Weeding the Groeschel Elementary School

By: Alicia Groeschel

Why Say Good-Bye?

Some believe weeding is equivalent to this…

Others believe weeding allows the garden to grow…

In our school library, shelves would look like this without weeding…

“Shelves need to look pleasant and inviting to the patrons. Patrons need to believe that they will find what they are looking for on the shelves. They do not want to have to search for what they want.”

The Queen of Weed says…

Weeding allows librarians: To evaluate their collection , to see

what they truly have .To eliminate irrelevant information

and copies of materials that are falling apart.

To see whether the collection has all of the titles it needs to fulfill the needs of the patrons.

Queen of Weed…

Milwaukee Public Libraries use a 5-year No Circulation List. This gives libraries a starting point. The list is distributed twice a year and librarians must examine each of these titles to see if they are worth keeping.

Ms. Torphy cont…

“Some materials are easier than others to weed. Diets and exercise materials go through fads. It’s easy to discard the outdated materials. However, Yoga has and always will stay the same.”

Ms. Torphy cont…

“We are not throwing away information. We are just recycling the paper. Through weeding, we are giving way for the most current thought and information.”

Ms. Torphy cont…

Our goal is to create happy patrons.

Bookshelves with room to expand…

Create a Collection Development Policy that allows for systematic review of collections. The policy should state a list of criteria with which the library staff can use as a guide to weed the collection from.

How Do I Start?

ALA Weeding Acronym

CREW:Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding

Total Undesirables (titles superseded by new editions, titles known to be inaccurate)

Likely Undesirables (titles lacking good illustration, having limited coverage, inadequate documentation)

Possible Undesirables (titles with poorly written text, poorly reproduced graphics, poor translations)

Some Weeding Criteria

Duplicates;Unsolicited and unwanted gifts;Obsolete books, especially science;Superseded editions;Books that are infested, dirty, shabby, worn

out, juvenile;Books with small print, brittle paper, and

missing pages; Unused, unneeded volumes of sets; andPeriodicals with no indexes

Weeding Criteria Cont.

Lack of time;Procrastination;Fear of making a mistake;Fear of adverse or embarrassing publicity;

andFear of being called a “book burner.”

Barriers to Weeding

To save space;To improve access;To save money; and To make room for new materials

Reasons for Weeding

Simple, easy to use shelves;The most current and up-to-date information;Well-kept and/or newer copies of books;

All make for happy, satisfied patrons!

Our ultimate goal…

“Less is more when it’s done right.”

Mies van der Rohe said,