yearbook LIFE

A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often has an overarching theme that is present throughout the entire book.

Many high schools, colleges, and elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks; however, many schools are dropping yearbooks or decreasing page counts given social media alternatives to a mass-produced physical photographically-oriented record.[1] From 1995 to 2013, the number of U.S. college yearbooks dropped from roughly 2,400 to 1,000.[2]

Contents

• 1History

• 2Yearbooks by country

• 3Production and distribution

• 4See also

• 5References

• 6Further reading

• 7External links

History[edit]

Proto-yearbooks in the form of scrapbooks appeared in US East Coast schools towards the end of the 17th century.[3] The first formal yearbook was the 1806 Profiles of Part of the Class Graduated at Yale College.[3]

Yearbooks by country[edit]

Australia[edit]

Yearbooks published by Australian schools follow a consistent structure to their North American counterparts. Australian yearbooks function as an annual magazine for the school body, with a significant focus on objectively reporting the events that occurred during the schooling year. Yearbook staff predominantly consists of only one or two school teachers who serve as editors in chief. Australian school yearbooks are predominantly created on A4 paper size, featuring a softcover style front-and-back cover, typically 250 or 300 g/m2 density. Hardcover style yearbooks are not as common, although exceptions occur.[citation needed] This is sold as allowing a higher level of student involvement whilst making the workflow simpler and easier for all involved. Additionally, some schools feature a separate yearbook for students in year 2.

Publishing[edit]

Australian school yearbooks are primarily published with technology, with a mix of color, spot color, and black and white pages, depending on the school's budget.

India[edit]

India does not have a long history of publishing school yearbooks. However, top Business schools and Engineering colleges publish custom yearbooks. This is typically created by the final year students of the batch. A yearbook or a memory book would consist of testimonials and common pages such as Director's address and events, and festivals' picture collages.

Most top schools do create schools magazines that are shared with each student. Some of the early adopters among school students are starting to create custom yearbooks in the same line as created by students from the US or Europe. This trend is likely to pick up with the advent of technology platforms that make it easy for students to create them.

Nigeria[edit]

In Nigeria, it is very common to find yearbooks in schools as it is in countries such as the US and Canada, though several schools allocate annual funding and publish yearbooks at the end of the school year (July or August). These yearbooks closely resemble those found in the US, with columns about certain themes, in-depth coverage of major events, and large collections of photos, as well as drawings reflecting daily life at these schools. Some schools do produce yearbooks yearly.

South Africa[edit]

In South Africa, it is not as common to find yearbooks in schools as it is in countries such as the US and Canada, though several schools allocate annual funding and publish yearbooks at the end of the school year (November or December). These yearbooks closely resemble those found in the US, with columns about certain themes, in-depth coverage of major events, and large collections of photos, as well as drawings reflecting daily life at these schools.

Major events covered include Matric Farewell Dances (equivalent to Senior Prom in the US), annual sporting events (such as Inter-schools where several schools assemble and compete in various sports as well as with dance routines in competition for spirit awards, etc.), and grade group events organized specifically for a specific grade.

United States[edit]

Elementary and middle schools may have a designated staff member who is in charge of putting together that school's yearbook, with or without the help of the students. These books are usually considerably smaller than a high school or college yearbook.

High school yearbooks generally cover a wide variety of topics from academics, student life, sports, clubs, and other major school events. Generally, each student is pictured with their class, while seniors might get a page-width picture or a slightly larger photo than the underclassmen to reflect their status in the school. Each school organization, such as a sports team or academic/social club, is usually pictured. A high school yearbook staff consists of students with one or more faculty advisors. The yearbook staff can be chosen in a variety of ways, including volunteer extracurricular organization, academic class, or assigned to the entire senior class.[citation needed]

High school yearbooks are considered a form of journalism by scholastic journalism such as the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the National Scholastic Press Association, the Journalism Education Association and state and regional scholastic press associations.[citation needed] Numerous awards are given for journalistic excellence annually.[citation needed]

Colleges that publish yearbooks follow a similar format to high schools.[citation needed] Some include detailed recaps of football and basketball games. College yearbooks are considered by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) to be a form of journalism. ACP holds the annual Pacemaker competition for college yearbooks as well as other collegiate media outlets. Many colleges have phased out yearbooks due to high prices and low demand, while some, like Auburn University, opt to support annual publications with relatively small portions of student fees to continue this over 120-year-old tradition. The Glomerata continues to be one of the most circulated yearbooks in the country, distributing 8,000 copies to Auburn University's student body in April 2018.[4]

U.S. military[edit]

1968 military yearbook

Warships of the United States Navy often produce a yearbook-style publication upon completion of a long deployment (typically six months or more). These books, referred to by sailors as "cruise books" are produced on board by the ship's Morale, Welfare, and Recreation department and Public Affairs staff, and then printed ashore by the same printing companies that publish high school and college yearbooks. The cruise book of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier typically reaches over 600 pages in length, as it includes portraits of the more than 5,000 sailors and Marines assigned to the ship's company and embarked carrier air wing.

