The average age of our collection is 1980 and we *have* been weeding. We have
many old books in the 800's which we wouldn't weed, and lot of old books in the
900's as well, although we just weeded there last year.
I don't know about who else recommends your books be no older than 5-10 yrs old
in a given category but,I do know that NEASC looks at the currency of your
collection when your school is evaluated.
I would say the total age of your collection isn't as important as where it is
old. If your science books are all very old, that is much worse than your
literature books being old. I'm sure your board can understand that.
Good luck.
--------------
1. What's wrong with a 30 year old collection? I would start listing things that
have happened in the last thirty years that students won't know about if using
these resources. Easiest way: go to the Almanac and hit the year in review section
for ideas. (Table of contents, it is about the first section.)
2. Yes, we tell our students in the library endorsement program (I think we are a
reputable institutionJ) that a collection should be in the 10 year range, to really
start "panicking" if it is over 15 years. With the plethora of information
available through the Internet and web based databases it is better to NOT have old
books on the shelves. If we want our students to be users of ideas and information
we need to be providing it for them.
3. I would take some of the real "gems" to the next meeting and show them what you
are dealing with. Find out (if you don't already know) what the Board Members do
in real life; take books that will resonate with them. Books that they will know
almost by looking, because they know the topic, are old and carry incorrect
information. People just don't understand until they see the problem. In a
previous district I had even some of my more savvy teachers upset that I was
heavily weeding their library. I invited them to come in and view what I was
weeding. I told them if there was something there that they thought should go back
on the shelf I would happily do that; otherwise the books were up for grabs. The
teacher that was most upset with me soon changed their tune and I don't think they
even took any of the books I'd weeded.
4. My collection is 13 years old. We've been working really hard at getting that
date up. I believe when I took over this library it was 17 or 19 years old. This
is our 7th year; we've weeded heavily twice and put a lot of time and effort in
mapping the curriculum and matching the collection to support the teachers.
The latest Title Wise report run at my school (Evergreen High School serving
1150 9th - 12 graders) gave the average age as 1989. The first Title wise
report I ran 1 1/2 years ago gave the average age as 1978, but I weeded
extensively to bring the age up.
------------------------------
One approach I have used in getting folks to throw money at me to solve the
problem is to look at critical areas like science, technology, computer science
and do a show and tell with the folks Bring out the oldest, smelliest, nastiest
looking ancient tome and ask them what the message is to kids when inaccurate,
unappealing books are all they see. My most favorite book ( I have a "shelf of
shame" with some choice books from weeding) was "The Red Man in America,
copyright 1908. The most racist piece of garbage I have even in my life seen
and it was on the shelf when I got here. That always gets their attention, as
does some books written in the very early AIDS era when they state that AIDS
could be prevented by washing really well after sex!!! Or science project books
from the late 50's earyl 60's that can cause physical damage if the experiment
goes badly! DO they really want the lawsuits?
----------------------------
Above all -- weed!!!! I started by sorting my collection by publication date and
taking a good hard look at the oldest items first. As your shelves get emptier,
your circulation will go up and that can justify new purchases as well. I very
wise professor from my library school days always said that full shelves will
never get you the sympathy dollars because people will see that you have lots of
stuff!
------------------------------------
Well, I can't laugh too hard. My collection age is 1982 and this is after I
deleted close to 4,000 books. What brings mine down is the 800's. We have so
many fabulous books on major authors, but several are really old! I just
can't part with them. You can't buy them anymore and my English department
uses them...a lot!
----------------------------
Since the average age is 30 years, that means that there are as many
older than that as newer. Figure out the average age of their vehicles.
I'll bet that none of them drive 1978 model cars on a daily basis.
Have you checked your State standards? Here in Missouri we can count
only those books that are less than 12 years old (by copyright, not
purchase) in certain Dewey ranges.
---------------------------------------
Before I took this job, I was at a K-12 school of 300 students, with 14000 items
in the library, and an average age of 1987.
Pull a book out of your 600's-applied sciences, with an 1978 copyright--for
example, space exploration. In '78, the shuttle hadn't even been invented yet,
let alone Mir, or the International Space Station. You might also pull one of
your old atlases from the same time period, and show them the maps of the USSR,
etc.
