When it's time to weed

I think I just failed my sanity check a bit, looking at this pile of weeded items from my library.

That Biblical Costumes book dates from 1953, and hasn't been checked out by anybody in about a decade. 

Do you remember when we were going to get rid of standard measurements and start using the metric system? Yeah. That kinda never happened. This 1974 title is full of earnest exhortations for students to brush up on the metric system, right now, before they're left behind!

Telephone Time has some good tips in it - especially about not giving out your full name or address out to folks who randomly call you. But! It was written in a time before cell phones. And before call waiting and answering machines, too!

And this last one. Wow. I don't even. The quotation marks around "retarded" just makes it extra hilarious, at least to me.

Dewey Makeover: 001.9

When a library collection hasn't been weeded or updated in a while, patrons' overall impression of the collection will suffer. Most people don't have the time or patience to sift through the shelves looking for the diamonds in the rough. One of my goals for the upcoming year is to go through the non-fiction collection, which hasn't gotten much attention in a while. Might as well start at the beginning!

Dewey Decimal number 001.9 covers "controversial knowledge." Think Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, unexplained psychic phenomenon, etc. I loved these kinds of books about the paranormal when I was a kid. I also like to pull them to plump up Halloween displays.

I'll be getting rid of titles like these, which are all more than 25 years old, obviously shabby and haven't circulated in over five years.

Into the Unknown: Nine Astounding Stories

by Stephen Mooser
HarperCollins Children's Books
April 1980

It's hard to tell exactly, but I think this cover is supposed to look like a face, exploding with psychic possibility.

Monsters of the Mountains
by Jon Jameson
Franklin Watts
January 1980


A face only a mother could love.

The Earth is Flat and Other Great Mistakes
by Laurence P. Pringle
William Morrow & Co.
October 1983

Wow! This cover takes you right back, doesn't it? I love the backwards "E" in the title.

If You Were Really Superstitious

by Jane Sarnoff
Scribner Book Company
April 1980

I do love the crossed fingers on this one. Don't know if you can make out the couple kissing under a ladder as a black cat crosses their path.








Hopefully, (budget permitting!) I can replace them with titles like this:

Unexplained: An Encyclopedia of Curious Phenomena, Strange Superstitions, and Ancient Mysteries
by Judy Allen
Kingfisher
October 2006

Maybe one day we'll laugh at this cover (it looks like a yodeler atop a cat mask, to me) but in person it doesn't look so bad, and I've read great reviews of the short accessible stories of the mysterious within.

The Legend of Bigfoot
by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Picture Window Books
August 2010

Published for the school market, the cover appeal and recent pub date put this book miles ahead of what we currently have.

Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures that May or May Not Exist
by Kelly Milner Halls, Rick Spears, Roxyanne Young
Darby Creek Publishing
September 2006

One of my favorite books, ever. Seriously! An awesome book.

The Earth is Flat! Science Facts and Fictions

by Mary Atkinson
Children's Press
September 2007


Okay, I cheated. This book is actually in the Dewey 500's but I still think it works quite well. I love the woodcut cover. It's deliberately retro.

Weeding Wednesday 4

Weeding! A constant chore. I find it easier if I just do a little bit, day by day, week by week, otherwise you'll get overwhelmed. Here's my pull for the week. First published in 1976 - and hasn't circulated in years and years. If I understand correctly, a kid finds out that it's been determined that the Indians deal to sell Manhattan for $24 dollars worth of beads is ruled not valid. Because of his Indian heritage he's declared the official owner of all of modern Manhattan. I guess you'd have to call this a realistic fiction/fantasy, as this would never happen in real life. Between the kid's crazed expression, the quasi-rainbow behind him, and his feather headress, I have to declare this one so horrible that it's awesome.

Weeding Wednesday 3

Lest I create the impression that I am a heartless destroyer of books, I thought I'd feature this week, some books that I've decided NOT to weed.


Look at this! The Third Planet from Altair by Edward Packard! This is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book. Normally, I can't keep these on the shelf. I'll have to double-check and make sure it's been cataloged correctly.


