R through Z

I pulled the books that were in need of weeding and deleted them from the system. I was able to find two thirds of the list, which is pretty decent. Books get misplaced all the time in Children's, so I consider being able to find more than half a success!

At present, I'm writing my paper, but I wanted to squeeze in a few more journal entries as my time winds down. I've relabeled through the letter P in the early and first readers. Since it's a holiday weekend, we have some returning college students helping out at the library who were unaware of my project. Once they figure out where everything is, it makes sense, but there is an initial period of "where did those books go?" There is a consensus that having the three letters of the author's last name on the spine label is helpful, however. We'll all get used to the new layout.

I'm almost finished! I'll continue this after my time is up for the project, which will just be the letters R through Z. I feel like I've definitely done a good thing by doing this project. I hope patrons will feel the same way.

Unexpected!

When it rains it pours. I've been periodically trolling our book carts for returned early and first readers and WHOA there were a ton of them on the carts yesterday. I got them relabeled and reshelved, but it feels like I'll be finding ones forever that haven't been changed.

Eileen generated a report of books that need to be weeded, so that will be useful. I'll just go through, pull them, and swoosh-- delete them.

One side of the shelf is full!

I've gotten through N and filled up one side of the shelf. I've also updated the shelf labels. Hopefully I can finish next week?? I have the majority done already, and that was the goal. I've been able to do some more weeding as I've gone through, so that is great. Next up is my paper!

Much accomplished.

Today I spent the whole day working on my project. I got a lot accomplished and I'm now through the beginning of the Ms. Going through these books is nostalgic for me and a lot of fun. But on a sad note, a lot of Frog and Toad and Little Bear books are out of print. I suggested that Eileen get a few more of them and they are all fancy now with an accompanying CD. What happened to good old-fashioned books?

Confusion

Today I made signs to let patrons know where half the early readers had gone, even though they just moved around the corner. Even one of our staff members was confused as to where books had gone to. It takes getting used to when collections change. So far, this change has gone quite smoothly, but the early readers circulate more than the books to share. I keep scanning the carts for early readers that were just checked in so they don't get mixed in with the ones I've already changed.

First readers as opposed to early readers: what does it mean?

I figured it would be useful to explain why I'm putting first readers back with early readers and what all these distinctions mean.

The head of Children's prior to Eileen took the very early readers-- e.g. The Fat Cat Sat on a Mat-- and labeled them "first readers" so parents who had beginner readers could find the books more easily instead of ruffling through the entire early readers section. However, there was never clear criteria for why a book went in one collection as opposed to another. There were some early reader series that had books in both spots. For example, there is a series of early readers called "Rookie Readers" and there would be some in the first readers collection and some in the early readers collection. It was all very confusing. When Eileen took over as head of Children's, she didn't like the inconsistency and decided to merge the two collections. Indeed, both collections are for beginning readers, so why have them in two locations? That is why I'm putting them all together again. The collection will be much more cohesive once this project is finished.

Part 2 begins

I began the relabeling and shifting of early readers today. I got through the Cs. The first readers collection has bright orange dots on the book spines to differentiate them, so I am pulling those off as well as making new spine labels. They are quite sticky, so I'm using Goo Gone with abandon. However, some of the orange dots are laminated onto the spines, so for those I have to cover them up. It looks like a patch job and I don't like it, but pulling off the lamination would damage the cover. I also foresee a problem with our collection of Dick and Jane books. They are reissues of the original Dick and Jane and there is no specific author listed for them. I think the spine labels will have to still read "Dick and Jane." It's an anomaly in the ordered world of first three letters of the author's last name, but it can't be helped. Already the collection looks better and more cohesive, so that's a good thing!

Preemptive weeding

Tonight, while I was watching the Children's desk, I looked through the early readers to see if there were any we could toss before I began relabeling them. Unfortunately, there were many that were in bad shape. The circulation statistics weren't great on most of them, either. I guess people don't want to check out books that are in disrepair, and I don't blame them. I gave the ones I pulled to Eileen so she could make a final decision on them. She wanted to get new copies if possible. Unfortunately, many of the titles are out of print. There were a number of classics there, too. They're in bad shape, though, and can't stay in the collection. It makes me sad that a lot of marginal books endure while classics go out of print. She is going to order new copies of ones she can. For example, our copy of The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman is a little tired, so she's going to get a second copy. I know she intends on getting more Cynthia Rylant early readers, too, because those get a lot of use.

The plan for this second part is as follows:

1. Change call numbers on early and first readers to the first three letters of the authors' last name.
2. Relabel books.
3. Move books around the corner to where books to share were previously.
4. Move shelves to a more eye-level height and discontinue shelving books on the bottom of the shelf unit, allowing for better access.

First meeting

For my final project, I decided to work with Eileen Caulfield, Head of Children's Services at the Wilton Library in Wilton, CT. Eileen has recently taken over this position, so she has a lot of plans for the collection. After discussing a number of options, we decided the following:

1) I will integrate the first reader collections and the early reader collections. First readers include phonics books and the like while early readers include Young Cam Jansen and Amelia Bedelia. Integrating them will put all the early readers in one place and the current signage will make sense.
2) I will move and recatalog the books to share. Books to share are basically picture books for older readers, so Eileen wants to move them nearer to the fiction books so they will serve as a transition between young kids and older kids. By moving these, there will be space for the expanded collection of early readers. We're also going to change the name of the books to share so it makes more sense. "Books to share" is a little vague.
3) Lesley Keogh, one of the Children's Assistants, is in the process of weeding our books on tape. Once they are gone, I can move the books on CD and music CDs so they are on one shelf unit and move the reference books from their current home. That will free up the new home of the books to share.
4) Of course, while I am shifting and recataloging, I'll be keeping an eye out for anything that needs to be weeded because it is dirty, smelly, or falling apart.

I'll take pictures throughout the process. I don't know if I'll post them in this blog or start a separate account on Flickr or Picasa. In the meantime, I'm glad I've gotten started!