Isn't it nice how obtuse some school boards can be?
One other thought, they need to understand the difference between a school
library that supports the curriculum, and an archival library that saves
everything for posterity. (I guess if the currciulum hasn't changed since 1978,
then you don't need to weed and update the library collection).
-------------------------------
I've weeded 7000 volumes from my Middle School library in the past
year. (We had also never been weeded.) Our average age is now in the
late 80's. I've told my administration that I'm trying to target an
average age within the age of our patrons. (1993 would be better now.)
This will require both weeding and acquisition.
I've had great luck with a "basket of shame" it includes such great
literary works as "Lawrence Welk: Champagne Music Man"and "Our Fishy
Friends, the Eskimos." I've included a book on AIDS that implies that
only gay people get it, a book on psychology that suggests that a cure
for homosexuality is electro shock therapy. Several books on the awful
state of apartheid in South Africa. A book on great restaurants which
includes the one on top of the World Trade Center. One that discussed
the role of the picanninny (forgive me) in the American South...users
manual for the Apple IIIC. You get the idea. I'm horrified that students
could have found these books on our shelf.
One possible tactic is to have doubters list the major changes that
have occurred in the last five years and ask what they'd LIKE to have on
the shelf about those materials. Make sure that your weeding is as much
about GETTING stuff as GETTING RID OF stuff. (And for gosh sakes, never
use the words "throw away.")
I have found tons of jewels that would never have been found
amid all of the piles of junk on the shelves. I've also found books with
no OCC records (this would be a good reason they were never used) which
has turned into a whole 'nuther project. Also emphasize that weeding is
separating the good from the bad.
Do any of your students have mold/dust allergies? Bet they do! Find
some nasty ones and add them to your shame basket. Wave them under a
doubter's nose.
Finally--would your social studies or science teachers teach with 30
year old textbooks? Doubt it! There's no difference between a textbook
issued in class and one found on a school library shelf. The same
demands for accuracy, currency and quality should be made.
Hope this helps.
PS. Some well meaning person is going to suggest donating your books to
the local public library. Just smile and agree that's a great idea. Then
toss 'em anyway.
---------------------------------
I am a junior high with about 17,500 items, average age 1993.
--------------------------------
Remember that an average age of 1978 means half of your collection is older than 30
years and half is newer. My collection, in a school started in 1958, has an average
age of about 1980 (fall 2005). I don't consider that very good and am continually
adding new materials to bring the date closer to contemporary!
Fortunately, my Board has taken the opposite tack from yours. They were appalled to
find out the average age and have given the three libraries in my district about
$20.00/student for the last several years to help improve the situation. (My
materials budget is about $30,000).
Good luck.
---------------------------
You have a tough road ahead of you. Does Vermont DESE have any
guidelines to help support school libraries, you know, how many magazine
titles per student, fiction per student, etc.? What about age in
certain areas?
Here in Missouri, not known as the hotbed of quality education, we have
a very good "standards" manual that helps us stand up to "old thinking."
I have to file annual reports with the state DESE, including the age of
the collection, and librarians and administrators take this very
seriously. This last year was the first year we were able to use
"Titlewise" for age of collection; before that we literally counted each
section of the library and dates of pub. of certain sections, at the end
of the year. I stuck postits on the shelves for every 100 books until I
was done with my annual report. You may want to download the whole
document (see web site below) and save it. It has lots of good
information in it. I've been in my present library for 8 years and I've
done some very heavy weeding for the very reasons you are talking
about.
In a nut shell, encyclopedias cannot be counted as "current" if they
are more than 5 years old.
Certain areas of nonfiction (including ref), cannot be older than 12
years and still be counted as current.
If they are older in those areas, they are counted as part of our total
for those sections and will, in the end, be counted against us because
we use percentages too. You have to pick and choose what to weed.
Those "Dewey sensitive" areas (not more than 12 years old) are:
004-006
320-329
330-339
360-369
380-389
520-529
550-559
570-579
610-619
620-629
914-919
http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/standards/05standards.pdf
Susan Speranza,
Library Media Specialist
Bellows Falls Union High School
Bellows Falls, VT 05101
(802) 463-3944 x 210
Castleriggpekes@adelphia.net
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