Library Reviews Made Simple

Hi! Hope y’all are having a great week. Today was my last day of work at the Cowboys, so I will be more available for blogging and such. Anyway, I have a real treat today. Jenny Martin is a fabulous librarian who is a fellow member of the DFW Writers Workshop. I emailed her the other day to ask her how the School Library Journal reviews work. She responded with this great cheat sheet on the review process–and not just for SLJ. She said I could post her response, so here it is. Thanks, Jenny!

Library Reviews Made Simple

Different library journals have different review processes. School Library Journal uses volunteer reviewers. To become a reviewer, a librarian has to fill out an application with two sample reviews. The reviewers also follow policies, checklists, and guidelines. You can find these at: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/info/CA6419413.html

Library Media Connection, another major review journal for School Librarians (one of my faves), also uses volunteer reviewers. Their policy is found here: http://www.linworth.com/pdf/lmc/write_or_review/lmcreviewerguidelines.pdf

ALA also provides a couple of great library review journals, Booklist and Book Links. Both journals have a dedicated review staff instead of volunteers. The nice advantage to this is that you can get a feel for the reviewers. These reviewers are more consistent and reliable about recommendations.

And at the top of the library review food chain is Horn Book. Horn book reviews are very influential. They have literary heavyweights reviewing titles. If a book is a *starred* Horn book, you better believe it will find its way onto library shelves.

In the majority of cases (definitely for SLJ) the publisher must provide one or more copies of the book at least two months before publication. The review process can take a couple months.

Any librarian worth his or her salt relies heavily on these journals. We call them “selection tools” for a reason. The majority of my school library purchases hinge on reviews from these journals. If an author’s book is reviewed well, it will sell to schools.

Another big factor is award lists. If a book is nominated on a state list (Bluebonnet, Lonestar, Tayshas, Maverick, etc.), many, many schools automatically buy it. For example, I buy two or three copies of all twenty Bluebonnet books every year. Of course, each state has their own, but the Texas lists are nationally known.

And…if you can get Junior Library Guild to pick up your book as a monthly selection, you’re in great shape.

Hope this info is helpful.

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