whycad
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 31 
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Post by whycad on Apr 3, 2015 15:20:48 GMT -5
Hello all! I am a student at library school, and I am writing a paper on collecting Babysitters Club books. I’m interested in how fans find, collect, preserve, catalogue, and use their Babysitters Club collections. I was wondering if you might think about the questions I list below, and tell me a little bit about your own experience (if you collect the books). Please feel free to comment even on just one or two questions! Any insight will help me write my paper  I really appreciate how responsive everyone on these boards is, even tho I’ve only posted a few times Questions: Are there any BSC books you’ve had a difficult time finding? Which BSC book(s) would you say are the rarest? Is your collection complete? If not, when would you consider it complete? How do “spin offs” - for example the Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Super Specials - fit into your collection? How do you organize your collection? How do you go about finding books for your collection - 2nd hand book stores, online, garage sales? Is there a book in your collection with a particularly interesting history? (e.g. where it came from, something interesting written in it, signed by Anne M. Martin…) Cheers all! And thank you for reading. |
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Post by greer on Apr 3, 2015 19:04:22 GMT -5
Hello all! I am a student at library school, and I am writing a paper on collecting Babysitters Club books. I’m interested in how fans find, collect, preserve, catalogue, and use their Babysitters Club collections. I was wondering if you might think about the questions I list below, and tell me a little bit about your own experience (if you collect the books). Please feel free to comment even on just one or two questions! Any insight will help me write my paper I really appreciate how responsive everyone on these boards is, even tho I’ve only posted a few times Questions: Are there any BSC books you’ve had a difficult time finding? -I had them all new. I didn't have a hard time finding any I'd lost. Which BSC book(s) would you say are the rarest? -graduation day. Later books tend to be harder in general. Is your collection complete? If not, when would you consider it complete? -yes How do “spin offs” - for example the Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Super Specials - fit into your collection? -they are a part of the series so they are in there. The only thing I don't really collect is little sister/kids in Ms colmans class. How do you organize your collection? I had them on a shelf in chronological order by series, but I'm moving so they're in giant containers now. How do you go about finding books for your collection - 2nd hand book stores, online, garage sales? -online Is there a book in your collection with a particularly interesting history? (e.g. where it came from, something interesting written in it, signed by Anne M. Martin…) -I did have an autographed copy of Aloha Baby-Sitters from when Ann came to a local bookstore, but it was destroyed in a basement flood. Cheers all! And thank you for reading. |
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whycad
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 31
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Post by whycad on Apr 3, 2015 19:25:03 GMT -5
Thanks greer!
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celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
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Post by celaeno on Apr 3, 2015 20:14:25 GMT -5
Are there any BSC books you’ve had a difficult time finding?
The later the book was published, the harder they seem to find. Of the ones I'm missing, they're all from later in the series.
Which BSC book(s) would you say are the rarest?
In the regular series, books #1 - 88 were published with the old covers. Then #89 - 131 were published with the new covers, and #1 - 88 were also republished with the new covers (I think?). I think the hardest ones to find are some of the latest ones from that group (eg, the new covered versions of #88, #87...)
Is your collection complete? If not, when would you consider it complete?
No. I'm missing 10 from the regular series, and 7 mysteries. I will consider it complete when I have those.
How do “spin offs” - for example the Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Super Specials - fit into your collection?
I consider all of those books as part of the "complete" collection. The only books I'm not buying are the graphic novels, and any of the Little Sister/Kids in Ms. Colman's Class books. (I sometimes buy the versions with updated covers [the late 1990s ones, not the 2010s ones] but don't consider them part of completing my collection).
How do you organize your collection?
I bought this big, tall shelving unit (designed to hold DVDs - which is great because BSC books are close in size to DVD cases) that holds all of them, and other similarly sized books. It's in my bedroom. I love it!
How do you go about finding books for your collection - 2nd hand book stores, online, garage sales?
