LIBE 463: Assignment #4: Weeding Project

REFLECTION

Material for grade two life cycle is found scattered in the 590s section of the library. Many of these non-fiction books naturally discuss the life cycle of an animal or insect; however, the books need to have table of contents and indexes for easy retrieval of information. This section is large – 1418 pieces. I only looked at a 599 shelf of the selection.

To be honest, I started the weeding process incorrectly. I did not have access to any reports when I entered the library. I was armed with a list of 37 sources from webcat that showed which books are tagged with the words ‘life cycle’. This small list directed me to the 590s. Luckily, the books are stamped with circulation months and years. However, when I was able to get a running report, I found that the stamps in the books were not so trust worthy. As I pulled books to consider them for weeding, most of my criteria was qualitative and subjective. In class, we looked at acronyms like the word MUSTY and short checklists that quicken the process. I relied on these cheat sheets in my initial weeding process.

Yet, when I am about to write this report, I turned to district policies to justify removing school property. Books and videos are school assets that cannot be just tossed out. Looking at the policies gave me more confidence and authority to tackle this task.

In the VSB policy’s opening statement it clearly states: “Discarding outdated and damaged resources is as important as the selection of new resources.” And, it gives four bullets on what to discard:

• Resources of poor content: false information; outdated information; superceded editions; poor illustrations; poor writing; poorly organized (no index); biased or stereotypical presentation; inappropriate for students’ interests or reading levels

• Resources of no use: superfluous materials; no circulation for several years; unneeded duplicate titles; antiquated sets; supported previous curriculum but no longer needed

• Resources of very poor appearance: too small print; shoddy binding; dull print; too thin paper

• Worn out materials: yellow, brittle, dirty paper; damaged pages; missing pages; damaged binding; dingy or dirty covers

In the end, I still wish that I was better prepared with more information about the collection. I am curious if the librarian has booklists at her fingertips for special curriculum units like life cycles. She is not tech savvy so I doubt she would tag any items in the library system.

Sample of book series almost tossed because no running report was used:

Chipmunk, Series: Canadian Starters

Jim Bricknell

1981 Hardcover

Publisher: Agincourt, On

Circulation: 14

Last out: 2011 but stamped 2002

Call Number: E 599.32 CHI

Physical condition: fair, a bit grimy – the covers need a wipe

Why weeded: Before I had the report I would have stated: The circulation is poor and there is no table of contents or index, however, the illustrations are precious.

I looked at this series in the library. They are beautiful and I thought the content was still relevant. With a heavy heart, these lovely Canadian books were put on the discard list because of the inaccurate information of poor circulation.

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Books to discard:

Woodchucks, Series: Nature's Children

Laima Dingwall

Publisher: Danbury, CT: Grolier

1985 Hardcover

Circulation: 3

Last out: 2002

Call Number: 599.36 DIN

Physical condition: ok but corners bashed

Weeded because: Besides the poor circulation, book design is very outdated. No change in design – just text and picture. The library has at least a dozen books in this series in similar condition and circulation history.

Beaver: builders or destroyers?
Series: World of nature

1992 VHS – 15 minutes

Publisher: Toronto: TV Ontario/NHK Enterprises Japan; Vancouver; distributed by B.C. Learning Connection, 1992.

Circulation: 2

Last out: 2005

Call Number: VID 599.37 BEA

Physical condition: good

Why weeded: The library has several VHS tapes from this series and all have poor circulation dates. The library has very few DVDs - a format that is much more desirable for the community.

The Life of Meat Eaters

Burton, Dr. Maurice/Burton, Robert

1973  Binding: Hard Cover

Publisher: Western Publishing Publication

Circulation: 4

Last out May 11, 2011

Call Number: 599.73 LIF

Physical condition: good

Why weeded: Even though the book holds wonderful information on animals and has great varied visuals, the text is very gender specific. For example, on a page spread about dogs: animals working for man or man’s best friend.

Giraffe Family, Animal Series [Hardcover]

Jane, Goodall (Author), Michael (photo) Neugebauer (Illustrator)

1991 Hardcover, 28 pages

Publisher: Madison Marketing Limited

Circulation: 3

Last out: 2002

Call Number: 599.73 GOO

Physical condition: excellent

Why weeded: This series is not being used, the layout and text is boring – picture on the right side and text on the left. Also, there is no table of contents or index. Others in the series that have poor circulation: lion, wildebeest, zebra, hyena, elephant.