Weeding your collection! Does it Spark Joy?

Weeding the school library collection sounds easy enough. Making room for new resources that support an ever-evolving curriculum is an important part of the role of teacher librarian. However, as I read into this further, I discover that it is not as simple as it sounds and is throught with emotion. It seems that everyone has an opinion on what is important and what should stay. Rebecca Vnuk (2015) states in The Weeding Handbook, the shelves should ideally be 75 to 85 percent full, to make browsing easier, possible to re-shelve items and to make the library more attractive.

I know personally I would find this task quite difficult. I am reminded of my own wardrobe bursting at the seams and shoes tumbling out whenever I open the doors. I actually wear about a 3rd of my clothes, because its quite hard to locate many items. Unless I have a whole room to house everything, like a wealthy heiress, the amount of clothes I own is just not practical. Whenever I have had to cull my wardrobe, I can’t part with anything, as emotion gets in the way. Perhaps we need to take a Marie Kondo approach to our school library and ask, “Does it spark joy?”

Equally, it would be awkward to be placed in a situation where you are accused by the community of going overboard and throwing away books. Like the example given in module 5, if another staff member went ‘gung-ho’ in your absence and threw out valuable and precious books. This is why there needs to be a weeding policy with a  process that is clear. This could be written into the overall school library policy. Maybe we don’t really want a Maria Kondo approach. What might not spark joy for one could be a relevant and important resource for a teacher and their students. It might be tatty and damaged due to frequent use, and perhaps could be repaired, replaced or more copies bought.

I am glad I met Library Girl, and read her blog, Keeping your library collection smelling F.R.E.S.H! (2013, October 1). Her article provides a very clear overview of effective weeding procedures with her ‘F.R.E.S.H.’ approach with tips for weeding. She also provides some very good reasons for effective school library weeding. 

By the way, did I read somewhere that Marie Kondo suggests you should only have 5 books in your house! With weeding your library, have a policy, with a procedure and keep the emotion away.

https://www.cnet.com/news/marie-kondo-back-off-why-this-book-hoarder-refuses-to-tidy-up/

LaGarde, J. (2013, October 1). Keeping your library collection smelling F.R.E.S.H! [blog post]. The adventures of Library Girl. https://www.librarygirl.net/post/keeping-your-library-collection-smelling-f-r-e-s-h

Rebecca Vnuk. (2015). The Weeding Handbook : A Shelf-by-Shelf Guide. ALA Editions.

Images sourced from-

https://lifehacker.com/is-marie-kondo-wrong-about-books-1831615300