The Weeding Has Begun

After getting some training, I am tackling my first weeding project.  While doing inventory, I noticed some really old and/or worn books.  I started wondering if these books were being checked out.  While helping a friend weed her library, I learned that by running a shelf list for the last three to four years, I could get a good idea of which books are being circulated.

When I got to the Hardy Boys series, I was stumped.  Because I don't remember ever checking out any of the series to students, I assumed nobody was reading the series.  I didn't even look to see if Hardy Boys was being circulated.  Since I hate to get rid of classics, I decided to keep them.  After someone on Twitter asked me if students are reading them, I reviewed the shelf list again.  A few titles were checked out at least one time.  When I looked at the history of those titles, I saw that students were checking out the books more than once.  That tells me that the students are reading the books.  The Nancy Drew series had the same stats.

The Hardy Boys Stay

In order to generate a renewed interest in the series, I will do a "Detective" display.  I will also get the students who have already shown an interest in the books do Book Talks.  I think I will use some of the skills, that I learned in my Media Production class this summer, to make the Book Talks fun by using green screen and props.

Other series that are not getting much attention are the American Girl, The Baby-Sitters Club,  Boxcar Children, and Little House...  There are multiple copies of some the titles in these series.  I will keep one of each.  One goal is to put all the American Girl books together.  I will gradually weed the Baby-Sitters Club as I purchase the updated Baby-Sitters Club and  graphic novels.  I haven't decided what to do with the Boxcar Children, and Little House...

I hope to see students checking out some of the Ol' School books more. They need to know that there was life before Greg Hefley.