Collection Development

Resources for selecting items and supplies for your collection. Contact Jenny Shonk or Nora Burrows with any suggestions or changes to this section.

Adults

All Ages

Award Winners

3 Apples: The only award for kids by kids in New York.
Caldecott Medal
Charlotte Zolotow Award
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
Cybils Award
Empire State Award
Man Booker Prize
National Book Awards
Newbery Medal
Nobel Prize for Literature
Michael L. Printz Award
YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

Book Lists By Topic

Al Salwa: Arabic Children’s Books.
ALSC: Association for Library Service to Children
American Indians in Children’s Literature
Arte Public Press: U.S. Hispanic Authors.
Cinco Puntos: Latino titles.
East West Discovery: Bilingual titles.
Empowering Books for Little Black Girls
Free Spirit Publishing: Youth navigating life resources.
Good Comics for Kids
Goosebottom Books: Inspirational titles for young women.
Guys Lit Wire: Books with male appeal.
Guys READ
ilovelibraries Recommended Reading
Kar-Ben Publishing: Children’s books for Jewish families
LGBTQ
- Bold Strokes Books
- Love and Pride
- Over the Rainbow: ALA’s LGBTQ Reading List
- Read Proud, Listen Proud
NYPL Recommendations
Reading in Color

Book Reviews

Common Core

Films

Gaming Resources

ABCmouse.com: Free for public libraries!
Crimson, Inc.
Destructoid
ESRB
Gamestop
PlayPlayLearn
Nintendo
TCGPlayer

Gaming Reviews:

Commercial Review Sites

Birth – Pre-K

Grades K-5

Hi/Lo Resources

Leveling Systems

Are parents coming into the library with strange reading levels from the school? For help deciphering these levels, check out the following resources:

Reading A-Z Chart: “My child is reading at K.” Find out what K means (and all other letters) here.
ATOS for Text: ATOS is the leveling system used by Accelerated Reader. You can type in a small text file or submit an entire book for analysis.
Get a Lexile® Text Measure: Apply for a free Lexile account that allows you to submit a limited amount of text for determination of its Lexile level.
Readability Calculator: Paste text into this calculator to find readability using the following methods: Coleman Liau index, Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, ARI (Automated Readability Index), SMOG. Provides suggestions for improving text readability
Lexile Find a Book: The official site for finding Lexile levels. Search by author, title, Lexile or grade level and genre.
AR Book Finder: Search for books in Accelerated Reader program by author, title or topic. Provides interest level, book reading level and AR points.
Scholastic Book Wizard: Search by author, title or keyword. Provides levels for Guided Reading, Lexile Level and DRA. Also has “Book Alike” to search for books at similar interest and reading levels.

Levels and Labeling with ALA

Labeling and Rating Systems: An interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.
Position Statement
Questions and Answers on Labeling and Rating Systems

Professional Resources

FLLS has a variety of titles in Polaris that you may place on hold. Search the collection ZPROGEN for the entire list.

Journals

FLLS has print copies of the following journals. Please email nburrows@flls.orgif your library would like to be added to the routing list for:

American Libraries
Library Journal
School Library Journal
Video Librarian
VOYA

Web links:

Tweens and Teens

Vendors

Collection

Prizes and Promotional Items

Supplies

Space Planning

Toys and Games