Now imagine my surprise when I ran across this old gem. It's an older book, and hasn't checked out of the library in a ridiculously long time, but I can't bear to part with it, because it was a childhood favorite! Konrad by Christine Nöstlinger. This was the first book that I ever sat down and read all in one go. I stayed up 'til four in the morning, with flashlight hidden under a blanket racing through this story. I'm not sure, if I re-read it now as an adult if it would hold up, but I was enchanted with this book when I was in fourth grade.


No one is more surprised than Mrs. Bartoletti when she receives a large mysterious package on her doorstep... it turns out to be Konrad, a made-to-order, perfectly-behaved robot boy, who emerges from his barrel once a little water has been added. Mrs. Bartoletti is a bit of an eccentric grandmother type, but she soon grows fond of him, and is horrified when she's informed that Konrad's been delivered by mistake and the company that made him wants to ship him to his "real" parents. She and the neighbor girl hatch a plan to teach Konrad how to be naughty and full of mischief - in other words, more like a normal kid and less like a perfect robot, so that she can keep him.


As a child, this premise absolutely tickled me! A wacky old grandmother teaching a perfect kid to be naughty? This turned everything I understood about the world on its head. I'll definitely have to try "handselling" this title and see if I can get it circulating again.


Finally, we have a copy of Elmer and the Dragon. I didn't read the My Father's Dragon trilogy by Ruth Stiles Gannett until I was an adult, but I love the sense of magic and adventure in them. Why hasn't this book circulated in years? Well, if you look closely, you'll see the whole spine is torn off. Ouch. I know that makes this a candidate for weeding, just based on the condition, but it's such a classic... I'm going to wait until I get some money in my budget to replace it before I let this copy go.

Weeding Wednesday 2

Weeding your book collection shouldn't be a big project that you devote yourself to, and then, after a few days (or weeks, depending on how long it's been put off) be able to pat yourself on the back, and walk away satisfied, knowing you won't have to tackle that yucky chore for another several months (or years, depending on how much of a hoarder you are). It's something that you should be doing bit by bit, every week, so that it doesn't pile up and get out of control.


Here's a look at what I weeded earlier this week.

Wow, that cover has seen better days, hasn't it? Pretty dogeared, and as you can see, the title has been ripped off. It's an adventure, we know that much!
Let's take a look at the back cover.

Oh my. This book has literally been loved to death. There are holes in the back of this paperback. The pages look pretty yellow, too.


What prompted this weed? A nearly-new donation of a few Goosebumps titles to take the place of this busted-up bad boy. Although, in truth, this is something that could have been deselected a while ago, just based on condition. Shabby looking shelves are never good for business.

Weeding Wednesday

It's no secret that I'm a pretty big proponent of weeding books in the public library... and in our own private lives as well! My own hoarder-ish tendencies cost me most of my book collection when the books I had in storage succumbed to a flood. (I promise you, my greed for ARCs has abated in the meantime.) Since then, I've made a (mostly successful) rule that everything has to fit on ONE bookcase. If I want more books, then I've got to figure out which ones I'm going to have to get rid of.

Weeding is a sad, but necessary, fact of life for most librarians. Your collection won't be as enticing as it could be when it's cluttered and weighed down with stuff that no one wants anymore. When books haven't circulated in years, and maybe even decades, it's time to let them go, and make room for other exciting books on the shelf. I love it when you thin out a collection, and then sit back and listen to the exclamations of patrons who are certain that you must have bought a lot of new books (when in fact, your collection only looks newer, because of the dead weight that you've shed.)

With that in mind, I decided to take a critical look at our juvenile fiction, and found a few candidates for weeding. Most of these I'd weed on condition alone: yellowed, falling out pages, broken spines, scribble marks, scuff marks or worse on the cover. Not to mention dated topics and outmoded, unappealing covers. Most of these books have been in the library since 1989 or earlier, and have NEVER been checked out, not even once.

Here's my selection for this week.

Let's zoom in on this one: Trapped Beyond the Magic Attic by Sheri Cooper Sinykin. Wow. What's up with those girls? They look very poised... as if they'd like to get in a fight over that one-armed purple dress, but they're far too polite. This is actually one of the "newest" books in the lot, released in paperback in 1998, but its' ratty condition and abysmal circulation rate mean that I feel comfortable weeding this one.

How's your weeding going this week?

