Weed It and Reap
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. Depending on the job it can be daunting, physically challenging, politically charged, and often emotionally draining. When we do it, we feel as if we must be as sneaky as possible. And sneaky is rarely thorough or efficient. Too often, we don’t do it at all.
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. Depending on the job it can be daunting, physically challenging, politically charged, and often emotionally draining. When we do it, we feel as if we must be as sneaky as possible. And sneaky is rarely thorough or efficient. Too often, we don’t do it at all.
Somehow, in a culture where you must have a new $30,000 car every four years and a new $500 cell phone every two years and a new wardrobe every season there is this perpetual myth that every book, every $3.00 paperback Scholastic tv tie-in that winds up in a library should be there forever. There is this weird idea that in a culture driven by a 24/7 news cycle, updated almost by the second , that books written before some of today's children were even born about countries and people deeply affected by what is happening today, are okay. There is this myth that every library is the architectural equivalent of Hermione’s purse of perpetual holding. Somehow you can keep cramming stuff in there just in case you might need it someday without the purse ever getting heavier and more difficult to use, and without the materials inside ever becoming obsolete and useless.
Somehow, in a culture where you must have a new $30,000 car every four years and a new $500 cell phone every two years and a new wardrobe every season there is this perpetual myth that every book, every $3.00 paperback Scholastic tv tie-in that winds up in a library should be there forever. There is this weird idea that in a culture driven by a 24/7 news cycle, updated almost by the second , that books written before some of today's children were even born about countries and people deeply affected by what is happening today, are okay. There is this myth that every library is the architectural equivalent of Hermione’s purse of perpetual holding. Somehow you can keep cramming stuff in there just in case you might need it someday without the purse ever getting heavier and more difficult to use, and without the materials inside ever becoming obsolete and useless.
This myth of infinite holding, as I call it, affects all types of libraries, but is perhaps most harmful to school libraries. School libraries need to be as up to date as possible in all their holdings. They need to be as easy to use as possible. They and their holdings need to be as visually appealing as possible on the outside since many of their customers can’t read, or need to be enticed to read, the quality content on the inside. These requirements should be foremost in our minds when we go through our stacks, make budget requests, and when we explain and fight for our jobs. Shelves full of dusty, yellowed, dull-spined books is an adult aesthetic, and a very specific one, and it has nothing to do with school libraries.
This myth of infinite holding, as I call it, affects all types of libraries, but is perhaps most harmful to school libraries. School libraries need to be as up to date as possible in all their holdings. They need to be as easy to use as possible. They and their holdings need to be as visually appealing as possible on the outside since many of their customers can’t read, or need to be enticed to read, the quality content on the inside. These requirements should be foremost in our minds when we go through our stacks, make budget requests, and when we explain and fight for our jobs. Shelves full of dusty, yellowed, dull-spined books is an adult aesthetic, and a very specific one, and it has nothing to do with school libraries.
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. I’m here to say, and to encourage you to say, that it is not dirty, except literally sometimes, and it’s not a secret. It’s not “bad”. It’s not “censorship”. It’s not “waste”. It’s our professional duty and we do it with care and consideration and deep understanding of our materials and our role in our school communities.
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. I’m here to say, and to encourage you to say, that it is not dirty, except literally sometimes, and it’s not a secret. It’s not “bad”. It’s not “censorship”. It’s not “waste”. It’s our professional duty and we do it with care and consideration and deep understanding of our materials and our role in our school communities.