Assignment+4

=Assignment 4=

For this assignment I am doing a semi-fictional weeding of section 970 of the Elgin Park Secondary Library.

Weeding was very intimidating for me when I began working as a TL in mid-February. When I was doing inventory at the end of June I found a few books that I had valiantly tried to repair earlier in the year, and it was comical how much book tape I used to repair such poor specimens. By June weeding the 'ugly' books was no longer a challenge for me. I am covering a maternity leave so I did not feel comfortable weeding books that are quite old (and good candidates for weeding based on this and other criteria) but in otherwise good condition. If this were my library I would look at replacing them with updated material. I used the California Department of Education acronym **MUSTY**. That stands for the following:


 * M - Misleading**. Look for:
 * "Dated" popular fiction
 * Obsolete information
 * Racial, cultural, or sexual stereotyping


 * U - Ugly**.
 * Antiquated appearance
 * Worn-out, frayed, dirty
 * Unable to mend


 * S - Superseded**. There may be newer copies available.
 * Duplicate copies
 * Almanacs, yearbooks, encyclopedias superseded by newer editions


 * T - Trivial**. Look for appropriateness for the collection.


 * Y - Your collection** has no use for the book. It is irrelevant to your curriculum.

My Ten Weeded Books:
1. **The Iroquois** Graymont, Barbara.
 * Weeding Reason - Superseded.
 * There are four copies and this could be reduced to allow more space for the shelves.

2. **The Abenaki** Calloway, Colin G. (Colin Gordon), 1953-
 * Weeding Reason - Superseded.
 * Published in 1989, it is now 23 years old. The guidelines for age of materials in this section are 10-15 years.

3. **The Apache** Melody, Michael Edward.
 * Weeding Reason - Ugly.
 * This book is in poor condition and is beyond repair.

4. **The Inuit** Williams, Suzanne, 1949-
 * Weeding Reason - Ugly.
 * This book is in poor condition and is beyond repair.

5. **Christopher Columbus** Scavone, Daniel C., 1934-
 * Weeding Reason - Superseded.
 * Published in 1992, it is now 20 years old. The guidelines for age of materials in this section are 10-15 years.

6. **The National Dream. Part 1, The Great Lone Land. VHS.**
 * Weeding Reason - Superseded.
 * This is a VHS from 1979 and it has not been signed out since our school brought in the computer system in 2007.
 * An updated DVD would improve the collection.

7. **The fur trade and the opening of Canada [videorecording (VHS)].**
 * Weeding Reason - Superseded.
 * This is a VHS from 2004 and it also has not been signed out since our school brought in the computer system in 2007.
 * An updated DVD would improve the collection.

8. **Inuit** Alexander, Bryan.
 * Weeding Reason - Superseded.
 * Published in 1992, it is now 20 years old. The guidelines for age of materials in this section are 10-15 years.

9. **Christopher Columbus and his legacy : opposing viewpoints**. Jones, Mary Ellen, ed.
 * Weeding Reason - Y (Your Collection has no use for the book).
 * This book has not been signed out since our school brought in the computer system in 2007.

10. **Christopher Columbus : the great adventure and how we know about it.** West, Delno C. & West, Jean M.
 * Weeding Reason - Y (Your Collection has no use for the book).
 * This book has not been signed out since our school brought in the computer system in 2007.

Reflection:
I think it might be easy for a TL to ignore the history section. After all, it is all in the past, right? However, historical analysis of the past does change with time, and new ideas and concepts of our history does change. The 970s at Elgin Park are old. The are getting outdated. And sometimes, there's just too many books and VHS tapes sitting unused on the shelves.

I would like to work with the Social Studies department to see if there are any up-to-date DVDs they would like for me to order. I would also like to weed VHS tapes that have never been signed out. I would like to see the collection of books in the 970s (963 copies of 701 titles) to be parred down. There are too many, and the shelves are tight. Bishop says that when the shelves are emptier it is easier for users to find books, and for staff to shelve books. In the audio for this theme, Joanne de Groot advised to have the shelves between 1/3 and 1/2 full. At Elgin's library, the shelves are over 2/3 full, and shelving in the 900s is difficult.

When I found books to be weeded, I set them aside on a shelf so I could deal with them in batches rather than one at a time. I then went into the computer system, and deleted the barcodes while checking them off as weeded. I am glad it is computerized because it is all done at once, and there's no cross-referencing with other lists to make sure the book has been removed (as in the card catalog days). I kept a box near my desk with weeded and removed books. By the end of the semester I had filled six boxes.

If I were to continue at the school in a permanent position, I would have a better understanding of which teachers use the library resources, and how. Having only been there for a partial semester has hindered my ability to see the fuller picture, and this is something that I look forward to in September when I take my permanent position as TL at Princess Margaret Secondary. I also plan to become more familiar with the Surrey School District TL Handbook. I wonder how many times I had questions that could have been answered by looking at it? It does provide guidance from the district level about weeding protocol, and this will be a good reference for me in the future.


 * Weeding Advice: Top 10**
 * 1) Weeding is NOT throwing out books. Weeding is a process of removing items from a library collection that are no longer relevant, in good condition, or appropriate for the collection or for the library's users.
 * 2) Library resources do NOT belong to the teacher-librarian. Remove yourself from the equation. Do not take it personally that you have to remove items that you may have purchased.
 * 3) Weeding is a cyclical process. Do it often.
 * 4) Work with small sections of the library and set realistic goals. Focus on a Dewey area or a particular subject area and get it done before moving onto another section of the collection.
 * 5) Be ruthless.
 * 6) Library collections are more appealing to patrons (and it is easier to find materials) if the shelves are only partially full. Jam packed shelves make it hard for students to find materials and make it really hard to re-shelve materials.
 * 7) Be positive about weeding and talk about weeding as a regular (and natural) part of any library's collection development process to your staff, parents, and students.
 * 8) Ensure that your school library policies and procedures include a section on weeding or deselecting. This makes it easier to deal with challenges to your decisions.
 * 9) Weeding helps you know your collection better and therefore helps you better serve your patrons.
 * 10) Weeding is fun!

Thank you for the above advice. It is reassuring to have the framework for this aspect of the job. I have to admit that I did start to see the truth of #10 at the end of the year when I had six boxes of library materials to go to recycling!