It's Spring And We're Weeding

Today was a quieter day in terms of class visits, and so I was able to catch up on some projects, including making progress with weeding. If you have been by the library lately, you may have noticed carts and boxes of books making the staff office area into a bit of an obstacle course. Since we have been so busy with students (the number one reason why we're here!), the book work has been on the back burner. But today, I've been able to clear at least a bit of space by processing some discards.

Now some people may be wondering, why are you getting rid of books at the same time that you're asking to buy new ones? Here is a some context.

This past November, an analysis of our library's print collection revealed that our collection consisted of 20,613 items or about 10 1/2 items per student. Given that students are increasingly using digital resources, and sensitive to our limited budgets, I am not so concerned about the quantity of print books. Still, it is noteworthy to compare this figure against California's Model School Library Standards that school libraries have 28 items per student.

To me, the bigger issue is not regarding the number of books on the shelves, but which books are there. For instance, a key factor driving my current weeding sweep is currency.

With the collection analysis in November, I learned that the average age of our collection was 1991. This means that the majority of our collection is nearly as old as our school. This is an even graver concern when looking at some of the most age sensitive topics. For instance, out of the 7 books that we had in the Dewey Decimal range associated with computer technology (003-007), the average copyright was 2000. This means that our books about technology were largely written before we even got through the whole Y2K scare, before Facebook, before iPhones...

Another discard based on currency (or lack thereof)

Even when old information is not always bad information, I also consider student patterns of behavior and use. In the case of the Current Biography reference set below, students would probably only refer to these volumes if working on a research project; and nowadays, it would be much easier to seek this type of information online.

Of course, just because students find information online, this doesn't mean that they can have all of their information and reading needs met through general web browsing and online databases. This is where new book purchases come into play. Just as I discard with intention, I also add new titles with intention. My hope is that our print collection best complement and add value to all of the rich digital resources that students are and should be using. It's about giving them the best of both worlds, and as for today's contribution toward that end, it's about weeding.