The Navy's Recruit Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois also produces yearbook-style publications for each graduating division of recruits. These publications are much smaller, as each recruit division totals roughly 80 sailors. The book is called "The Keel" after the part of a ship that is constructed first, as RTC or boot camp sets the foundation for the sailor's career. These books contain a color section common to all books published that year, with a specific black and white section added for each recruit division and their "brother" or "sister" division.

Production and distribution[edit]

Compilation[edit]

Yearbooks are generally compiled by a student club or a yearbook class, usually advised by a faculty member. The yearbook staff usually has one or more editors who are responsible for collecting and compiling all of the information to be contained within the book, also deciding the layout and allocation of space for each contributor.

Sections[edit]

Most yearbooks have a similar format, which includes individual photographs of students, information on activities, sports, and other activities.

People (seniors, underclassmen, faculty)[edit]

In the U.S., where a yearbook often covers the whole school and not just the senior class, these sections are usually arranged in chronological order by class (freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior), in either ascending or descending order. Normally students will have individual portraits accompanied by their names. Senior photographs are usually larger than those of underclassmen and are sometimes accompanied by text about their accomplishments throughout high school and their plans. Frequently, seniors are polled to nominate their classmates for "superlatives" or "class celebrities" (such as "most likely to succeed", "most athletic", "most spirited", "best smile", and "class clown"), are often published in the senior section. In addition, seniors are dressed formally. Some private schools and smaller high schools set aside an entire page for each senior. These pages are sometimes designed by the seniors themselves, with each senior submitting a digital or physical version of the page they would like featured in the book.

"Picture Day" is the school day in the United States and Canada when students have their photographs taken by a professional photographer. Parents can purchase packages of these portraits to distribute, often accompanied by other items featuring the portrait. The pictures are not inexpensive for the amount of time and effort involved – which can be less than one minute per student – partly because the photography company usually pays the school part of the price for each photo sold in a "rebate" or unadvertised "fundraising" scheme.[5] These portraits often go into the school yearbook, which are usually distributed at the end of the school year. The pictures may also be used on student ID cards. There will also generally be a second day ("retake day") to take pictures if the student is absent.[6]

Slovak yearbook from the 1977–78 academic year

In the UK and other countries, where yearbooks often only cover the final year group and not the entire school, each student may have more space for answers to various questions as well as their photo (or photos). In Year 11 (England & Wales) members are usually grouped by form/class; whilst Year 13 tends not to be grouped in such a way, but instead, just appears alphabetically throughout the book. It's common in these markets for each person to have between a quarter and a whole page each, depending on the budget available for the yearbook (as more pages mean a higher cost). The editorial team chooses questions for members to answer (such as "Favourite teacher?" or "Where will you be in 5 years?") and these answers appear alongside member photos. These photos and answers are sometimes also collected online.

Student life[edit]

Several pages are often used for pages chronicling activities undertaken by students, such as trips abroad, activity trips, sporting, and other special events. This part of the book often covers students' lives both inside and outside of the campus.

Sometimes members of a yearbook write editorial and journalistic content about life as a student, current events (local, national, and international), and other matters of interest to the peer group.

Academics/education[edit]

This section covers the classes, projects, and more educational aspects of the school year.

Organizations[edit]

This section describes student organizations (sometimes referred to as clubs) and what they did during the year. These descriptions are often accompanied by a photo or photos of the organization's members. This section sometimes includes a list of the members of each organization.

Sports[edit]

Often listed by season or club, these pages chronicle the accomplishments of the school's teams. Along with a short article listing the season's highlights, these pages include team photographs and action pictures.

Advertising pages[edit]

Advertisements in the 1914 "Almanac," the yearbook of Toledo Central High School in Toledo, Ohio

Many yearbooks gain revenue by including a section of ads from local businesses.

Some schools sell advertisements for seniors. Parents, other family members, and friends use these ads to congratulate a senior — or group of seniors — for their accomplishments.