I had some BSC books from my childhood collection, but most of them had been gotten rid of when I was younger, probably at garage sales. Almost all of the ones I have now are from thrift stores and used book sales. I bought maybe 4 of the BSC books online (ones that seemed to be harder to find at thrift stores - like the Guide to the BSC, the Chain Letter book...), and I bought the entire California Diaries series online in one lot. Most of the Friends Forever books were given to me by a fellow board member.
Is there a book in your collection with a particularly interesting history? (e.g. where it came from, something interesting written in it, signed by Anne M. Martin…)
I have 2 books (Mary Anne's Book and Claudia's Book) that are signed by Ann, from when my sister and I went to a book signing with Ann when we were kids. I also have another book (#7 Claudia and the Mean Janine) that is signed by Ann - I bought it in a thrift store, and didn't realize it was signed until I got home.
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 3, 2015 20:23:13 GMT -5
Hi Whycad, I wish you well on your paper (cool topic and would love to read even part of it if you wouldn't mind sharing. I never had BSC homework! Are there any BSC books you’ve had a difficult time finding? Off the top of my head a couple of the hardest books to find were: Claudia and the Mystery in the Painting and Karen's Haunted House for a LS book. Which BSC book(s) would you say are the rarest? I have no clue what would be the rarest! Maybe as more years go by the first original printings? Is your collection complete? If not, when would you consider it complete? It is complete for me I have all the BSC and LS books, including the Kids in Ms. Colman Class stories. I was able last year to give the BSC Friends Forever series to a couple friends on here. (In my heart the BSC will always be the club of the original and older books. I did not care at all for the FF's). So I don't have those nor need to own them. I also never read or collected the CA Diaries, again no interest. I have the complete rest of the series except for the LS special Playground Games, the BSC Notebook, and wasn't there also a BSC Guide to Baby-sitting? I also think Karen also had a dairy type fill in LS book. Sometime I would love to find some of the mysteries in particular in better condition. ETA: I read one of the BSC graphic novels once and it didn't do much for me. Cool idea but I prefer the original How do “spin offs” - for example the Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Super Specials - fit into your collection? I forgot to say above, I do have all the Portraits and wish Mal, Jessi, and some of the BSC charges and even family members had portraits, too! How do you organize your collection? My BSC books are shelved in order of story time as I figured out years go (Time line document). Chronological order + story dates/and time frame were considered. LS books are right now in numerical order and the portraits and Chain Letter, Complete Guide, and Secret Santa are in another book cabinet. Same with The Summer Before. How do you go about finding books for your collection - 2nd hand book stores, online, garage sales? I began recollecting in 2007. At that time, I used Ebay for some lots and actually ended up not keeping all the books I got, thinking I didn't need to own all the books, silly billy goo goo me, I know. I have also over the years been blessed to have had a couple one dollar bookstores in which to find the BSC books, especially the LS Series. Paperbackswap was also a wonderful source for me. I did get some of my collection as gifts from friends. Is there a book in your collection with a particularly interesting history? (e.g. where it came from, something interesting written in it, signed by Anne M. Martin…) Ann did send me an autographed copy of the new version of KGI, I think 4 or 5 years ago now. ETA: Hug, Greer, I'm so sorry about the basement flood and that the water ruined Aloha especially as it was signed! Celaeno, that is very cool both you and your sister got to meet Ann and have different portraits signed by her. |
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whycad
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 31
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Post by whycad on Apr 3, 2015 20:53:54 GMT -5
Thank you guys for responding! Celaeno, I myself end up buying second copies if it's a different cover than the one I have! I think it's interesting to think how print run numbers varied depending on the year/ popularity of the series at that particular time. zoar3, I think your organization scheme by timeline is really interesting. I'd love to see that Time Line document, is there a link? (I can also just search it.) Apologies guys, if I'm making redundant comments/questions...seems like there's a post for everything already |
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 3, 2015 21:26:10 GMT -5
Whycad, the timeline, I am embarrassed and sorry to say, I haven't much looked at in 6 years (except for a quick search). It is 399 pages! I created a Word document for each BSC book with plot, sub plot, my guess on when the story took place and over how many days along with some observations. I also divided up the document by the BSC's 13 years of 8th grade that the series covered. Trying to deduce time in Stoneybrook was interesting  I will say all these years later, in my heart, the girls and their charges will always be their original ages. It can be fun to briefly for me think about them as older but I much prefer to focus on the stories as they were or possible extensions. I'm BSC sentimental One of these days I will try and get it formatted and have appreciated offers of help on here to do that. Right now, I admit to having other priorities but have not forgotten about it! Thanks for asking. |
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Post by virgoscorpio on Apr 4, 2015 10:21:55 GMT -5
I'm going to try to answer most of the questions as quickly as I can! The BEGINNING stages of BSC re-collecting was much easier for me as I bought huge bulks on eBay. (This was back when shipping to Canada wasn't as expensive as it is now!) When there were book(s) that I already had, I would ask the seller not to include them so it would decrease shipping costs. I also went to used book stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. to find individual copies of books. I also bought some off of Amazon individually. Expensive but it was worth it to me!
