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Creating a YA Nonfiction Collection
Through an informal survey on the YALSA-BK electronic discussion list, I learned that many YA librarians have created nonfiction collections for teens. A number of these collections consist of popular, recreational titles, while homework help is most often filed with adult or juvenile nonfiction, largely due to lack of space. Creating a YA nonfiction collection is one of the most important aspects of a YA librarians job because it helps meet teens' emotional, intellectual, and physical needs. Knowing what is popular, what is needed for school, and what useful reference materials are available can help you create your own YA nonfiction collection.
What's Popular?
In Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: A HoW-To-Do-It Manual by Patrick Jones, Michele Gorman, and Tricia Suellentrop, the authors discuss subjects that are popular with teens, including urban legends, the unexplained, Web page building, cars, beauty, strength training, drawing, skateboarding, snowboarding, music, and survival tales.1 Each of these subjects appeal to teens' passions, thirst for knowledge, and love of facts. Because what is popular with teens is ever-changing, it is important to pay attention to what teens in your community are reading in the library, checking out, and requesting. For example, books about video games, chess, and card games are popular in my library, but are not on Jones et al'.s list.
You know that specific titles are popular because you can't keep them on the shelves; the ones that are on the shelves look very "loved"; the reserve list is longer than your weekly grocery list; and a few of them are long overdue or missing. To supplement the perennially popular Chicken Soup series and, of course, David Pelzer's A Child Called It, here are some hot recreational nonfiction titles.
Benton, Jim. It s Happy Bunny: Life, Get One. Scholastic, 2005; ISBN 0439693462; $7.99.
Flaherty, Mike. American Chopper: At Full Throttle. Meredith Books, 2004; ISBN 0696221659; $21.95.
Gottlieb, Andrew. In the Paint: Tattoos of the NBA and the Stories Behind Them. Hyperion, 2003; ISBN 0786888687; $16.95.
Guinness World Records 2006. Guinness World Records, Ltd, 2005; ISBN 1904994024; $27.95.
Hart, Christopher. Manga Mania: Chibi and Furry Characters: How to Draw the Adorable Mini-Characters and Cool Cat Girls of Japanese Comics. Watson-Guptill, 2006; ISBN 0823029778; $19.95.