Throw-It Thursday - Helping Your Shelves Help Others

Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library and YSS board member, is back with her monthly column and has some great advice on making sure your collections are updated.

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The Psychology and Self-Help section in most public libraries is often a well-used area. It is also sometimes overlooked when it is time to weed, especially if things are still being checked out. It is important to stay on top of this area, just like with the medical books, because practices are always changing and some of the items in here may fall under outdated or mis-information.

While many of the items in this section are geared towards adults, this is also the area you will find important books for kids on dealing with stress, anger, and other emotions, as well as sensitive topics such as death and grieving. I recently did a heavy weed of this section in my library and I forgot to take pictures of some of the old and crusty items I threw in the discard pile, so no pictures today, sorry. It is always a good idea to get rid of any materials about psychology and self-help issues that are outdated. If it is more than 10 years old, is a medical/reference type book, and it is still on your shelf, what are you waiting for?! Throw it in the discard pile!

Non-medical/reference self-help items have a bit more leeway. These you can keep longer if they are beneficial to your community. But if you have funds and can afford to update your materials, get some new books on how kids can cope and deal with their emotions and problems they might be having. Books that look newer and appealing are more likely to get used by kids than those old crusty copies from the 1990s-2000s with old fashions portrayed on the cover! By clearing your shelves of the old junk and adding newer items with appealing coves, you can help your patrons find helpful resources.

Happy weeding!