Together We Thrive Grant Summary

Weeding with the CREW Method - WMRLS May 21 Continuing Education Workshop

Weeding with the CREW Method

Summary of WMRLS May 21 Continuing Education Workshop:

This workshop explored the straightforward guidelines recommended in The CREW Method, a nationally recognized tool for intelligent de-selection. Through hands-on weeding, participants discovered for themselves that these methods really work! Belinda Boon, author of The CREW Method, presented the workshop to help participants identify reasons for and against weeding and discover how to overcome obstacles, learn how to weed using The CREW Method and practice techniques for weeding non-print and children’s materials. This workshop was funded by the Together We Thrive LSTA grant.

Visit the WMRLS Weeding the Library Collection Website for links to selected handouts and more! [Our WMRLS Weed It! For an Attractive and Useful Collection website was one of the first websites to cover this important collection development topic and continues to be among the Top 10 most visited pages on our 242 page website.]

New Salem Public Library

The New Salem Public Library occupies the town’s former elementary school, a charming single-story white clapboard building located at the edge of the town common. It serves a population of just under 1,000. Director Diana Smith manages the library with the support of two knowledgeable and enthusiastic assistants, Joy Brenneman and Sue Dunbar. New Salem is an inviting and well-cared-for library. Placement of the various collections is logical, with the popular DVD collection housed on the circulation desk, and new books, bookmobile choices, audio books, music CDs, and the VHS collections adjacent to the front desk. Good separation between collections, a large work table, a reading corner, and lots of windows give the interior a feeling of spaciousness.

I made a total of 20 visits from mid-July 2008 to early January 2009, usually for 5-6 hours each time. I weeded adult fiction, adult non-fiction, large print, reference, and the VHS tapes, and handled the disposition of the items weeded from the historical collection by Becky Marconi, Project Coordinator for the THRIVE grant. Marcia Bernard, another Circuit Rider, is weeding the juvenile and young adult collections.
It was readily apparent that many good acquisition choices had been made over the years, but that there was a pervasive mold problem resulting from dampness at the library’s prior location across the street as well as water damage to the current building within the last 2 years. There is now a dehumidifier operating, which should ameliorate the situation.

Every item in the adult collections I worked on was evaluated for weeding based upon condition and circulation history. Diana reviewed all items I pulled from the shelves to determine what would be discarded or retained. She said that the most difficult decisions for her were discarding donation books that had dedications in them. Diana had extensively weeded the adult fiction collection prior to the move to the current building, so adult non-fiction needed more time and attention. After the records for the weeded items were deleted from C/W MARS, the moldy books were torn apart, the covers going into the trash and the paper inside to recycling. The remainder of the weeded books and all the weeded VHS tapes will be donated to GotBooks. One exception: Becky evaluated the books she weeded from the historical collection that were in good condition, and most of these will be offered for sale to an antique book dealer. There is ample room on the shelves to broaden and deepen the adult collections with new acquisitions.

It was a great pleasure to work on the collection of the New Salem Public Library in the company of its competent and friendly staff.

Celeste Greene

Circuit Rider

Spear Memorial Library

The Spear Memorial Library, located at 10 Cooleyville Rd. in Shutesbury, is a one-room building located in a rural community of approximately 1800 residents. The library has a paid staff of two; Mary Ann Antonellis is the Director and Sally Fairchild is Assistant Librarian. The library is also supported by a rotating group of volunteers. The library building has been in existence since the 19th century and has always been used as a library. Before the building was constructed, a cabinet containing books was transported around the town, by horse-drawn cart. We certainly have come a long way since then, with the outstanding service of our libraries and the WMRLS Delivery System.
Ms. Antonellis met Becky Marconi and I on an August morning, and along with a tour of the building, we learned about the eventual expansion plan for the library, as well as what areas she wanted to focus on for improvement. Two areas were to be addressed- weeding the collection and entering items into the CWMARS system. Library Friends provided boxes for me to place books in, and there was a plan to sell books at the next town fair, in September. I have completed the weeding process, with Mary Ann making the final decision on what to keep and what to remove. Another Circuit Rider named Patrick is steadily making progress with the items being entered into the CWMARS system.
Visiting and working alongside Mary Ann at the Spear Memorial Library was a very positive experience, and my work was augmented by an excellent organizational system for the current collection, which is supplemented by interloan. The library is a lively place whenever it is open and serves its' patrons quite well.

