The Unglamorous but Essential

Other Side to

Collection Development

De-Selection

Collection Development for 21st Century School Libraries

OR…

What is it? Why do it?

Weeding?

In this age of rapidly changing information, it is imperative that we keep our

collections up to date.

This means selecting and purchasing newmaterials and discarding or recycling others.

Weeding is the discarding part…

My name is Marlene.

Think of me as your average teacher-librarian. I have a passion for teaching research and information literacy in the information-rich environment of the library. I love helping connect kids with just the right book. Weeding? No time….

“The milk in the refrigerator is past the sell date, has an odor, and is curdled and lumpy.

Would you keep it, because you don’t know when you could get to the store to buy more?

Then why would you keep a book on the shelf with misinformation because you don’t know when you could replace it?” Crying Over Spilled Milk

Gail Dickinson

If I weed everything that should be weeded, the shelves would be empty!

“The milk in the refrigerator is past the sell date, has an odor, and is curdled and lumpy.

Would you keep it, because otherwise your refrigerator would look empty?

Then why would you keep outdated books on the shelf to preserve afalse collection size?” Crying Over Spilled Milk

Gail Dickinson

I have a great collection! A little old, but great!

A little old…

Scribbled in? Scribbled in?

Moldy? Moldy?

Stained with…? Stained with…?

Yellowed? Yellowed?

Ripped? Ripped?

Older than 1990? Older than 1990?

Library books are at least reliable, having been published and selected, unlike the Internet!

Misinformation…

Predictions that one day man will land on the moon

Predictions that one day man will land on the moon

No NunavutNo Nunavut

Funny-looking computers

Funny-looking computers

Breaks current equity policy

Breaks current equity policy

Still include the Soviet Union

Still include the Soviet Union

Not reflective of today’s values Not reflective

of today’s values

It’s not current, so I’ll weed it from the library, but maybe the Geography department could use it.

“The milk in the refrigerator is past the sell date, has an odor, and is curdled and lumpy.

Would you give it to a neighbor to keep in his or her refrigerator?

Then why would you send outdated encyclopedias or other

materials to a teacherfor classroom use?”

Crying Over Spilled MilkGail Dickinson

If I weed, people in the school are going to get very upset!

I’ve been using this book for the past 20 years! You CAN’T throw it away!

Isn’t there SOMEBODY who could use these?

You can’t get rid of encyclopedias!

Surely!

Another school?

Poor people in Africa?

I thought you were a librarian,

not a BOOK BURNER!

But these books were bought with taxpayers’ money!

“Weeding, when viewed as a normal part of a library media center routine, does not involve shirtsleeves, hot summer days, or brown paper bags surreptitiously stored in the trunk of the library media specialist’s car.

Weeding is best done: • Continuously throughout the year• In small numbers at a time• In targeted small sections of the collection• Quietly and without comment• With support of the principal” Crying Over Spilled Milk

Gail Dickinson

I can’t weed because Idon’t have the budget to buy new stuff!

“Poorly weeded collections are not the sign of poor budgets but of poor librarianship. Period.

Only 2 things can happen if library replacement budgets are inadequate:

1. The collection ages if the librarian does not weed.2. The collection gets smaller if the librarian does weed.

That’s it.”

WeedDoug Johnson

Crying Over Spilled MilkGail Dickinson

Sources

WeedDoug Johnson

Less is More: A Practical Guide to Weeding School Library CollectionsDonna J. Baumbach & Linda L. Miller