Swipe Right Weeding
OK, here’s one way I weed. Go Tinder.
Get a book cart and travel around (Fiction or NF) and look at the books.
Be surface.
Be superficial.
Be judgey.
Be FAST.
I make quick decisions. I don’t agonize over it. I pull any books that are suspect, beat up, butt ugly, feature dated illustration, dated cover art, and just not attractive – I know, harsh. They’re not people. SWIPE Left. Put them on the left side of cart shelf. Then, with titles I’m on the fence about, put them on the right side of the cart shelf – then go and check those books on PAC to see how many times they were really checked out & make the final decision.
I will re-read a blurb here and there and the first couple pages if I’m really on the fence. I’ll be honest, I got rid of a LOT of historic fiction a couple years ago. They just weren’t moving. It pained me to get rid of the American Girl series, once so popular & an easy read – but they just weren’t moving. And now feel a little tone deaf if I ‘m honest. Our shelf space is limited & valuable real estate.
A book has to EARN their way onto it.
No reports needed just a keen judgey eye.
If it’s a good or popular book but just with an ugly cover, I will look in county PAC or Titlewave for a newer and better looking cover & add it to my shopping cart. I put a post it note on it or put it on the other side of the weeding cart (I don’t weed it yet – a kid might request it) and then I won’t swap it out to weed until I get the better looking replacement book.
I guess you CAN judge a book by its cover. That’s precisely what the covers of books are for. Judging the book. I want kids to want and READ these books.
There. My dirty little weeding secret. Tinderize your weeding. Yeah, I went there.
Weeding is a painful but necessary part to the job. It’s sometimes
AGONIZING! So, best to rip off the Band Aid and pull the book. Worse
case scenario, if a kid is looking for a book you’ve weeded buy it again
with the bonus you’ll probably get a new cover and a stronger binding!
Voila!
What do you do to keep your collection fresh? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Collection Development:
Weeding, of course, makes way for NEW books! Here’s a peek at my 2021 Book List through Follett & Titlewave. LOVE how you can analyze your book list with the Diversity filter!
And yeah, yeah, I haven’t blogged a lot this year. Shocker. I think we’re all hanging on and doing our best for our kiddos virtually or otherwise. Not going to make excuses – family, students, & self care first darlings! As always, if you need me – Tweet me, email me (check my contact page), Instagram DM me. I’m here for you – just writing blog posts right now isn’t on the top of my list.
Dear Readers, Love you, mean it, (but not in a creepy way) for sticking with me!
New readers – welcome! I got a lot of helpful chirpy posts going back more than 10 years
Have at it! LOL Cheers dears!
~Gwyneth
