To ask if I'm the only one to be appalled by the general calibure of children's literature in libraries

[AWitchCalledMeg]

I know we are lucky to have libraries. I am grateful and do support our libraries. My four children and I visit five libraries local to us on a regular basis of which span three counties between them (we live on the border of several counties). But over the years I have become more and more saddened by quality of books available. My children are all under 7 so can't comment on books for older children. What is the process on how the books are selected? I would estimate 85% of the books are so so inane, dumbed down and stupid, 12% is the modern generic Julia Donaldson type fodder and then 3% are the rare gems which are actually good. Surely I can't be the only one to have noticed this? So many books they have available there I can't believe they were ever published and surely they would never sell in the shops.. perhaps that's why they are in the library? So many studies show that children are reading less than ever.. how can they hope to change this when so much utter tosh is being put out there?

And no one seems to have pointed out the irony of the spelling error in the thread about quality literature?

*title of the thread

RJ You beat me to it! I could scarcely believe this reached 4 pages before someone pointed out that the OP, for all her moaning about dumbing down, cannot in fact spell

I did notice that too ....

Hermagsjesty Yes, absolutely!

It was the first thing I noticed, but it's not the done thing on MN to point out spelling errors anymore is it? And didn't want to derail/appear petty.

Er, where is the OP anyway?!

Oh, thank God for that! I was so hoping someone braver than me would point it out!

It is not the done thing to point out spelling errors when someone is in need of support but for some reason on this thread it doesn't feel inappropriate...

Calibure?

We are in London and probably lucky to still have libraries, but I think there is very little money for books. My dd did the library reading challenge over the summer holidays a number of times and when she did it last, she really struggled to find books to read. The collection for older readers is particularly poor.

I did have a fleeting moment of wondering if Calibure might be something to do with Excalibur. Seeing as we're talking children's books and that...

Children are as entitled to read trash as adults are. Books should be primarily for enjoyment, not worthy enrichment. If your child is reading that is good. They may not be reading what you’d like, but as long as it’s content appropriate for their age there’s nothing wrong with fluff.

User149 - our little local library had a great range for all ages including many graphic novels. The dilapidated building was suddenly closed the demolished. A replacement was promised. That was over 3 years ago, we are lucky to get a mobile library for a couple of hours a week. The council have spent the £500k supposedly ‘ringfenced’ for our new library elsewhere. Part of the area served by the library is an official Area of High Deprivation. It seems that no one cares.

We only had one really crap book about dinosaur pirates, the cadence was completely off so it was virtually impossible to read it and keep the rhyme .

Reminded me of modernist poetry that made little sense and had an over abundance of exclamation marks.

Oh and one about a pet dragon that I don't like but DS does so meh.

But I love our local library.

And I like Julia Donaldson as well, particularly as my just turned three DS can quote huge chunks of it from memory.

Julia Donaldson: massively overrated. Let's look at the evidence.

The Gruffalo: excellent book.
The Gruffalo's Child. It's just wrong. Even my DD4 spotted it. "In the Gruffalo, the snake is scared of the Gruffalo not the mouse".
Highway Rat, Tabby McTat. Awful. Have you tried reading them out loud? They just don't have rhythm.

"For he landed a job in a cake shop -
A cake shop - a cake shop -
And they say he still works in the cake shop,
sweeping the cake shop floor".

Stop with the fucking repetition! The others are ok. Like Zog. Nothing special. I think I just can't get over how wrong the Gruffalo's Child is.

RJ and also children's should be childrens'......

There will always be a dickshunary to check on spellings.

Charity shop books aren't always the best(hence why they're often in there) and ours charges way more than 49p.

Libraries are a necessity. I will never,ever forgive the Tories for decimating our library system. I order masses a month( my 3 dc and I are avid readers) and pay 75p for every book I order. No way could I afford to buy the amount of books we read.

Children only stay good readers if they keep reading. Nobody can bleat about literacy levels and than attack the source which keeps kids literate.

titbumwillypoo: er, no. Children's is correct. Children is already a plural; here the 's shows possession (of or belonging to children).

@NotBadConsidering - the repetition in the Highway Rat is deliberate. It’s a parody of Alfred Noyes’ poem The Highwayman: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman

My local libraries seem to have a pretty good selection of children’s books.

Also what about their School library. Ours, despite being in a rubbish space is crammed to the rafters with great books, from classics that were classics before we were young to newer fiction.

I go out of my way to make up themed sections, so I will be taking down today the remembrance themed section with books about the war. I will be replacing it with one shelf of books about refugees and one shelf entitled ‘have you read a red book?’ I.e. books that are mainly red covers.

yes my kid came home with 6x rainbow unicorn nonsensical trivia yesterday

I’m another one who says that it doesn’t matter if it’s crap, as long as its engaging. The long summer holidays before DD2 turned 7 all she read was Rainbow Magic books and, randomly, books about space. She’d take out 10 Rainbow Magic books and a book about Black Holes. Nearly 3 years later she still likes maths/science books but has read a whole heap of stuff I consider “worthy”- all the Roald Dahl books, Morris Gleizman, Judy Blume (not Forever) Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc. She also loves the Hunger Games which is probably age inappropriate but I think Katniss is a good, strong female character. Your DC won’t be reading those Rainbow stories forever but it’s good to get into the habit of reading early, even if it’s not great.

Lucky you.

It's pot luck as to where you live and some libraries get way more funding than others even when within the same council.

Ours is barely open outside of school hours. The books and hours are geared to pensioners. We get no new books,
and are charged when ordering books from other branches within the county to be sent over. The money then goes to stock the favoured city libraries. Not fair. Many families are working hard and not able to frequently treck into cities.

Schools are at breaking point re funding and many are losing their libraries. My dd's lovely school library has been dismantled. In the school I work in ours is now housed in a cupboard. Good local libraries are thus even more crucial for children of all ages.

ifigoup lol yes of course! I'm a twat! embarrased