ETL503 – Module 5 – Weeding the Collection
Weeding has been on my mind lately and that’s because I have been wanting to genrefy the fiction section of our primary school library. It has been a goal since I began in the role of TL. I have focused research on the topic, done surveys with the students, and had discussions with the school principal about it. I realised through this process (which another discussion entirely) that weeding had to be at the top of the list before any reorganisation can occur.
It seemed like a huge and overwhelming task and I didn’t want to dispose of any books that may add value to the collection. So I began with what I was familiar with, the teaching resources. I began by collecting and discarding the many outdated syllabus documents (I kept one of each) that had been superseded by new documents. I had the Principal’s approval to recycle them. But, by doing this, I knew I was just avoiding the task ahead of me. After reading through the resources in this module, I began to think about the process a little more clearly. I knew I had to establish the criteria first. Then I decided that I would tackle a couple of shelves at a time, beginning with the Fiction section (rather than the Junior Fiction). I would start at A and work my way through the alphabet when I could. I began with just a physical and visual motivation, removing damaged books and establishing if they could be restored or not, and any that were not appealing to students. I then took these titles to the Library Monitors (who are made up of about 20 Year 5 and 6 students). Who then went through them to see if they agreed with my deselections.
I then printed out a list from the Library Management System of books that had not been borrowed in the last 5 years, then I changed it to 10 years because the library itself has been inaccessible to students for many reasons during this time, including COVID and school rebuilds (where the library was used as a classroom for 2 years and the TL had to share a small classroom with the music teacher and had a limited amount of books for loan). Then COVID hit and I was not able to have the children borrow, to begin with, and then they were not allowed to be in the library at all. I was going from classroom to classroom for library lessons and carting trolleys of books with me. This meant that the time I spent physically in the library was very limited and when I was in there, I was restocking the trolleys for children to borrow (when this became allowed).
I see much value in having the students involved in this process of weeding and I hope to use the weeded books for a week of “book tasting”. Students from years 3 to 6 will get the opportunity to look at what has been removed from the shelves and establish (using given criteria) whether or not deselection is justified. Fostering a love of reading is part of my mission as TL and I feel that when this is strongly established, reading for enjoyment increases within the school community.
I loved reading Jennifer LaGarde’s blog post about this topic where she states, “We are educators. We are not curators of book museums” (LaGuard, 2013). This is what I feel I am currently in, a holder of many old and outdated books, many of which have not been borrowed in many years. Weeding in not going to be an easy process, but starting with one section at a time is the way forward for me. I hope that this year will be the year to get the genrefication goal up and running. I also hope to establish a Collection Management Policy in the near future to ensure that there is written evidence for the decisions being made in the school library and a clear framework for the future of our school library, one that I am very passionate about!
Reference
LaGarde, J. (2013, October 2). Keeping your library collection smelling F.R.E.S.H. The Adventures of Library Girl. https://www.librarygirl.net/post/keeping-your-library-collection-smelling-f-r-e-s-h
