Collection Evaluation and Weeding
Ali Geigerman
Topic Area
I decided to weed this section because I noticed that many of the books fall under the 'MUSTY' category. Several are ugly and worn, quite a few are duplicates, and many are not being circulated at all.
This section is very important in K-5 grades. Our Kindergarten students start science with learning about different animals characteristics (SKL1, SKL2), while fifth graders learn to sort animals in their classification systems (S5L1). The books in this section need to be accurate, informative, and usable to aid in student learning.
Usage Data
I printed a report to let me know which books were not being checked out often. As you can see from the graph below, I had quite a few to work with. Over 70% of the books have been checked out less than 30 times. I narrowed down my search to the 31% that have less than 10 checkouts.
Our library (and school) is fairly new. The majority of books that we have are all up-to-date and geared toward common core standards. That left me to decide books based on usage, book damage, and doubles.
Kindergarten works to classify living and non-living things. First grade discusses the basic needs of living things. Second grade investigates life cycles. Third grade learns about animal habitats. Fourth graders describe the energy flow in ecosystems. Lastly, fifth grade uses classification systems to group animals and their babies.
If you look at the graph, 5th grade has more Life Science standards than any other grade level. However, I've noticed that there are the fewest books available to accommodate those standards. Most of the books are geared toward the younger grades. After weeding books that are damaged or uncirculated, I would purchase some higher level books about plant and animal cells and classification systems to accommodate 5th grade standards.
Weeding:
Disposal
At the end of the school year, Newton County's procurement clerk will collect all the boxes from each school and discard of them properly.