Carol Scheier
Circuit Rider

Peru Library

I began weeding at the Peru Library just a few weeks before their annual book sale. It was a good opportunity to go through the collection and remove some materials that could be sold to the community. My first day there we cleared out a room that had a combination of outdated books, donations that were not needed and various other odds and ends. Three of us worked on the room and the change was impressive after just one hour. Since then the Peru library director and volunteers have improved the space enormously and now holds a few computers, printers, the photocopy machine and includes a small table and seating for other work.

On a subsequent visit I went through the non-fiction, which as in other libraries, is not used very often. The exceptions being cooking and gardening books as well as field guides to the area. I was able to consolidate that section into one continuous shelving against the wall. That also created some space to move some books from the children's area which really needed more space. As in other libraries, the demand for VHS tapes is declining as more demand for DVD's increases. I was able to suggest removing about half of the tapes that had not been borrowed in years and was told that they sold well at the book sale.

My last visit was earlier this week and the changes that the staff made in re-arranging and consolidating certain areas was very impresive. The whole library now looks more organized with distinct browsing areas and a very welcoming open space around the couch and tables in the center of the room. Kimberly, who began as library directory at the beginning of July has made some quick and wonderful changes and I was glad to be able to help. It was a pleasure being there for the few visits that I made. Here are some before and after pictures which show the transformation.



Tyringham Free Public Library

My work began in June at this small Berkshires town that is conveniently located near Stockbridge, Lenox, Tanglewood and the Lee outlet stores.The road that leads into town is replete with beautiful postcard-quality scenery everywhere you look.

The library itself from the outside is pleasant enough but the real beauty begins when you walk inside. It is larger than I expected with one big central room and a smaller room where our work began. I have since learned that the two loft-balcony areas, each with their own staircase, can also be found in other area libraries. At the present they are for the most part unused as over time they have been turned into storage and holding areas. Some of my co-workers have started to make a dent in reclaiming that space.

On my first visit I worked with the library director and two other staff members on the smaller room which contains non-fiction as well as the Children's collection. Our aim was to clear out that space so that we could create room for expansion of crowded bookshelves. Immediately we found out that this would be a quicker though more labor intensive job since most of the books along the walls had unfortunately been attacked by mold and they were unsalvageable. We began by pulling those books and getting them ready for the recycling bins. That entailed cutting or tearing off the hard covers and taking the paper to the transfer station. The fact that so many books had to be discarded could have been sad except that we found many of them to be very old and outdated, not needed for the current collection and most had not circulated since the 1930's or even earlier! These books had just sat there for years and years and inherited by Mary, the current library director. Her pleasure in finally being able to tackle this area was very clear to me and we worked in total agreement.

We were able to find some books that were in decent shape and will add character to the collection and no doubt circulate since we can display them as books of local interest. That phase is now almost finished and the shelf space we have gained will make this room usable once again.

One of my favorite days there was when a volunteer came in to help pull the cards from the catalog. She has lived in Tyringham for many years and saw some Author/Title cards that she had handwritten when she was in her teens and worked at the library - she even found some cards that had her father's signature when he had borrowed certain books many years earlier.

At long Last

Work continued throughout the summer and we wrapped it all up on October 9th, that is until the opportunity to revisit when the shelves will have been de-molded and work on the floor is complete. Tyringham entailed an enormous amount of work but with the wonderful support of staff and volunteers, we managed to enjoy the process and are thrilled with the results.