Randi Solomon

Once you’ve done your library weeding, how will you refresh your garden?

So, you’ve cleaned up your stacks. 

You’ve set goals, read Marie Kondo’s magic book from front to back, adapted her joyous concepts to an LLC, set even more goals, consulted stake-holders, set up bins, gathered volunteers, spent an evening, ate some pizza, and now you have gleaming up-to-date super-relevant shelves, loaded with books just craving to be checked out!

Hold up! Let’s backtrack and slow down a bit. Have you ever noticed how the idea of weeding your school library seems to illicit two opposite types of responses?  One is what I’ll call the literary soap box response. (What?! Classic literature is needed! You’re erasing history? Books are precious. Too much technology and tweeting and no one will be literate for much longer!). The second I’ll call the postmodern revival response. (Mix it up! Draw them in with varied structures. Be a living self-conscious space interacting with all patrons at all times). 

I’m somewhere in the middle, oscillating between doodling on a communal white board with colourful chalk markers philosophizing about what I’ll do before I die and wrestling my way through David Foster Wallaces’ Infinite Jest while drinking my chai-green-tea-almond-latte. Diana Rendina reminds us that in the wake of Makerspace revolutions happening in libraries around the world, to remember the books! But like every vibrant and enjoyable space, freshness matters.

THE JOY OF WEEDING 

There’s plenty of suggestions and criteria for weeding out there. I took a cue from Kondo and came up with my own JOY of weeding, based on the good ‘ol acronym approach.(Educators love acronyms!) So, thinking JOY, here’s the basics for how you’ll know when it’s time to bin-that-book! (Of course, for a more extensive set of criteria, check out my linked suggestions.)

J – Junk just sitting there. If it’s “torn, tattered, or defaced”, it’s time to wave bye-bye (TDSB). If it hasn’t been borrowed in forever (it still has stamps 19__ ’cause no one thought that century would ever end), it may be time for the bin.

O – Outdated to the point of obsolete. If the title resembles anything like, How to Fix your Betamax Machine, Cooking with Lard, or Pager Etiquette for Dummies, it’s probably time to bin-that-book!

Y – Yes to space for planting something new! Yes to relevant material that meets students’ interests and curriculum needs. Yes to freshening up a space that can offer books and so much more.

REPURPOSE THOSE BINNED BOOKS

There’s so much you can do with those just retired bound bundles. Of course, donating or giving them away is an option if their condition allows. Set up a mailbox at the entrance of your LLC, like this adorable one, especially useful if you’d like to make weeding a more regular activity. 

But if repurposing and upcycling is part of your learning goals, check out these new uses for old books…

1. Watch the Clock with Time Honoured Titles!

Who couldn’t help but watch the clock with this amazing design, posted by Matt Seaman to Pinterest to highlight “12 Unbelievable Decoration Ideas With Old Books”? This one just ticked with me (sorry, corny puns are my specialty).

2. Fill a Wall.

Take those binned books, as is, or add a colourful paper covering, and make a spectacular wall display!

3. Set up a Make & Take Book Stack Project.

This upcycling project from afreshsqueezedlife.com (Pinterest) shows how to make a personalized gift with some old books, chalk paint, stamps, ribbon and string. What a great Makerspace this would be for any time of year, but especially before the winter holidays.

4. Decorate an Idea Room.

If your library space has an enclosed room, and like this one, with windows to-boot, use old magazines and recovered books to set up a space for idea generating, brain storming, and just getting stuff done! This is highly inspiring if you ask me. (Source: Elise Staples posted to Pinterest from the Oak Park Public Library in Illinois.)

5. Make an entrance!

Wow! All I can say is wow! This is the first project I would embark upon in the event of spare books! Such a conversation maker/attention grabber/smile creator!

Bring on the binned-books!

GOING PUBLIC.

Optimizing your space for the common good is really where it’s at in 2020 for libraries. As the new principal of Christie Elementary School in Texas, Ryan Steele documents his school’s transition to a Learning Commons from a once traditional school library in “The Journey from Library to Learning Commons” (Steele. Teacher Librarian. 2015). He logs the steps it took for his team to really transform the space they had so that it was once again the centre of the school’s learning. What’s even cooler is that all of this project’s fruition was the result of collaboration and professional sharing. He acknowledges throughout his piece exactly who influenced him, at what point, and how. He writes,

“One of the things I love most about education is our willingness, and even love, of sharing information. We share our trade secrets – and while in business that would be a foolish thing to do – it is one of the most important driving factors of our educational system. Sharing ideas builds success, and together we can do anything.”

Here are some of the remarkable results of Christie Elementary’s reno. What kid wouldn’t love hanging out here?

Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s that a successful Learning Commons space must be student-centred. This means so many things based on the sheer variety of human beings, and leads to re-thinking, re-structuring, and amazing re-sults! (I know that’s not hyphenated.) Ira David Socol’s article, “How Will You Redesign Your School Over the Next Six Months?” challenges some of the more traditional concepts around how we use space in educational settings. His perspective – fresh, logical, meaningful – is most definitely student-centred. This also means ensuring that our space is completely accessible to all – students who use wheel-chairs, who are visually impaired, or who need aids due to a disability. The Canadian Library Association (CLA) has published an extensive guide for libraries to support people with disabilities. They also recommend using the document, “The Principles of Universal Design” to instruct decisions, which include 6 principles: Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive Use, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Error, and Low Physical Effort. As the centre of the school community, the LLC must be comfortable, accessible and welcoming to all, so that all can feel they belong. Socol says we should let students sit where and how they’d like. Comfort and learning go hand-in-hand, according to Socol. I don’t disagree.

Originally posted March 3, 2020 (Queens Continuing Education – Teacher-Librarian Part 1 – AQ)

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