[aisle] Advice on Weeding an ancient collection.....

[Kristi Pierce]

Hey Dawn!

I did all of Science, Tech, Careers, and Health all at once, as they were
the most aged and had such outdated information that I didn't want kids to
think was current...information like going to space "someday in the
future."  For the rest of the nonfiction collection, I did heavy weeding
over the next few years.  Now I just do maintenance weeding each year to
keep it in good shape.  It took me about 5 years.

:)
Kristi

On Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 2:34 PM Dawn Scuderi via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Hi Kristi,
>
> Thanks for responding.... When you say you did it over a couple of years,
> did you do science over a couple of years or did you do science all at
> once?  Sorry... just wondering.
>
> On Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 2:18 PM Kristi Pierce via AISLE <
> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>>
>> I had this same thing, but with an average age much older than the 90s.
>> First, thing I did was a Titlewise.  Then, I hit the areas where the
>> information would be the worst out of date: Technology, Science, Careers,
>> Heath.  Then, the maps and atlas.  I also did biographies.  I really didn't
>> want kids thinking that Jimmy Carter was the current president.  After
>> that, I just went through and took out what looked horrid, ratty, tatty,
>> and old.  I also ditched anything, (except for 400s and 810s) that had not
>> been checked out in the last few years.  I was kind to the 400s and 800s,
>> as many of the old fables and poetry and classics will last decades.
>>
>> My circulation went up after that, simply because the kids were not
>> distracted by ugly and/or old books.  It was constant progress, because
>> like you, I didn't want to completely raid the entire collection at once.
>> However, for a few years, my nonfiction went down to two long stacks
>> instead of almost 4.  It was worth it.  It made collection development much
>> easier, plus the kids wanted nonfiction much more.  Also, and think of it
>> this way, you would never want to give a kid a book that isn't good
>> information.
>>
>> Just for a laugh, one of the books I weeded actually stated, "WHEN we get
>> to the moon, it will be in a SPACE CAPSULE."  Yes, WHEN.  This book,
>> published in the 50s, was still here in the 2000's.  It was a
>> fantastic discovery.  LOL
>>
>> Good luck and just keep weeding!  :)
>>
>> Kristi Pierce
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 2:00 PM Dawn Scuderi via AISLE <
>> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> So my nonfiction collection is super old... like Titlewave says the
>>> average age of 500 and 600 is 1994.
>>>
>>> I really need to weed it but it is going to mean removing 90% of the
>>> collection.  I won a grant for books (THANKS LBSS!!) and will be getting
>>> about 75 new titles, but they are just going to be lost in this mess if I
>>> don't remove the old stuff.
>>>
>>> My question is this:  Do I pick a year like 2000 and remove everything
>>> earlier than that (about 1/2) or should I just scrap it all?  The previous
>>> librarian had bought 11 science books in the last 10 years....
>>>
>>> This is not the only Dewey section that has to be weeded.. the whole
>>> collection is terrible.  I am just starting with Science and Technology.
>>>
>>> Any help would be awesome,
>>>
>>> Dawn
>>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Kristi L.S. Pierce
>> Certified Library Media Spec.
>> Certified Educational Technology Spec.
>> Marion Junior High School
>> 1609 West Main Street
>> Marion, IL  62959
>> (618) 997-1317 ext. 229
>> ksmith at marionunit2.org
>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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>
> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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-- 
Kristi L.S. Pierce
Certified Library Media Spec.
Certified Educational Technology Spec.
Marion Junior High School
1609 West Main Street
Marion, IL  62959
(618) 997-1317 ext. 229
ksmith at marionunit2.org
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