nerdy librarian argument: Where to put Harry!

[orangerful]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (the rehearsal script) will be published on July 31st and cataloging librarians are having fun debating where this book should live (when it eventually gets to a shelf...which might take awhile).

So, gentle readers - what do you think?

The librarian in me is annoyed that it not a prose novel but a script, and feels like it should go into the 800s with the rest of the plays.

Children's Librarian/Youth Librarian in me thinks it would make the browsers life easier if it were on the shelf as a normal book, possibly even fudging the author call number so it lives next to the rest of the series.

The Harry Potter fan in me (which isn't a huge one, my HP fandom is low-key but still) is annoyed that this is not actually written by JK (yeah yeah she "approved" it), is a play, it not really meant for children and is full of emo-Harry and Son and could possibly ruin the entire series and wants to ignore it and therefore wants to hide it in the 800s so no one finds it after the shine wears off in a year.

What do you all think? And I want both sides - I know some of you work in libraries and some of you are normal humans (LOL! NO TRUE YOU ARE MY FRIENDS SO YOU CAN'T BE NORMAL!) but what are your thoughts????????? Where should Harry and his cursed child live?

Comments

[teagues-veil.livejournal.com]

Hm, NORMALLY I would say that it should be shelved with the HP series but I kind of want to reserve judgement until after I've read the damn thing. If it's too mature for a younger audience, then it should just be placed where it ~officially goes (rather than aiming for ease of access).

If I was still working in a bookstore, I probably would have just stuck it with HP. A lot of bookstores do "series shelving" now anyway, ignoring alpha by author rules.

[secret-woman.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of putting it in the 'new release' section until the hype is up. I don't know much about it but when people go to look for it they will expect it where the other Harry Potter books are.

[hermionesparkle.livejournal.com]

I understand the fan in you feeling the way that you do. I am annoyed that JK didn't actually write it and that it is a script. And based on spoilers I read accidentally, I am a little concerned about this. Haha!

If it were me, I would put it with the plays. It is a play and it is a script for the play so therefore it belongs there. While it is a continuation of the story, I don't think it belongs with the other books especially with the adult content.

[impalalove]

I'd put it in the plays. A little weird, but considering how the "book" is actually in script form, and not really part of the series, if you consider, so I'd put it separately with a little note. Kids who are interested in the series may be jarred by the sudden writing shift.

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

I vote for play. It's not a book and while I'm totally lining up at midnight to get a copy I'm also prepared to not love it like I love the series and to totally ignore it in terms of the canon for the verse.

I don't know how much it'll be about adult Harry and how much it'll be about his kids having adventures but either way it's not the same as the books and probably shouldn't be shelved with them. Plays are a different kind of reading and I worry that might ruin the magic for younger readers who aren't prepared for that.

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

After reading it I changed my mind. It's very much book verse. I don't know why but the format didn't trip up my mind. I started the first page and was right in the world and the play format really didn't cause me any problem.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

That's good to know! I was kinda worried about the kids who would want to read it and if they were going to struggle (actually, I shouldn't worry about kids, they can adapt, the adults are the ones that freak out LOL)

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

I'm sure people will freak out (I'm still confused by people who didn't know it was a play... that was pretty well publicized and it says it's a script right on the cover...) but honestly they must have written it with book readers in mind because it wasn't a hard play to read at all.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

LOL we've had people who just place holds on ANYTHING Patterson and Grisham and then they are shocked when it is a children's chapter books because they don't really bother to see what the book is about, they just see the name. So, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if all they knew was "HARRY!" and had not delved any further.

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

Sometimes humanity makes me sad.

I think that was an issue with The Casual Vacancy. People saw J.K. Rowling and no matter how much all of the promotional material stressed that this was not going to be like Harry Potter at all and there was no magic in it people still read it and then were upset that it wasn't like Harry Potter and there was no magic.

You'd think people who are reading books would read to know what the book was about... but apparently not.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

They don't even read the SIGNS in the library to tell them where the books are. :) Humans are simple creatures at heart, that is for sure.

[danakm.livejournal.com]

I think it should live with the plays. It's not for children, not prose, and not by the same author, so it doesn't make that much logical sense for it to be with the other books...

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Swooping back in to say: It is in the searchable catalog now, and we're putting it in Teen Fiction for some reason! Just in case you were curious. Where'd you put yours?

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I think they put it in Teen Fiction as well. I really have no say in it LOL. I just wanted to rant because I have no say in it. I still think plays would have made more sense in the long run. Honestly, it's not getting the level of holds I expected.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Yeah, ours didn't go as fast as we expected either. I mean, they went, but not super-fast. I figure the hard-core fans just bought it from B&N. That's what I was gonna do, but they sold out. Because of course.