Ready…Set…GO!

Every year the ASU Library participates in what has fondly become known as “the feeding frenzy”. Located inside Howard Payne University’s Walker Memorial Library in Brownwood, Texas, The Heart of Texas Children’s Literature Review Center is a children’s book review program. Libraries in and around Brownwood can participate for an annual membership fee. Once a month from September through May, Carrie Harding, the center’s director, brings newly published books to member institutions for examination and review by educators and librarians. The Porter Henderson Library serves as the pick-up location for the San Angelo Independent School District and Angelo State University. Membership also ensures participating libraries are given the chance to add to their collections in an annual distribution day when books received from publishers during the year are given to membership institutions. The popularity of this event is playfully referred to as the run for the books.

 

Based on their membership status, libraries are allotted a certain number of books that are made available on a first come, first served basis. The rules are simple: everyone starts at once; only one person from each sponsoring institution is allowed in the room at a time. That person has a badge to identify their institution.

Ready…Set…GRAB! Pictured are Library Director, Dr. Maurice G. Fortin and Maria Medina, School Librarian of the SAISD ready to face off!

Each person may pull (or grab) as many books as they can carry in their arms—no carts or bags allowed in the room. When leaving the room, each person passes the badge off to another person from their team who can then gather more books (the badge is used like a tag team). In the meantime, the original team member with books in hand goes directly to their “station” where a volunteer counts and records the number of books. Each team continues to do this until they have pulled their allotted number of books. It’s a test of strength, endurance, speed, and strategy.

Dr. Fortin was the first one in and the first one out. He can typically carry around 40 books at once

This year, the ASU representatives included Dr. Charlene Bustos, Assistant Professor for Teacher Education and Library Director, Dr. Maurice G. Fortin. Their strategy was for Dr. Fortin to go for non-fiction books while Dr. Bustos went for fiction. Waiting in the wings was student assistant, Jack Carrico for packaging and hauling and Library Business Manager, Erin Johnson for processing, which included stamping each books information card with an ASU stamp. ASU’s quota of 300 plus books was collected within twenty minutes. Within another fifteen, all of the books had been accounted for and were on their way to the ASU Library to be added to the Juvenile Collection.

 

This program is a fun and economical way for the Porter Henderson Library to add new books to the Juvenile Collection and support the needs of ASU students in the Teacher’s Education program.