Monthly Archives: March 2011
Spring Cleaning Your Collection
“A novel of aspiring proportions, hauntingly well-written…”
“A triumph”.
“…gripping, unbearably sad, yet irresistible…”
“I was amazed and moved beyond belief.”
“…promises to be a joy forever……”
“A RICH AND DEVIOUS ACHIEVEMENT.”
“…a truly fine, original book…”
“An absolute spellbinder.”
“…unforgettably beautiful…”
I know you must be wondering what extraordinary book or books these critical blurbs describe. Would you believe that I found all of these on the back covers of novels I have weeded out of our collection this year?
Why are we weeding out these seemingly amazing tomes, you ask? Some books are weeded because they are in horrible disrepair. Others have outdated information and need to be replaced with updated content. I’ve weeded both of these types of books in the past. This year, however, we’ve focused mostly on gaining shelf space in our cramped library by weeding the wallflowers in our fiction section. You know the books. These little guys haven’t been checked out for years and years – they’re the ones with the pristine dust jackets or ones that were donated decades ago by some well-meaning patron, never to be touched or read again. They are the ones that are, in some cases, four or five times as old as our library patrons.
Weeding is a touchy subject for many librarians. Which books do we choose to discard? What do we do with them? How do we dispose of them in a way that won’t arouse indignation from the school’s administration and general public? I’ve heard some librarians talk about getting rid of discarded books in such secretive ways that you’d think they were criminals trying to find a good spot to dump a body.
So what do we do? You don’t just want to throw them away, right? When I was working at the middle school level, I used to divvy up any discarded AR books and give them to teachers for their classroom collections. That seemed to work really well. Now that I’m at a high school, however, I wanted to give both teachers and students alike a chance to enhance their collections.
The truth is that many of the library’s discarded books are still valuable and have a lot to offer a reader or even a collector. At my previous school, I tried doing book displays for some of these good but overlooked books. I had some success with that, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to justify keeping many of those volumes on the shelves. I know that some schools sell discarded books as a fundraising activity. I haven’t tried that personally, but from my experience, I think I’d make so little money at my school on discards as to render the fundraiser pointless.
Here’s how we discard of our discards. After they’ve been taken out of the system, we put them on a cart, put some attractive signs on said cart (e.g., FREE BOOKS!!), and simply give them away. That’s it. While it would be an exaggeration to say that our discards continuously fly off the cart, we do have some faculty and students who come by daily to check for new additions. In a very real way, it gives new life to these old books. They are finally being considered again, and as many are taken to new homes, I feel as if they’re at last getting the attention they deserved years ago.
In addition, a good number of these books have gone to one of our art teachers to be used in mixed media projects with his classes. I must say that, initially, a small part of me was apprehensive at the thought of defacing these old books (because they are supposed to be read, that’s why!). However, seeing them repurposed into works of art made me realize that there is more than one meaningful way to make use of discarded works, and I look forward to seeing more of his students’ projects in the future.
“A RICH AND DEVIOUS ACHIEVEMENT” for them if I do say so myself.
What do you do with weeded books at your school? I would love to hear new ideas and suggestions!
Annie Kiene
Media Specialist
Richmond Hill High School
Richmond Hill, GA
eBooks – Where are the Answers???
Rarely a day goes by when I am not asked a question about eBooks that I don’t have an answer for. The goal of this post is to list the questions I hear most often in hopes of finding answers. I find it hard to believe the supply is as far behind the demand as it seems. The depth of selection at the various eBook vendor sites seems to indicate otherwise. This list is in no certain order:
- How are teachers/schools to buy multiple copies of the same title in eBook format and make them accessible to students/teachers on both personal and district-owned devices?
- Does Overdrive really have as little competition as it appears?
- Is DRM an appropriate model for K-12 eBooks?
- How are traditional media center book vendors adapting to the demand for eBooks?
- How close are textbook publishers to moving to the eBook format?
Recent related articles:
Librarian Unhappiness Over New Harper e-Book Lending Policy Grows
K-12 educators’ views on e-books
DRM: Publishers Crippling Library eBooks
New Way to Check Out eBooks – Wall Street Journal
I welcome any/all responses to the questions above.
