Weeding Books at the Panda School
Come see what books we are getting rid of and our needs!
by: Katie Parker
Our School
Perdue Primary is in Warner Robins, GA. Our school has 750 students in grades pre-kindergarten through second grade. Our media center is the center of our school, circulating about 950 books each week. It is a busy place to be! Come see what we have to offer!
Where do we buy our books?
Our school buys library bound books that are strongly bound to withstand the roughness that little fingers can sometimes bring. These are some of the websites that we buy our library books from.
Follett
Bound to Stay Bound
Gumdrop
Scholastics
Come by to suggest some new titles or comment below!
Follett
Bound to Stay Bound
Gumdrop
Scholastics
Come by to suggest some new titles or comment below!
What section are we weeding?
Topic Area and Justification
This month, we are looking at section 599 in the media center. We use the Dewey Decimal system in our media center. This section is a portion of the animal sections in our media center. This is one of our most popular sections and this is the reason to weed some of the older items. We will also make room for some newer items that relate to the new common core standards and our new reading and writing units adopted by the school. Our reading and writing units are by Teacher's College.
More information on the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project can be found here.
The Common Core Standards can be found here.
This month, we are looking at section 599 in the media center. We use the Dewey Decimal system in our media center. This section is a portion of the animal sections in our media center. This is one of our most popular sections and this is the reason to weed some of the older items. We will also make room for some newer items that relate to the new common core standards and our new reading and writing units adopted by the school. Our reading and writing units are by Teacher's College.
More information on the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project can be found here.
The Common Core Standards can be found here.
Evaluation of Section 599 based on Data
Based on the data reviewed from the media center, 21 books, or 16.6% of the books should be weeded from the media center shelves, out of the 349 in the 599 section. The data showed that these books were checked out less that 20 times since 1995 and they were more than 12 years old. These titles were very worn and students are checking them out less and less as the years go by. These books are too old to be on the shelves collecting dust and need to be weeded out.
Evaluation of Section 599 based on Curricular Needs
In this informational section of the library, most students are checking books out for personal interest in a topic. Other students are checking out items for interest in the topic as well as use as a mentor text in one of our many writing units, using informational text. As the Common Core Standard states for all grade levels in writing, students are required to write about a topic, state facts, and in 1st and 2nd grade, provide closure in their writing piece. By weeding some of these old items, our school will be able to buy books that will support this writing standard and our month long writing units, two times a year. Books that will be bought will be on a K-2 level and will be written about a topic, stating facts, and provide some closure to the book. By doing this, students will find more books that they can relate too.
The first grade science standard, comparing and describing animals is one that students are many times engaged in throughout the supporting lessons. By having updated books, teachers can extend their lessons by using books to teach and read from about animals. By weeding this section, students will not have to sort through old, unwanted titles. Students will be able to find a book that they need to compare and contrast animals, with ease.
Weeding this section is beneficial to the students. Students will be more engaged when reading text with new pictures and not the outdated ones seen in the books we are weeding.
The chart below is a teacher survey conducted with 23 teachers.
The first grade science standard, comparing and describing animals is one that students are many times engaged in throughout the supporting lessons. By having updated books, teachers can extend their lessons by using books to teach and read from about animals. By weeding this section, students will not have to sort through old, unwanted titles. Students will be able to find a book that they need to compare and contrast animals, with ease.
Weeding this section is beneficial to the students. Students will be more engaged when reading text with new pictures and not the outdated ones seen in the books we are weeding.
The chart below is a teacher survey conducted with 23 teachers.
Items to be Weeded
Below are the pictures of the items to be weeded. The books are organized by call number.
Keep Looking
This book was bought for our school in 1989.
I Can Read About Baby Animals
The pictures in this book are very outdated. This book was checked out 3 times in the last 7 years.
Jackrabbits
This book was bought in 2005 and it is very torn. The book has not been checked out for 2 years.
Chipmunk Song
This book was bought in 1987 and it has very few checkouts.
Of Mice and Rats
This book is very old and has torn pages. The pictures in the book are outdated.
The Magic School Bus: Going Batty
This book has too many words in it. This book was bought in 1996.
Zipping Zapping Zooming Bats
This book was bought in 1995. The pictures are faded and outdated. It was checked out 11 times in the last 6 years.
Sam the Sea Cow
This book is very old and the pictures are not interesting.
Dolphins!
This book is not informational. It is not engaging and doesn't give many facts for students.
Jim Arnosky's All About Deer
This book is outdated. It was bought in 1996.
Racoons and Ripe Corn
This book is old and students do not check it out. We have two of these books.
Watching Foxes
This book was bought in 1985.
Really Big Cats
This book has outdated pictures.
Big Cats
This book has outdated pictures and has not been checked out for 2 years.
Wolves
This book is old and has too many words for K-2 grade.
Wolves
This book has too many words. The book was bought in 1993.
Giant Pandas: Gifts from China
This book has very outdated pictures.
Giant Pandas
This book is very old. It was bought in 1990.
Gorillas
This books is very old and not informational. We have two copies of this book.
Disposal of Weeded Items
My counties policies for disposing of weeded items is to withdraw the book from the catalog system and box up the books. Then, you call the warehouse to let them know you have a box of books for them. They come by to get the weeded items. After this, they get rid of the items by selling them or donating them.
My action plan is to talk with my media specialist about weeding these books. We would then withdraw them and box them up. Afterwards, I would call the warehouse and get them to come pick up the weeded books.
My action plan is to talk with my media specialist about weeding these books. We would then withdraw them and box them up. Afterwards, I would call the warehouse and get them to come pick up the weeded books.
Source Information
amazon.com
David Perdue Primary Media Specialist
goodreads.com
David Perdue Primary Media Specialist
goodreads.com