Increasing Circulation in High Schools

"So what's the most challenging aspect of being a high school librarian?" I asked during my day of observation last spring.  Without even a second's thought she answered,"Getting these kids to check out books!"  She went on to say that increasing circulation is a constant and unrelenting problem with no viable solution.  Her frustration was obvious.  I recalled how my own daughter who was (and still is) a voracious and insatiable reader, never checked out even ONE book from her high school library.

The concern here is of course that high school kids need to read for pleasure and personal growth just like younger kids.  But there's also the issue of a librarian being able to promote and justify her program.  When circulation is too low or nearly non-existent, procuring funds and keeping your job must be terribly difficult.

New York City embarked on a program to revitalize their high school libraries by increasing circulation.  The results were amazing. You can read more about the results and how this was accomplished by visiting http://www.adlit.org/article/19845/.

Additional sites related to this topic are:

http://www.teacherlibrarian.org/forum/topics/how-to-improve-circulation-numbers-in-high-school

http://www.cindyorr.com/Increase_Circulation.html