Thank you for your time,
Gregory Odell
e-Learning Specialist
Hall County Schools
Gainesville, GA
Twitter: ugaodawg
EQUACC – ALA Task Force on Electronic Content (i.e. ebooks too!)
Hello all,
I know there is a lot of interest in the school library world about ebooks. There are also an awful lot of questions! I wish that I could say I come bearing answers, but really this issue is way too big and complicated for simple answers. There is, however, a new place for you to find resources and join in the ongoing discussion around the future of ebooks and other electronic content in our libraries.
The ALA Presidential Task Force on Equitable Access to Electronic Content (EQUACC) is pleased to announce the launch of http://equacc.ala.org – your trusted resource for the latest news and developments from the EQUACC’s ongoing work on electronic content and ebooks. I sit on the ALA Office of Information Technology Policy (OITP, part of ALA’s Washington Office) Advisory Committee, and am representing them on the EQUACC task force as well as the OITP Ebook Task Force. Of course, I am also speaking to the needs and interests of school libraries on both of those groups. Current AASL Treasurer Floyd Pentlin is also representing AASL and school librarians on EQUACC.
We invite you to stop by http://equacc.ala.org to see what the task force is working on and to join in the conversation. With the overwhelming attention given to the Harper Collins decision to limit ebook loans to 26 times, and all of the other issues focusing on the loaning of popular fiction ebooks in public libraries, it is critical that school library needs are also clearly defined. I will be writing a short white paper for OITP to clarify concerns and needs in school libraries, but Floyd and I (and all of EQUACC) would welcome your further input and comments on the blog at http://equacc.ala.org and in the working forums there. I am on the licensing models sub-committee and Floyd is on PR. We will also be collaborating on a blog post for the EQUACC site in the next two weeks to highlight school issues, so feel free to email either of us if you have success stories or huge barriers to share!
Genesee Valley Educational Partnership – Le Roy, NY
cgharris@gvboces.org | (585) 344-7942
http://sls.gvboces.org | http://fish4info.org
BOOKS TO RECOMMEND
It’s always difficult trying to anticipate what books with be popular with your students. Sometimes I think I have hit on a no-fail series, just to watch the books gather dust on the shelves. It seems like lately nothing can compare with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series—all those books just fly off the shelves. I think, though, I might have found some series that rival Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Recently I bought the entire Katie Woo series, and the students love them. One of my second graders last week told me: “I am going to read every one of the Katie books. I really like them.” Music to a librarian’s hears!!! Who doesn’t want to hear a second grader say her goal is to read the entire series?!??!?!
There are about 30 books in the Katie Woo series, written by Fran Manushkin and Tammie Lyon. The AR level range is between 2.0-3.0. Even though the plot of the books are universal, meaning the subject matter is appropriate for boys and girls, the girls will gravitate toward the books—I haven’t had one boy check out a Katie Woo book. The main character is a girl, and some of the covers are purple or pink—not exactly colors elementary school boys want to tote around. But that’s okay—I am thrilled the books are flying off the shelf and the girls are excited to read! It’s also a great series for 4th and 5th graders who read below grade level— the series has chapters, the series is not a graphic novel, and when the older girls earn a good AR score they feel successful.
Bone is another series that brags good circulation statistics. This is a graphic novel series by Jeff Smith that appeals to both girls and boys. Initially I ordered just the first three books, and recently ordered the other volumes—there are about 10 books to date in this series. Although younger readers who read above their grade level check out these books, it seems more popular with my 4th and 5th graders.
So does anyone have a series they could recommend? What’s popular in your library? Would love and appreciate any sage words!
Thanks so much-
Anja Tigges, Ed.S.
Scott Elementary School Librarian
1752 Hollywood Road
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-802-7000
Exemplary Media Program Open Houses: Freedom Middle and Creekview High
Freedom Middle School and Creekview High School in Cherokee County would like to invite you to their exemplary media program open house sessions on Wednesday, April 27, 2010. Information about each open house is below, and they invite you to take the day to visit, learn, and share! Contact information is provided on each invitation if you have questions and/or need driving directions.
