#collection maintenance

[aponyaday]

Sale post! Message me for prices. I have some other items including plushes and cels from the Tales show.

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Here, FINALLY, are my before-and-after shots of my YA fiction weeding project!

NEW YEAR, NEW SHELVES! 🎉

I would rest on my laurels, but those new books just keep coming in. Which is definitely a good problem to have. 😃😃😃😃😃

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

There are lots of ways that books can look old and out-of-date. The pages turn brown, the covers get worn, and sometimes there's also some text on the cover that makes it look like it's gone out of style.

"Soon to be an original HBO series" ... that already ended several years ago? Yikes!

Here are some recent examples of YA books that I photographed to remind myself that we need to order newer editions, if they're available. Sometimes we're stuck with beaten-up books for a while, either because we can't afford to replace them, because we're waiting for replacement copies to arrive, or because they've gone out of print.

There are lots of questions we ask ourselves before we decide to weed a book from our collection:

What's the condition of the book?

When did we acquire it?

When was it last checked out?

How much shelf space do we have?

Is this book a classic / on reading lists / in high demand for another reason?

Is this one of the librarian's favorite books? (Don't laugh. Many books have been spared from the chopping block for this reason!)

All of this is part of the list of "What Do Library Staff Do All Day?" activities. It's officially called collection maintenance, which doesn't sound very exciting. But weeding stuff / ordering replacement copies / making room for new stuff is a good use of our library brains!

Oh, and in case you're wondering what part YOU can play in this process, my advice is that if there's something at your local library that you love to pieces, check it out at least once a year. We're always looking for ways to make room on our shelves, but we're also more likely to save something (and/or order a replacement copy) if it's been getting some love!

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Collection shifting in progress!

Big chunks of our Adult collection are being rearranged this week so we can use our space more effectively. We’re using our regular book trucks plus one REALLY BIG TRUCK to make it happen!

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Please excuse our appearance. Our library shelves are under renovation!

[aponyaday]

I found some ponies at the local Goodwill, and I also have to streamline my collection a bit, so I’m going to be doing a sale post soon! 

[sejinpk]

I was rearranging and moving some figures around today, and several of them (particularly ones I’ve had for years) were very dusty. I tried wiping them off as best I could, but there were a lot of places (corners, some of the texture detail on hair and clothing, etc.) that I just couldn’t reach.

Some of the figures I’ve gotten relatively recently (like, within the past year or so) were also slightly dusty. I’m worried that, even if I can keep them mostly free of dust, it’ll still accumulate in the areas I can’t reach. Is it safe to wash them off with water? If so, is there a way I can be sure that water doesn’t get inside some part of the figure?

Barring purchasing display cabinets or something like that (which sounds like it’d be very expensive) is there any practical way to keep my figures from getting dusty in the future (I don’t want to just leave them in the packaging because: 1) I got them to display them, so I want to display them; and 2) Displaying them in their boxes would be very cumbersome, take up a lot of additional space, and be visually unappealing)?

[patrondebris]

Following my own advice from yesterday’s post on collection maintenance, I checked in and organized all the young adult graphic novels (with the blessing of the YA librarian). Leaving aside the manga for another day, I estimate that we have over 400 YA graphic novels. Upon checking them in, I found:

- 19 items marked “missing” - 3 items marked “lost” - 4 items with holds - 2 items with notes/cataloging problems - 2 graphic novels from the adult collection - 1 YA paperback - 1 item marked “display”

I also pulled out several items to potentially move to another part of the library (e.g., a Garfield collection that could go live with the other Garfield collections). The process took less than three hours, for which I was also on desk.

Just after I finish these tasks, I always have a strong urge to hover protectively near the section and put things away as soon as people use them, but I also know (in my rational moments) that a messy collection is one that is being well-used.