Bulding on essentials! 16 October 2006

Stocktakingand

Weeding

Secret library business or essential collection development activities?

Renate Beilharz

Secret Library Business

Library is ‘closed’ for stocktaking No perceivable outcome to the average user Weeding is rarely done flamboyantly Weeded items are ‘hidden’ from staff Lack of understanding of the purpose of

these activities

Collection Development Policy

Purpose of the collection Type of material in the collection Selection criteria and processes Budgeting policy Weeding criteria Stocktaking processes Dealing with controversial material

Purpose of a School Library Collection

Reflect needs of the users Support and enrich the curriculum Encourage and develop a love of reading To be accessible to all users

A school library collection needs to be:

Relevant Accessible Attractive

Stocktaking and weeding are complementary activities necessary for achieving these goals

Stocktaking objectives

Ensure that the database reflects the actual collection

Identify errors in cataloguing and processing Identify areas which have losses Identify areas of strength and weakness for

ongoing collection development

Other purposes of stocktake

Each resource is handled at least once a year Perfect ordering resources Identify misplaced items Tidying the shelves Check links for electronic Resources Finds the books that haven’t been checked in

correctly

You want to do what???

http://www.warriorlibrarian.com/HUMOUR/agony.html

Stocktaking – Positive PR

Write a Collection Development Policy, including stocktaking

Talk to the school community about the reasons for stocktaking

Consider alternative ways to stocktake that do not involved closing completely

Involve members of the school community in the process where practical

Hints for stress free stocktaking

Read the manual Check the equipment and clarify the physical

processes Run a trial stocktake of a small collection Ensure that processes are clearly

documented and understood by staff Decide which collections are to be

stocktaken

More hints

Make a check list of collections and tasks Take the time to shelf read, this will help

when dealing with anomalies Leave enough time to rectify anolmalies Be realistic in what you can get done in the

time allocated – you don’t have to do all collections each year

Enjoy the task, it can be rewarding

After stocktaking

Run all relevant reports and final procedures Make sure you change the status of missing

items Create a written report for administration and

staff

Celebrate another job well done

Weeding objectives

To have a collection that is– Current– Relevant– Attractive and presentable

To give an accurate picture of the quality of the collection

To make room for new resourcesIt does not matter how many books you may have, but whether they are

good or not. Lucius Annaceus Senecca

Weed!

Small, but high quality collections are infinitely better. And this is why. Continuous, thoughtful weeding:

Rids your collections of sexist, racist and just plain inaccurate materials.

Makes the good stuff easier to find and more appealing.

Sends the message that the library may not be adequately funded.

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/weed.html

Weeding criteria - MUSTIE

Misleading – factually inaccurate

Ugly – worn beyond mending

Superseded – new edition or better information

Trivial – no literary or scientific merit

Irrelevant – to needs of school

Elsewhere – material easily borrowed or available from another source

Weeding criteria - Quantative

Borrowing statistics– Usage over a period of time

Date of publication– Item older than a certain date

Excuses not to weed

A large collection looks good I hate throwing things away If I pulled everything off that should go, I

wouldn’t have a collection left My principal/teachers won’t let me weed I haven’t the funds to replace discarded

items

Weed!

Poorly weeded collections are not the sign of poor budgets but of poor librarianship. Period. Only two things can happen if library material replacement budgets are inadequate. The collection ages if the librarian does not weed. The collection gets smaller if the librarian does weed. That’s it.

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/weed.html

Weed!

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, many people regard books as sacred objects and have difficulty throwing them away. An industrial arts teacher at Evelyn’s school glares at me to this day, claiming he hurt his back climbing out of the dumpster into which I had thrown away some “perfectly good books.” What he did not understand and we need to remember is that it is not books that are sacred, but the thoughts, inspiration, and accurate information they contain.

http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/weed.html

Weeding – positive PR

Including weeding criteria in your Collection Development Policy

Talk to the school community, keep good examples of weeded items to show

Involve relevant staff, using their expertise in specialist areas

Use the opportunity to identify and advertise under utilised resources, and promote newly purchased material

Hassle free weeding

Decide on clear, justifiable criteria Don’t try to weed your whole collection at

once – do a little at a time Get the support of at least one other staff

member Do it in secret under the cover of a dark

moon, destroying all evidence as you go

Helpful hints

Discard old editions of texts immediately Be sure to weed AV material Check online content of sites to ensure

relevance and currency If in doubt about a subject area, weed with

teachers

After weeding

If unsure about some items, have someone else check them

Remember to delete records from the catalogue

Stamp the items ‘DISCARDED’ or ‘WEEDED’ Remove any circulation stationary Keep a record of number of discards

Getting rid of an item

Donate it Recycle it Sell it Discard it

Fun with weeding

If it isn't clean, it will be thrown away If it doesn't look good, it will be thrown away if it can't be managed, it will be thrown away If it is abused, it will be thrown away If it can't be identified, it will be thrown away If it has no use, it will be thrown away If it needs batteries, it will be thrown away If it needs bulbs, it will be thrown away If it needs a manual, it will be thrown away If it's operation isn't inherently obvious, it will be thrown away If it was a gift from a faculty member who hasn't been seen since, it will be

thrown away if it was a gift from the principal, keep it.

Lamb, Annette and Larry Johnson 2005, Collection maintenance and weeding http://eduscapes.com/sms/weeding.html

Future

RFID tags Shelf reading, shelving,

sorting, searching,

weeding

Resources

Baumbach, Donna J. and Linda L.. Miller 2006, Less is more: a practical guide to weeding school library collections, American Library Association, Chicago.

Johnson, Doug 2003, Weed! http://www.doug.johnson.com/dougwri/weed.html

Lamb, Annette and Larry Johnson 2005, Collection maintenance and weeding http://eduscapes.com/sms/weeding.html

Punshon, Marianne (ed.) 2006 Managing for learning: issues for primary school libraries, SLAV, Carlton, Vic.

The SLAV website www.slav.schools.net.au has links to many relevant sites related to this topc.