Yearbook 101

Motivational Quote

“A yearbook will only be as good as the group of people who create it. Each staff member should work hard take pride in his accomplishments and be talented in some area of production or marketing. There must be unity among staff members if they are to achieve their goal: to produce a yearbook students appreciate and read.”

What is a Yearbook?

A yearbook serves five important functions. They are:

1. Historical Record - A yearbook should record the history of one year. This is accomplished by including all the events, activities, people, achievements, fashions and issues that characterize this year.

2. Memory Book - The yearbook verbally and visually preserves school-related memories just as a family scrapbook preserves memories of a childhood.

What is a Yearbook?Continued….

3. Reference Source - Accuracy is the key here. By including names, scores, honors, titles and other relevant data, the yearbook can be used by administrators, detectives, alumni, teachers, librarians and reporters to identify people and document facts.

4. Public Relations Vehicle - Readers will form impressions of your school based on the information in your yearbook. It’s important to represent activities and attitudes in a positive way. That doesn’t mean you should avoid controversial issues, it just means you should be fair and objective in dealing with those issues.

What is a Yearbook? Continued….

5. Educational Tool - Practical and hands-on experience are gained by working on the yearbook. Students develop skills in writing, advertising, marketing, layout, photography, management and teamwork.

Who are yearbooks for?

Yearbooks are for students now and the same students10, 20, 50 years from now. While the photos are more appealing for students today, in the future they will read the stories in order to remember when they were in middle school.

The History of Yearbooks• The word yearbook dates back to 1710 and referred to a

book published yearly as a report or summary of statistics or facts.

• Yearbooks as we know them evolved from two other kinds of student publications – school newspapers and student literary magazines.

• The 1st school newspaper from 1777 was hand-written by students at William Penn Charter School of Philadelphia and was called the Gazette.

• The 1st literary magazine and printed school publication of record is the Literary Journal of the Boston Latin School, produced in 1829.

The History of Yearbooks Continued….

• It is believed that the modern yearbook came into being in the late 1880s with the introduction of halftone printing.

• They began as a hybrid of school newspaper & literary magazines. Produced by the senior class and called “senior class books” or “annuals”. Slowly became memory books for seniors. Some with printed pictures others pasted pictures in. They were printed on a letterpress and were bound with a soft cover.

• In the late 1930s Taylor Publishing was the first printer to provide yearbook typesetting, printing and binding under one roof. As well as the first kit of supplies to assist staffs.

The History of Yearbooks Continued….

• In the 30s & 40s the yearbooks were crude: copy was minimal consisting mostly of class prophesies, wills and jokes; candid pictures were limited to a few pages if at all.

• During war years production was limited due to paper and photographic supply shortages.

• By the 50s yearbooks became an American tradition!

• In the 60s they reflected social and political attitudes of the time.

• In the 70s they were now being created for all students not just seniors and they became journalistically sound.

Source

• The Yearbook Course by Taylor Publishing Company, copyright: 1987, 1991

• Prepared by Carey Eagan, Yearbook Sponsor BMSN.