More New Books

Yay, more new books at the library this week. A lot of beginning readers, and more series middle-grade fiction. Let's take a look!

Barbie: I Can Be... A Ballerina - Christy Webster
Tangled: A Horse and a Hero - Daisy Alberto
Toy Story: Move Out - Apple Jordan
Ironman: Panther's Prey - D.R. Shealy
Marley: Farm Dog - Susan Hill
Splat the Cat Sings Flat - Chris Strathearn
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Boba Fett Jedi Hunter - Clare Hibbert
Secrets of a Lab Rat: Scab for Treasurer? - Trudi Trueit, illustrated by Jim Paillot
Dear America: The Diary of Amelia Martin, A Light in the Storm - Karen Hesse
Boxcar Children #127: Monkey Trouble - Gertrude Chandler Warner
Boxcar Children #126: The Clue in the Recycling Bin- Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Buddy Files: The Case of the Library Monster - Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Jeremy Tugeau and Dan Crisp
The Faeries' Promise: Wishes and Wings - Kathleen Duey
The Sisters Eight: Rebecca's Rashness - Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Calvin Coconut: Hero of Hawaii - Graham Salisbury, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

Lots of popular series here. I wish television and movies didn't have such a grip on youngster's imagination, but they do devour novelizations of all of these franchises. Lots of commissioned writers here too... it looks like John Grogan and Rob Scotton are farming out their latest books to ghostwriters.

Scab for Treasurer has on its' cover one of my biggest, biggest pet peeves. It's the classic words-crossed-out title. What a nightmare. This does nothing but cause confusion to the public, who are now completely uncertain what the actual title is. This will be an easy sell to Dan Gutman fans, though, as it's the same illustrator as the My Weird School series.

Another beautiful looking Dear America book.

The redoubtable Boxcar Children! They never fail to please. These are kinda updated, although I'm surprised that monkey is holding a disposable camera as opposed to a digital camera. And the subject matter for Clue in the Recycling Bin is very current. It goes without saying that these are obviously ghostwritten, as I believe Gertrude Chandler Warner died decades ago.

The Buddy Files is a new series to me, but mysteries do very, very well at my library, so I'm glad to have it. I'll pitch it as the perfect thing for readers who aren't quite ready for Hank the Cowdog.

Fairies are always a sure bet. This is by the same author of the wonderful Unicorn's Secret books.

I had figured that the Sisters Eight series would be dead in the water, debuting as it did right before Octomom mania (and all of the subsequent backlash) hit. Yet, these circ semi-decently, so I figure why not, let's see if kids go for it.

My love for Calvin Coconut is so great, I'm not sure I have words for it. So happy to get my hands on this newest book in the series!

Would I have bought these for my own home library? Or as gifts for friends or family? Eh, probably not, but I'm confident that all of these will circulate well at the public library.

New Books

Gosh, it seems like ages since the last time I received any new books at the library. And let's be honest, a big part of the reason why I became a librarian was for collection development... at work, I can "collect" books on a grander scale than I ever could at home.

So, what's new?

Elf Realm Book 3: The Road's End - Daniel Kirk
Indiana Jones: The Search for Buried Treasure - W. Rathbone
Skeleton Creek: The Raven: Ryan's Journal - Patrick Carman
The Zombie Chasers: Undead Ahead - John Kloepfer, illustrated by Steve Wolfhard
Super Sluggers 3: Wing Ding - Kevin Markey
43 Old Cemetery Road: Till Death Do Us Bark - Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise
Dear America: The Second Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Cannons at Dawn - Kristiana Gregory
Nathaniel Fludd Beastologist Book Four: The Unicorn's Tale - R.L. LaFevers, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
The Knights' Tales 3: The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True - Gerald Morris, illustrated by Aaron Renier
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery - Maryrose Wood

Series is the name of the game. Series, series, series. That's what kids clamor for, and so, that is what I shall give them. I'm beefing up the collection of "boys books" and things that seem to have universal appeal for boys and girls. I hate that books, from picture books, right up through YA seems to be so gendered, but that's the way of things, I suppose.

I am in LOVE with the new Dear America covers. They have just a hint of gold leaf -- so elegant! It makes them seem simultaneously more updated and more historical, if that's possible. This picture does not do the book justice.

