We are all familiar with classic cliques of three. The Plastics from “Mean Girls” is one; the Three Stooges is another. If you want to go there you can even think of the Three Musketeers. There is also another classic clique, though I bet it’s never caught your attention before. It’s right under your nose, specifically if you’re checking out books at the Manhattan High library. Enter the power librarians.

MHS librarians work together as a commixture to select books.

“I listen to what either she [Gail Hughes] has to say, [about the books] or what Mrs. [Joann] Hettenbach has to say,” Kathy Musch, the librarian’s secretary, said. “We form a consensus.”

The criteria for selecting books for the MHS library is the following:

“I want to read something that’s critically acclaimed, and so that’s what I start looking for,” Hettenbach, librarian, said. “I think that … [awards] are good and valuable in many cases.”

“[A book] has to have at least two good reviews by the school library journal or … some scholarly source that only writes book reviews,” Hughes, librarian, said. “I know Mrs. Hettenbach often will go through the Salina Journal or different newspapers that review books weekly. That way you can read what they [reviewers] have to say without reading the book.”

“Recommendations are also important,” Musch said. “Kids will come in and say, ‘I’ve heard about this book. I’d like to read it, is there any way we can get it?’ We look at recommendations from teachers too.”

“We also select certain books if there’s a movie [based on that book] coming out,” Hughes said.