Librarians at Coronado High School are always working to keep the library’s shelves filled with the latest books from all sorts of genres. While from the outsider’s lens it may seem like these books just appear, there’s a process behind how they’re chosen.

Mrs. Stacy Brickell, the assistant librarian at Coronado, explained that students’ input was a big part of the decision: “For the selections, a lot of it is student-based, so we have a request box so students can let us know the books they want.”

Once suggestions are returned to the box, the decision-making process is handed off to Mr. Cox, the library technician and head of the department. He manages the final say as to which books will be added to the library. According to Mrs. Brickell, “The school also subscribes to monthly lists from book guilds, which help us keep up with newly published titles.” Books are not only chosen based on student requests, but also on what genres are needed to fill the needed space, and what’s trendy among young people.

In an interview with Mia Noll, Class of 2027, she stated, “I used one of the slips that the library provided me with to write my recommendation.” She also added, “All I did was put it in the box, but later on I was let know that my book was being considered to be brought into the Coronado Library.” Students like Mia appreciate the inclusivity of the book slips and look forward to the furthering of this system.

By gathering suggestions and subscriptions to keep up with the latest book releases, the library staff ensures that the shelves continue to grow in ways that reflect students’ interests here at Coronado.