CCSD Middle School Media Specialist Weeding Advice

Hanna Grimes - Barber

Cara said she started by looking at the books that haven’t been circulated since your media center opened or maybe in the last 5-10 years. If they no longer look relevant or appealing then weed them. I also ran a report in Titlewave for age of the collection for technology books and such that may be outdated. Science may be included. Start there.

Paige Harris – Pine Mountain

Luckily, your school is not as old as mine! It can become very addictive, so watch yourself. I try to limit myself to one book cart per year and stick to a few sections per year. That way I can look to see what is available (more up to date) to replace the outdated stuff, if necessary.

Penney Chaney - Floyd

First thing I’ve determined, weed before inventory. I’ve weeded FIC according to *copyright before 1980 (had to start somewhere) * less than 2 checkouts in record (only dates back to 2000 in Destiny). *protecting classics that were in good shape and didn’t have bad covers (really turns the kids off)I’ve looked also at titles that Updated copies would inspire interest and added them to my Fall 2014 order in progress. Non-fiction… I’m taking a section each year… and giving much more thought.Started with ASTRONOMY last year… Pluto and such.Have worked on the 900s this year.I devote time to seeking replacements as I weed on titles that I know will leave gaps in coverage/content in the collection. Food for thought…I don’t want outdated material and vocabulary that is no longer in use (this was an issue in the FIC – amazing the words we don’t use any more).However, I’ve found that several titles (such as History of Weapons – included ancient, medieval,…) were IMPOSSIBLE to replace. Good, comprehensive books that require replacement with a dozen $30 a pop skimpy titles that address each chapter of the book they’d replace individually. I’m not keeping LOTS like this, but I’m not rushing to clear the shelves.

Anita Foster – Awtrey

We stamp our books with a due date. I just go along the shelf and any book that looks worn, I pull and check for the date. I normally go by 3 years for Fiction, 5 years for Non-Fiction. If it has not been checked out in that time… I weed it. I don’t pull every NF book off the shelf… Fiction I looked at every book last year because we were getting new carpet and had to pack up our short shelves which is Fiction.

Spring Voltz – Simpson

I printed out a report of all books that haven’t been checked out since Destiny came on board. We’ve gone through fiction, and I’ve made it through 600’s. Sooooo many books that haven’t been checked out since 1990. We’ve found some that are too young for middle school, and we are going to see if any elementary schools would like them.

Carla Gregory – Smitha

I started with the report which shows which books have never been circulated. Destiny was started in Cobb either in 2006 or 2007 so it means the books have not been checked out in 6-8 year. Then I used the Follett Titlewave report and started weeding books that were copyright 1999 or lower. I figure 13 years is plenty old enough.

Evelyn Thames – Campbell

Easy beginning is 600…delete all before 1990… tech stuff/med stuff maybe 2005 or less…gets you in the mood…then do 500sIn fiction start with condition to ease into it.