Introduction:
In a library that houses a collection of over 15,000 books and resources the section that is in the most dire need of upgrading is Geography. According to our Follett Destiny TitleWise collection evaluation, the History & geography section has an average publication year of 1991. Reference skills for the School Librarian (Reidling, et.al. 2013) says that this section of the collection should be updated every 5-10 years (p. 24) so it feels incredibly outdated to be picking up books from the 1980s.
Our shelves have books on them that are decades old and I have left many of them there over many years of weeding because of barriers like cost of replacing and being afraid to lose the historical information. I always have to pause and think, would this outdated information be useful to a student? However, the real question is, is this outdated information going to to hinder or help? This perspective is supported by Canadian School Libraries when they write: “History doesn’t change, but perspectives on history change radically over time as more is uncovered and more voices are represented. Student inquiry should be informed by current perspectives” (2023).
A few weeks back, the grade 1/2 teachers came to me asking for books with current information about different countries in the world. The group of texts that we had on the shelves were from the year one of the teachers was born. If teachers come to me with a request and the books I have on the shelves are inadequate, then I need to get rid of those books and find something more appropriate to their age group. Our younger students do not utilize the internet, in our school at least, so we must provide engaging, current and attractive resources for them to use.
Part 1: Out with the Old
According to Achieving Literacy (Asselin, et. al. 2003) an exemplary library collection requires that the “materials are current, in good repair” (p. 26). For this reason, I am recommending replacing the “Take a Trip” series by Keith Lye copyright 1984/1986 in which there are 16 titles.
Take a Trip to:
- Scotland
- Hungary
- Wales
- Venezuela
- Argentina
- Austria
- Sweden
- Saudi Arabia
- Greece
- Ethiopia
- Zimbabwe
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Finland
- Denmark
- Poland
The rubric I have created to support the replacement of this series is:
Step I:
- Is the book MUSTIE? (Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, Irrelevant, Elsewhere Available). – Taken from Crew: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries. If the book receives a 4/6 or more MUSTIE rating, the book is discarded. If not, then the next set of questions are considered.
Step II:
- Will young elementary students find the resource accessible?
- Is this resource current? (Within the last 5 years?).
- Are there more illustrations than text?
- Is there a more modern version of these books available?
- Does the book utilize inclusive and diverse language and references?
If the resource in question scores more than 3/5 in YES responses, it is still useful.
*Side note: This is a fun rubric that I found on Canadian School Libraries from a blogger called Library Girl. I used it as a reference to form my own questions for the rubric.
Credit: Jennifer LaGarde aka librarygirl.net (post: Keeping Your Library Smelling F-R-E-S-H!).
The Take a Trip to Ethiopia title in the series, for example, ranked 4/6 on the MUSTIE scale for USTE. The books are actually still in decent shape despite their copyright of 1986, but the photography is old and is not appealing to new, young readers. The information is historical up to just before 1980, so it is outdated and has therefore been Superseded and become Irrelevant by the last 40 years of life. If a student or teacher were searching for up-to-date information on these countries, they would need to look Elsewhere, like on the internet, to find that info.
Part 2: In with the New
The new replacement collection is called All Around the World sold by Smart Apple Media – a book publisher from Collingwood, Ontario. Coincidentally, there are also 16 titles in this series.
All Around the World:
- Algeria
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Cambodia
- Finland
- Iceland
- Indonesia
- Jamaica
- Laos
- Madagascar
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia
- United Arab Emirates
The books:
- target grade 2 and 3 students (who do not utilize the internet yet for research projects).
- have reinforced binding.
- are 24 pages each.
- are Copyrighted in 2022.
- are sold for $28.45 CAD each but when you buy the whole series you receive a 25% discount that makes the books $21.34 CAD each and they cover the shipping costs.
Smart Apple has quoted that the books will arrive in the next 8 weeks but my teachers are looking to use them for third term, so the timeline works even if it feels a little bit long. I feel a little impatient waiting for books when Amazon will do 1 day or same day delivery, but this is a Canadian company and it is important to me to use them over Amazon.
Conclusion:
Our goal is to continue to serve the students and teachers of today with as current of information as we can afford to give them. There is no possible way to keep a physical collection as current as information that may be found on the internet. With that reality in mind, we must do our best to select reference material that is interesting and engaging for our kids so that they may serve as a comprehensive introduction to an area they may be interested in. Then, if they choose to continue their own research by exploring other ways and methods then we have placed them on a path for deeper inquiry and learning.
Works Cited
Asselin, M., Branch, J. L., & Oberg, D. (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Canadian Association for School Libraries.
LaGarde, J. (2013, October 1). Keeping your library collection smelling F.R.E.S.H! Librarygirl. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.librarygirl.net/post/keeping-your-library-collection-smelling-f-r-e-s-h
Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.
Media, S. A. (n.d.). Browse our collections. Smart Apple Media – Browse. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.smartapple.ca/browse#H22A004
TSLAC | Texas State Library and Archives Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod12.pdf
Hi Lauren
What a great assignment! It seems like our LLC’s have quite a bit in common when it comes to outdated, somewhat useless resources and yet where do the funds come from to replace all of them? Again, one of the reasons that I still have these resources on the shelves, at least it’s something even though they certainly aren’t new and flashy. I enjoyed looking through librarygirl.net and thought that her Just Weed It! rubric was fantastic and something that I would definately use in the future. Thank you for such a thorough assessment of the travel books.
I think as a TL it is so hard to keep print books current especially in the geography. The world is changing so quickly but, 1986 is really old. That being said it is also hard to get rid off books that are still in decent shape. There are so many needs in a school community that it is hard to make everyone happy. I think that the resource you found ticks all the boxes. I agree that under grade 3 it is tricky to use the technology to learn and the easier option is books. I will have to bookmark the librarygirl.net for future reference.