I was the librarian at Yeshiva Atlanta when we recvd the Avi Chai grant. Weeding is the flip side of acquisitions. First rule: develop a library mission statement. Regarding literature, we decided to go with the top 100 MLA and Harvard list of classics. But that was 15 years ago. The game changer--ebooks, tablets and Openlibrary.org with 800,000 ebooks (the other 1.2 million ebooks are for dyslexic, hearing or vision impaired--see website for details to get a key). Yes, Amos Oz is there. If it's never been checked out, poor condition, have a book sale. I'm currently setting up as a volunteer a library for a girl's high school that just moved into their new building. I had 7 boxes that I weeded out for starters. They sat there. Excuse for not getting rid of books--many girls don't have Internet at home. My response: each girl is assigned a netbook. They can stay late to do research. Result:7 boxes tossed. I am grappling with how many historic photo books from 1950's-60's of Israel I keep. I'll check prices on Amazon to help decide. Most of these photos are on the Internet. I weeded over 2000 books this year from my elementary public school collection. The library looks great. It helped that i had extra funds from a Laura Bush Foundation grant. But in reality, if a book is out of date, even if you have nothing else on the topic, it's got to go. Evi Reznick McLendon Elementary Decatur, GA
> On May 27, 2015, at 1:16 AM, Fred Isaac <[email protected]> wrote: > > Karen -- > > In my consultancies over the years, I've started by identifying the books in > several different ways. For example: > Vital items no library should be without > Popular books > > Another trick (of the mind) is to empty every shelf (in turn, obviously), and > ask yourself "if I was creating the library from scratch, would I include > this volume?" I can't remember who introduced me to the concept, but if you > think of yourself as creating the collection, rather than reducing it, the > new frame will help you eliminate much of the dead wood. In addition, you can > add back things you want to at the end. > > Fred > >> On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 1:45 PM, Amalia Warshenbrot <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> Karen, >> As you may guess every librarian struggles with this question. If you have >> space keep them pease do because, as you noted, they are centra to our >> identity as Jews. >> I think that day schools are not yet ready for digital books only. >> I'm looking forward to an interesting discussion. >> Amalia >> >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >>> On May 26, 2015, at 4:00 PM, "Ulric, Karen" <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> So – my library (grades 6-12 school library of approximately 12K volumes) >>> is getting a major renovation this summer – all new furniture (first time >>> in over 20 years), paint, carpet, possibly reopening my boarded over >>> skylight, electrical work, etc. >>> >>> >>> >>> In anticipation of not wanting to box up things I don’t want any more I’ve >>> started some significant weeding, and need some advice in my fiction >>> section. >>> >>> >>> >>> I’ve noted everything with a zero circ since I started using OPALS. Which >>> is highly depressing, actually, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. >>> >>> I just don’t know what to do with my collections of authors like Agnon and >>> Oz, most of which has never circulated, many of which are old tired looking >>> editions. And yet they are central to our identity as a Jewish library. >>> Knowing our students and our curriculum I do not think replacing them with >>> fresher editions will make much difference (although it might help a >>> little). They aren’t pleasure reading for my students, my teachers likely >>> have read them already, or own them, and they aren’t being assigned as part >>> of the curriculum. I have the same issue with authors like Twain ,and >>> Henry James. Unless it is an assigned title they aren’t circulating, but it >>> feels wrong to weed them despite needing the space and their lack of use. >>> >>> >>> >>> Any advice would be greatly appreciated. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Karen Ulric >>> >>> Upper School Library.
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