Meet Me, Booker T. Worm -- Kidsreads.com

How do you choose what to order for your book collection? That is a very difficult question. During my career as a librarian, we have moved from visits by booksellers that allowed you to peruse stacks of hundreds of books to an almost completely online ordering procedure. Very little personal assistance is out there for librarians today.
So how do I decide what to buy? I read a variety of review sources, wander through book stores, solicit suggestions from friends, and faithfully check out KidsReads.com.
The KidsReads Newsletter gives me not only what is brand new, but every online "issue" gives me latest on additions to series, contest and free stuff, and other children's book news.
I subscribe to a fair amount of book related subscriptions, but I love KidsReads because it's not just for librarians and teachers. It is a newsletter/site created for children. I enjoy reading the results of the polls and the kid created reviews and comments.
You can visit their website for the full content or sign up for their monthly newsletter, as I do. The newsletter is basically a digest form of this month's highlights that contains live links to the articles. I don't always remember to look at the site, but the email pops in and I can go right to the site. Under the newsletter tab on the site, the archives go back to 2002. I love that fact that I can "star" an email, follow the link, and it will take me directly to the issue I want without having to remember the date or details.
For those serving teens, their sister site TeenReads.com is superb and is driven by its users.
That brings us back to what do I buy? Well, every library has different needs and the community and users will guide those needs. I would be happy to visit with you to determine how to make those decisions. In the mean-time, spend a few minutes perusing the KidsReads page, it will be worth your time.

Read On!