I store my books in boxes - about 6 in total - and I keep them in my bedroom closet which is big and I have easy access to them. I have moved many times and also moved across country so this seems like the easiest choice to me. Eventually I will get a bookshelf and store them.
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Post by shannon86 on Apr 7, 2015 21:03:36 GMT -5
Hello all! I am a student at library school, and I am writing a paper on collecting Babysitters Club books. I’m interested in how fans find, collect, preserve, catalogue, and use their Babysitters Club collections. I was wondering if you might think about the questions I list below, and tell me a little bit about your own experience (if you collect the books). Please feel free to comment even on just one or two questions! Any insight will help me write my paper I really appreciate how responsive everyone on these boards is, even tho I’ve only posted a few times Questions: Are there any BSC books you’ve had a difficult time finding? The last few books were the hardest for me to obtain. Which BSC book(s) would you say are the rarest? The last one, Graduation Day. Is your collection complete? If not, when would you consider it complete? Yes, I have all 131 Regular Books, all Super Special, all Mystery, all Friends Forever, all Portrait Collections, all Misc. BSC Books, all Mystery and all Super Mystery books. How do “spin offs” - for example the Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Super Specials - fit into your collection? They all fit perfectly fine into my The Baby-Sitters Club Universe. How do you organize your collection? By Numerical Number. How do you go about finding books for your collection - 2nd hand book stores, online, garage sales? Most of my collection came from eBay, stores and thrift stores. Is there a book in your collection with a particularly interesting history? (e.g. where it came from, something interesting written in it, signed by Anne M. Martin…) The first 10 books from the regular series are super special to me because they were my older cousin's books. Cheers all! And thank you for reading. |
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whycad
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 31
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Post by whycad on Apr 16, 2015 17:08:10 GMT -5
I just wanted to thank you guys all for replying! I also realize now there was probably a better board to put this thread in...I feel like that's a common rookie refrain  Anyway, all your answers gave me something to think about. I drew a concept map of my paper, which I would post here to share with you guys, but I'm not sure how to insert an image. Anyway - thanks all again. Since I posted this I think I've scored around 5 new additions to my own collection, woo hoo! I now have all 4 Super Mysteries...small milestones! |
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I really appreciate how responsive everyone on these boards is, even tho I’ve only posted a few times 
I will say all these years later, in my heart, the girls and their charges will always be their original ages. It can be fun to briefly for me think about them as older but I much prefer to focus on the stories as they were or possible extensions. I'm BSC sentimental 
Anyway, all your answers gave me something to think about. I drew a concept map of my paper, which I would post here to share with you guys, but I'm not sure how to insert an image. Anyway - thanks all again. Since I posted this I think I've scored around 5 new additions to my own collection, woo hoo! I now have all 4 Super Mysteries...small milestones!