Classics… to buy or not to buy?

July 7, 2011 Uncategorized 0

Okay, I need your help! I’ve spent the past couple of weeks doing inventory in my middle school LMC. As part of that inventory I’ve gone through the shelves and pulled any book that hasn’t been checked out in the past five years. I have no problem getting ride of most of them. They are outdated and of no interest to the students. The problem comes with books like the ones shown below.


The classics. Now, many of these books are fabulous. The problem is they don’t look it. Books are judged by their covers. Period. No middle schooler is going to pick those up. I know because they haven’t been checked out in YEARS. Some I’m not replacing. The Scarlet Letter, Of Mice and Men, and 1984 don’t really need to be in a seventh and eighth grade library (Note: I’m not against students reading them. They can get them at the public library or I can request them from our high school.) But which books should I reorder? 

This is where you come in. What “classics” do you think every middle school should have. For example, I know that I’m reordering Treasure Island and The Call of the Wild. I’d appreciate suggestions in the comments 🙂 Thanks!

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