GEN: weeding rationales that work

["Alice H. Yucht" <YUCHT@ZODIAC.RUTGERS.EDU>]

I've found that the following statements usually end any of the "you're not
really going to throw out those books, are you?" comments:
--"it's got so much dust and mold growing in it that I'm afraid it's
actually unhealthy to handle."
--" the content is so outdated that it is no longer relevant to our school's
curriculum, or to the interests of today's readers."
-- "unfortunately, the content does not meet Affirmative Action
guidelines."  (especially for administrators)
-- "yeah, I loved it when I was a kid, too... but today's kids are a whole
other breed, and I just can't afford to waste the shelf space on something
that hasn't been touched for the past 10 years."
and finally:
-- "Sure, you can have it for your room, if you really think your kids
would be interested in it... but I would strongly suggest that you actually
re-read it yourself before you offer it to any of your students.   Standards
for acceptable and appealing literature have changed an awful lot since
this book was first published."

I say all this after spending 5 solid days of weeding a grade 4-8 collection
that has *NEVER* been weeded in 26 years!!!!!!  Oh, it all got a barcoded
6 years ago, when they automated the circulation, but weeded....never.
When you have absolutely no shelf space to spare, and have just found out
that the 3rd grade is now going to be in your school, and that you will
need shelf space for all of *their* books, you realize that keeping anything
that has not moved in 5 years, is yellow with age/covered with dust, or has
only "historical" interest (e.g. Newbery winneres from 1923-50), you realize
that your school library cannot afford to be a museum of books.
Dust masks, anyone?
Can I get workman's compensation for job-related asthma?

Alice H. Yucht  <yucht@zodiac.rut5gers.edu"