Library DIY: Finding Books and Articles

McGill Library has a lot of books for children and young adults, including picture books, chapter books, and non-fiction books but they can be difficult to find.

For example, if you were looking for a children's book about Martin Luther King, Jr and you typed "Martin Luther King" into WISE, you would get thousands of results including academic articles and books, biographies, news and magazine articles, and children's books.  Finding a children's book within all of those academic resources is hard! 

Try this instead: Add “b8:juvenile” or “b8:young adult” , or "b8:picture" to the end of your search. This will return only books that have the word after b8: in the "location" line of the record.

When you search "Martin Luther King b8:juvenile" you get 34 books that are specifically geared toward children:

Remember, there are 4 collections housed within the Children's Room in McGill Library.

• Picture Book Collection (Ages 0-5/6): Includes books appropriate for children aged approximately 0 - 5/6.  Both fiction and non-fiction works are included.  Books have a blue square on the spine. This collection also includes books appropriate for early or beginning readers (aka EZReaders)
• “Juvenile” Collection (Ages 5/6-11): Includes fiction books appropriate for children aged approximately 5/6 through 11.  Includes non-fiction works appropriate for children aged approximately 5/6 and older.  Books have a white dot on the spine.
• Reference Materials
• Media Library

Remember, if you need help finding something, PLEASE ask!  Our Children's Room gets a lot of use (which we love), but little hands often mis-shelve. 

Lexile Level Help:

• Scholastic Book Wizard
• AR Bookfinder
• Lexile.com