I am so excited for the new Incorrigible Children book. I can't believe it doesn't have any holds on it. Lucky me, that means I can check it out for myself, right away.

Most Anticipated Books for Spring 2011: YA Edition

Wither

by Lauren DeStefano

Simon & Schuster

March 2011

Short lifespans and polygamous marriages are featured in this dystopian tale. I love the cover. I am so excited to read this book, I don't think I can adequately put it into words. My only fear is that it won't possibly be able to live up to all my expectations for it. Still, I'm hearing very good buzz about this one.

Jane Austen: A Life Revealed
by Catherine Reef
Clarion Books
April 2011

At last, a biography of Jane Austen for young readers. I like the silhouette on the cover. I've been on a "Jane Austen" spin-off kick lately, so I'd love to immerse myself in the story of her life.

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair
by Elizabeth Laird
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
April 2011

Maggie Blair must escape accusations of witchcraft in seventeenth century Scotland.

Puppet Play: 20 Puppet Projects Made with Recycled Mittens, Towels, Socks, and More
by Diana Schoenbrun
Andrews McMeel Publishing
April 2011

Recycled crafts are always fun. This looks like an entertaining offering.

Everything I Was
by Corinne Demas
Lerner Publishing Group
April 2011

After her dad's layoff Irene's family has to adjust to greatly reduced living circumstances. I love the cover -- Irene isn't keeping her nose above water, that's for sure.

Awaken
by Katie Kacvinsky
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
May 2011

Sounds like a thinly-veiled allegory about balancing on-line and face-to-face time. Still, could be very interesting!

Wrapped

by Jennifer Bradbury

Atheneum

May 2011

Suspense, adventure, romance in the British Empire and Egypt.

Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2011: Picture Book Edition

A Pet for Petunia

by Paul Schmid

January 2011

Harper Collins

I loved the clean lines of the illustrations for this book. I don't know if I'm sold on the kind of pet that Petunia pines for: namely, a stinky skunk!  This is sure to be a silly read.

Rabbit, Ribbit
by Candace Ryan, illustrated by Mike Lowery
Walker Books for Young Readers
February 2011

I can't put into words how excited I am to see veteran blogger Candace Ryan's newest book.  Ryan has a marvelously inventive sense of wordplay and fun.  Mike Lowry's cute and cheerful illustrations, with a hint of sass should pair perfectly with this text.

A Call for a New Alphabet
by Jef Czekaj
Charlesbridge Publishing
February 2011


When looking over any alphabet book, I always flip towards the back, to see how the author has dealt with tricky letter "X"  Xylophone or X-ray's are standard, but books that include rare but wonderful and unusual words such as "Xerxes" or "xenophobe" are a little less common.  Very lame are those books that resort to using words with "x's" in the middle or at the end of the word to sit in for a proper "X" word, such as "eXtra."  This offering, which imagines what would happen if "X" rebelled and created a New World Order looks very entertaining to me.

Where's Walrus?
by Stephen Savage
Scholastic
February 2011


Plenty to grab my attention here.  I'm not certain if this is wordless, or nearly wordless, but it features a Walrus on the run, various disguises and hats and oversize graphic design inspired illustrations.

Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party
by Melanie Watt
Kids Can Press
February 2011


I'm a huge fan of the Scaredy Squirrel series.  Can't wait for this next installment to see what our favorite neurotic squirrel is up to next!

Cinnamon Baby
by Nicola Winstanley, illustrated by Janice Nadeau
Kids Can Press
February 2011


I love the delicate illustrations for this.  It sounds like a sweetly charming tale of a baker's family who uses the scent of cinnamon to soothe a crying child.

Dear Tabby
by Carolyn Crimi, illustrated by David Roberts
HarperCollins
February 2011


A cat with an advice column needs to sort out her own personal problems.  I like the play on words, "Dear Abby" being synonymous with advice columns everywhere.

Mini Racer
by Kristy Dempsey, illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo
Bloomsbury
February 2011


I have to admit, the thing that first drew me to this book was the picture of the cover, which reminded me a little of the "dog party" in the tree towards the end of Go, Dog, Go by Dr. Seuss.  I'm also reminded, a little, of Richard Scarry's wonderfully silly vehicles.  Just from the cover alone, we can see an ape in a banana-car, a bunny in a carrot-car, a mouse in a cheese-car and a dalmatian in a spotted-car.  I might end up recommending this to transportation-crazed kids who enjoyed The Trucker by Barbara Samuels.

