Skip to main content

Interview with a Librarian- Librarian C

By

Librarian #1- C

My first interview was with Librarian C, an adult services librarian at a public library. Librarian C has been working in the library for over 13 years and has been in this role for seven years. Librarian C is constantly assessing the adult collection for deselection and replacement. She utilizes the library’s system to find out usage for items, has the check in desk assess for physical damage, and considers the library’s space to help her assess weeding needs. She mentioned that for the adult patrons, the most used items are the e-book collection, but for physical items, the large print collection is checked out most often. While she considers this a year-long project, most of the spring and summer is spent collecting information and the winter is spent doing the actual weeding. This is because she is busier in the summer months with programming and summer reading projects, she struggles to find enough time to consider weeding. Librarian C says winter is much slower and her library has shorter patron hours on certain days, so it’s easier for her to dig into organizing the data.

Librarian C noted that the biggest struggle is usually with patrons complaining about their favorite collections shrinking. She used the example of the Christian fiction collection which is situated near the large print collection. Since the large print collection is well used, they would like the add more items. To do so, they need more space. Since the Christian fiction collection is underused, it made sense to reduce the size. A patron caught wind of the project when she found Librarian C removing items from that section and loudly complained to the board. Librarian C ended up continuing the weed of the project, but on a smaller scale by removing a little bit over a longer period of time. The board also asked that they evaluate refreshing the collection with newer texts, but not requiring any specific numbers.

She also notes that sometimes collection management is about the space in the library, not just the books. Her library had spent a few years overhauling the adult fiction collection. They wanted to increase the size of the library aisles to be ADA compliant and that meant that the overall collection needed to shrink a bit. Since the e-book collection was booming and the lack of a recent weeding meant that the library director felt comfortable reducing the size of the fiction section.  

Librarian C said that she didn’t really have an idea about what weeding really entailed when she started but she likes doing the actual work of cleaning up the collection. She would like to form cross department committees to discuss collection management. She thinks it would be helpful to those in charge of collection management to hear different perspectives about what the library needs and what can be removed.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Annotated Bibliography- Data Driven Deselection: Using a Decision Support Tool

By
Ehret Snyder, C. (2013, Dec 20). Data-driven deselection: multiple point data using a decision support tool in an academic library. Collection Management, 39 , 11-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2013.866607 Weeding is a time-consuming and sensitive task for librarians. It is necessary to make space for new material, keep information current and updated, and remove items in poor condition. Librarians have to determine what kind of data is necessary to review in order to justify removing an item from the library’s shelves. Tools exist to help librarians gather multiple points of data to make the process more efficient. The librarians at Olin Library, part of Rollins College in Florida, utilized such a tool (Sustainable Collections Services) to help them update their collection and present the findings in this paper. Summary: Librarians are short on time and weeding is one of the most time-consuming tasks they can take on. Criteria is necessary to make...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Weeding Without Worry

By
This website is done by the American Libraries Magazine and talks on the importance of weeding for libraries. It starts by speaking on different "weeding horror stories" of patrons seeing library staff throwing books into a dumpster and being outraged, or rare books being thrown out accidentally. Instances like this can give weeding a bad name, and make it harder for both library staff to weed, and patrons to accept the weeding of materials. The website goes on to explain how to avoid these pitfalls, such as making sure to communicate clearly with library patrons about weeding, and exactly what it is, and why it is needed in libraries, and how it helps the library continue to run well and continue serving the community well. One example they give is from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where they have a page on their website dedicated to weeding, explaining why it is needed, and encouraging patrons to email or speak to a library staff member in person if they have co...
Post a Comment
Read more

Website Review - Awful Library Books

By
Awful Library Books The first thing that catches my attention when I navigate to Awful Library Books is the wonderfully out of date and kitschy covers. (Fran gets me ) It’s 246 pages (as of October 5th) of proof of why libraries need to weed. Many of the items are outside submissions and the whole project is curated by Michigan public librarians Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner. This site is… so much fun. Again, people from all over the country submit images of their books in need of deselection. Some of the titles, such as a copy of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl will require repurchase at the discretion of the branch, and others, such as Easy DOS It! , a book about the no longer relevant DOS computer system, or a tacky as all get out Burt Reynolds book (likely not how he wants to be remembered, RIP), (This?) (Or THIS?) are best never to be seen again. Awful Library Books pokes fun at the idea that libraries are outdated by displaying the items that we get rid of...
Post a Comment
Read more