Why not move the Reference Books into the regular collection?
As I began to go through the Reference Area, I noticed that we do own quite a good amount of sets/series in this section. I decided to put Reference books that are stand alone books in the regular Nonfiction area. For the set and series Reference books I created an area at the end of the Nonfiction area with all the Sets and Series books.
Once I reinvented my Reference Area, I was able to move my Biography to the area where my Reference Section sat originally. I was also able to move all of the Professional books tot he end of the Nonfiction section.
My Reasons For Getting Rid of the Reference Section
- We Needed More Space - My library is nice sized, but it is not huge. We have a large Nonfiction section, and an extensive amount of Fiction. I needed to make room for current and future purchases.
- Creating a 21st Century Library Media Center - As we add more research programs, we plan to spend less money on Reference books. In general, I prefer to put our money into up to date digital reseources. Students can have access to these resources 24/7 on a 1:1 availability.
- Why Not Allow These Books to Check Out - We actually do have some really great books that were part of the Reference Section. So, why keep these books in the library at all times? I think it's so much better to allow students to borrow them.
So What's Next?
So far I have weeded very little of these books. Maybe it's because I am very new to this school, and I wanted to see if moving some of them to a different area and allowing for circulation would make a difference. By next school year, I plan to weed through the entire Nonfiction area. The Reference books need to be changed in our circulation system. This will take some time, and is not a huge priority, since students understand that we no longer have a Reference area.
I am quite happy with the look of the library. Many students have started checking out some of our great Reference books!
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