Argus
by Michelle Knudson, illustrated by Andrea Wesson
Candlewick
February 2011


A dragon makes a surprise appearance in this story about a girl responsible for taking care of an egg.

Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2011: YA Edition

2010 seems to be going by in a flash, doesn't it? There are so many books to look forward to in 2011. Obviously, there are a lot of sequels coming down the pike: Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr, Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins,Awakened by P.C. and Kristin Cast, The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan, Forever by Maggie Stiefvater.

I thought I'd take a look at some new (or new-to-me) authors for some other books that I'm putting on my "to be read" list for next year.

Choker
by Elizabeth Woods
Simon & Schuster
January 2011

Not totally sure what this debut novel is about, just that it's supposed to be a thriller, and cover is gorgeous. So eye-catching.

Slice of Cherry
by Dia Reeves
Simon Pulse
January 2011

Two sisters go on a madcap killing spree.

XVI
by Julia Karr
Speak
January 2011

Gritty, dystopian with mature themes. Nina fears the day that she turns 16 and will be tattooed, as a sign that she is now available to any man who wants her.

The Demon Trapper's Daughter

by Jana Oliver

St. Martin's Griffin

February 2011

I'm excited about this paranormal story that takes place in Atlanta.  Too bad it's not being released in hardcover.

Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

Walker Books for Young Readers

by Brendan Halpin and Emily Franklin

February 2011

Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers appear to have a sizzling romance, on-screen and off in their alter egos of Jenna and Jonah.  However, it's not a real relationship, but a "fauxmance" carefully orchestrated by their PR managers.  Or is it?

The Iron Witch

by Karen Mahoney
Flux
February 2011

Donna Underwood feels cursed by the magical iron tattoos she carries - a legacy from her alchemist parents in this tale of alchemists vs. faeries.

Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2010: YA Edition

Dead Beautiful
by Yvonne Woon
Hyperion
August 2010

I love the cover. I love the title. After the death of her parents, Renee Winters is sent to a remote boarding school in Maine, where she falls for mysterious Dante. Yes, this is my kind of book. A mystery, (maybe supernatural?) and a little bit of romance. I'll have to check this one out.

The DUFF
by Kody Keplin
Poppy
September 2010

Realistic fiction about a girl who thinks she's the "Designated Ugly Fat Friend" among the beautiful and popular crowd, and the guy she'd be embarrassed to admit to her friends that she's secretly dating.

The Replacement
by Brenna Yovanoff
Razorbill
September 2010

I'm digging this uber-creepy cover. The story sounds a little complicated... but it's basically about a fairy changeling boy, who's fighting to survive.

Zombies vs. Unicorns

edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Simon & Schuster

September 2010

I'm not normally one for short story anthologies, but this I will have to see.  Zombies!  Versus Unicorns!  If that doesn't offer excitement, I don't know what does.  I should think it would be perfectly obvious that unicorns would win this battle... they've got lightning-fast speed, a razor sharp horn, and that delicate, yet deadly hoof-stomping thing going on.  Zombies can't do much except shamble and groan.  Maybe zombies would have a fighting chance if they were able to overpower the admittedly scarce unicorn forces with their sheer numbers, as zombies do tend to move in hordes. Plus, zombies do have that whole undead, difficult to kill, single-minded determination that's definitely in their favor.  Hmm... maybe this match-up isn't so easy to call as I thought.

Nightshade
by Andrea Cremer
Philomel
October 2010

Yes! Werewolves! Need I say more? I like the looks of this book by first time author Cremer.

Matched
by Allie Condie
Dutton
November 2010

In a dystopian future, Cassia starts to question if she wants to continue to live by the Society's rules. You had me at dystopian.

Hero

by Mike Lupica
Philomel
November 2010

I've only recently discovered Mike Lupica's sports fiction. How thoughtful of him to write something new, seemingly just to my taste, with a hint of paranormal, about a boy who discovers he's inherited superpowers.