated sections and 3) demand-driven acquisitions based on requests from students, staff, and administration. Books we purchase are received by the Penn Libraries, added to the Destiny system, physically processed (categorized/barcoded), and then delivered to partner schools.
To build collections intentionally, we stay on top of current trends in children’s and YA literature and regularly analyze collections data to determine which areas need updating. In addition to building physical collections, we develop accompanying resources and trainings to support library programming. Some larger collections we have focused on across all school libraries include a Native/Indigenous collection (in partnership with Penn’s Greenfield Intercultural Center and Natives at Penn), health collections, Chinese language books, and career, food, and music-focused titles.
COMING SOON. Explore curated collections of children’s books and activities, covering themes like art, wellness, culture, and joy! Each theme is presented by a unique character based on a Philadelphia literacy champion or storyteller.
COMING SOON. This guide features sets of themed books, many of which have read along questions, discussion prompts, and activities.
As part of the Community Alliance Against COVID-19 (CEAL), a partnership between Penn Nursing and Philly Counts, PLCE has collaborated with nurses, reading specialists, ESL teachers, and counselors at our partner schools to curate this list of health-related books for children and teens.