I Love Weeding!

"Weeding" is a library term for discarding books that have become obsolete, torn, ripped or
 otherwise irrelevant to the collection.  Mrs. Adams and I started the process this past spring and weeded the biography section of many old books making it much fresher and relevant for our students.  Since becoming the librarian, I have been continuing the process and I actually find it enjoyable.  I love how the books look when the old is gone and the new books look fresh and accessible.  I also love finding those books that are so old and dated they make me laugh out loud.  It's a long process, but one that I will relish.

I have found that people are very sensitive about getting rid of old books.  They suggest they have historical value or that they once cost lots of money.  This is true, but people must understand that a high school library is not an archive to preserve materials for the ages.  It makes no sense to keep books about medicines that were once popular but are no longer safe or how man will one day go to the moon.  If we need to look back in history, the internet is full of articles and databases to find what you need.  Our job is to collect and provide access to accurate information.  

I found this blog post by Julie Goldbert about weeding to be exactly the ticket.  She states, "People who protest to me and other librarians about the abomination of libraries throwing out books imagine themselves as heroes in a story about book burning, maybe Fahrenheit 451, or the destruction of the library of Alexandria.  Maybe they are the monks saving civilization from the barbarian hordes, and I the Visigoth throwing out a third copy of The Thorn Birds.  Whenever teachers or students in my current school library see the withdrawn volumes filling up a few recycling bins, some of them ask me, in tones of outrage, what they believe is a rhetorical question: How can you, a librarian, possibly throw out books?  It takes a long argument to explain that it is precisely because  I am a librarian that I throw out books.  A librarian throws out books because no one else dares to do it.  And it must be done."

For your pleasure, I've saved some of my favorites weeds from the week.  Was I wrong in believing they were no longer relevant for today's teens?  You decide. :)