Weeding+Project+Assignment+4

=﻿Assignment #4 Weeding Project = = = = Working Through the Process = = = ====When I first considered this project, I looked for weeding guidelines. It seemed to me that the first place to look would be my school district. After making enquiries, I found that there is no district policy regarding weeding in our district.====

Then I considered the Ministry of Education. Their policy seems fairly specific, but a bit cumbersome:
Is the resource relevant to the instructional programs and easy to access? Has the title been withdrawn by the ministry? Is the information still current? Is there a newer edition available? Is the material free of condescension, stereotyping, patronization, or bias? Is the item still in good physical condition? Has the item circulated in the past year/two years/three years?

//Ministry of Education, (2002) p.92. //

This seemed an awful lot to wade through, so I decided to use Gail Dickinson's (2005) recommendations in //Crying Over Spilled Milk.// She compares books to spoiled milk. If the milk doesn't look appealing, or may cause harm, would you keep it? Using the same guidelines, if a library book is not appealing and may cause harm with misleading information, should it be kept? I think this is a really good analogy, and makes the necessity for weeding very clear.

For all the assignments for this course, I have decided to focus on the Grade 3 Science curriculum. The four major strands for Grade 3 Science are:
 * ====Processes of Science====
 * ====Life Science: Plant Growth and Changes====
 * ====Physical Science: Materials and Structures====
 * ====Earth and Space Science: Stars and Planets====

As stated in previous assignments, I did not find any books in my library specifically related to "Processes of Science." So I focussed on the main areas of plants, buildings and structures, and stars and planets.

Then I narrowed my specific guidelines for weeding these areas to:
 * publishing date before 1992
 * physical condition
 * non-circulation since 2004

My selection of these specific dates was related to the size of the project; If I had wanted to weed according to a more recent publishing date, or a more recent non-circulation date, the project would have become unmanageable. It became obvious that weeding has not been done in quite a while. I talked to the previous teacher librarian, who luckily is still working in the same school. She pointed out that there is simply no time. The teacher librarian schedule is very structured, mostly in covering prep for other teachers.

At the end of this page, there are some reports that were generated. Looking at the non-circulating pages, and the date of publication pages, there is obviously a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, some reports could not be generated, as the records were purged before making the reports.

Rationale for Some Weeded Books
Arnoski, Jim. C//rinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Trees//. 1991.
 * ====style, seemes almost condescending to children.====

Asimov, Isaac. //Pluto: A Double Planet?// 1990.
 * dated material
 * misinformation: Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Byars, Betsy. //The Computer Nut//. 1984.

 * ==== dated material. ====
 * poor condition. Yellowed pages

Hutchins, Pat. //Changes, Changes//. 1971

 * ==== publication date. This book was published 40 years ago. ====
 * ==== condition. The book jacket, though covered, looks tattered. ====

Jobb, Jamie. //The Night Sky Book//. 1977.

 * ==== publication date. This book was published 34 years ago. ====

Kaner, Etta. //Towers and Tunnels//. 1995.
 * poor condition. The top of the spine was very tattered.

Lauber, Patricia. //From Flower to Flower: Animals and Pollination//. 1986.

 * ==== not appealing. All black and white pictures. ====

Lawson, Robert. //Rabbit Hill.// 1944.

 * ==== publication date. This book was published 57 years ago. ====
 * ==== in surprisingly good condition, but with yellowed pages. ====

Simon, Seymour. //Mars.// 1987.

 * ==== extremely poor condition. Laminating peeling from book cover ====
 * ==== this was true of all the Seymour Simon books ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Thornhill, Janice. //A Tree is Nice//. 1956.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">publication date. This book was published 55 years ago.

= Reflection After the Process =

==== I have really enjoyed working through this project. I did however, find some parts very frustrating. The MARC records that we have are often incomplete, or incorrectly done. This is probably as a result of a lot of staff rotation in the last few years. The librarian assistants have not had the same level of training. ====

==== I had difficulty locating quite a few of the books (but I did find //Rabbit Hill//, copyright date, 1944. It seemed a shame to pull it!). This frustration was especially felt with the Fiction resources. One would think that it would be fairly straight-forward. However, because of space restrictions, a lot of the books are in bins, rather than on the shelves. So if one did not know that, and did not know what is in each bin, it becomes difficult to find books. That's why I don't do any shelving - because I am still not familiar with where everything is. ====

==== I think locating some of the books was my biggest frustration. I also found that it was difficult to pull some of what I consider "classics." The Lois Ehlert books were hard to weed, but they are dated, and in rough shape. //Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom//, by Bill Martin, and //The Tiny Seed//, by Eric Carle were also hard to let go. But these I may consider re-ordering, as they are still circulated. ====

==== Some books on my lists directed me to a whole series. //The Magic Schoolbus// books, by Joanna Cole are all in poor condition, and at some point, I will go back and pull all of them. But I left that for now, as if I did not set some limits, I don't think this project would ever be finished. And I think that defines a characteristic of weeding: it is never "finished." ====

==== I probably would not approach this project any different if I were to do it again. Perhaps I would be more careful about generating reports, especially if I was planning to present them to administration. ====

==== As my small weeding project progressed, it became painfully clear that our library has a lot of work to do. I realize that our shelves are far too full, and we have far too many resources that are not used effectively. My ideal situation would be to close the library for a month or two. Then I would undertake a massive weeding project. I have some ideas about where I would locate new shelves, and I would re-catalogue some of the books, and move them to a Junior Fiction section, which currently does not exist. Our library needs to be de-clulttered, and to do this would take time, without interruption. I guess this will have to be a future project for now, but I would like to see it happen at some point. For now, I will dedicate a small amount of time each week to weeding a section at a time. I probably will not choose specific curricular areas to weed, but will rather weed shelf by shelf. It definitely is needed, and now that I have seen some results, I think I will be much more willing to do weeding in the future. ====