Board Books

PROS OF FLIP-THROUGH/FACE-OUT SHELVING

• Ease of use

Before flip-through shelving was as prevalent as it is now becoming, many libraries used similar lower end or more affordable concepts to great effect to achieve the same ends. This may have included plastic bins that were color-coded by author or category, e.g. yellow bins contain authors A-E, blue bins contain authors F-L, etc. or yellow bins contain all board books about animals, blue bins contain all books about the alphabet, etc. These would then have some form of corresponding label or sticker adhered to the board book to ease the process of keeping the books properly organized without requiring much time or attention. Other libraries simply do not organize their board books due to heavy use and/or lack of staff resources.

By utilizing flip-through shelving and a basic system of categorizing the materials, patrons are able to focus on concepts or authors they would like to read to their infants and toddlers about while also making it easier on staff who are responsible for pulling items to fulfill holds.

CONS OF FLIP-THROUGH/FACE-OUT SHELVING

• Climbing

Our young patrons are often full of energy, creativity, and a touch of curiosity, which means our shelving can become a stand-in for various high altitude terrains in their imaginative play. More than once, staff has stumbled upon a young patron standing upon the bars of the lower shelves. Less often, we’ve heard the crash of our shelving as it could no longer bear the weight of the child standing on it.

• Reduced collection size

Depending on how your board book collection is currently housed, a reduced collection may be one result of making the switch to flip-through. This is particularly true of those who use other bin storage systems to maximize the amount of books you can store per container.

CATEGORIES FOR FLIP-THROUGH/FACE-OUT SHELVING