The labelmaker and I are best friends.

I've gotten a good chunk of this project done this week. Thursday I got all the reference books moved. They need relabeling, but that is for another time. I'd relabel the entire library if I had the time! I found a few books that should be nonfiction and a few adult reference books, which I was happy to restore to their proper place. There were a lot more reference books than I thought! They don't get a lot of use, though, since kids (and adults) immediately turn to the Internet for information. Hopefully, now that the area is more organized, that will change.

Yesterday I began to relabel and move the books to share. I got through all the As and a good portion of the Bs in the two hours I had. I changed the call numbers to the first three letters of the author's last name. The spines are so skinny that anything more than that gets lost. I started to move them, also, and they look good in their new spot. I'll be able to spread them out more, also.

New things to do: relabel the last two reference shelves and draft an explanation of what books to share are and why we moved them. And continue the moving and labeling.

Encyclopedias

Today I took the circulating encyclopedias and crossed out the "Reference only" stamps. Hopefully they will get more use in the circulating collection. They were shelved with the reference books and the only thing indicating that they could be checked out was the label reading "NF" instead of "REF." That doesn't make sense to a child. I had to shift a ton of nonfiction to make space for the encyclopedias, but I finally made an adequate space and a shelf label indicating that they may be checked out. I also made a sign for the reference section to let patrons know where the older set of encyclopedias disappeared to.

Moving time

I moved the books on CD today so they are on opposite sides of their shelf. All the books on tape that were checked in have been withdrawn and the withdrawing will continue as they are returned. I also moved the audio CDs so all the media is together.

After input from the Children's staff, we decided to keep the name "books to share" but provide an explanation of what that means on the shelf. Changing the name AND the location might cause too much confusion. I'll be changing the spine labels to have the first three letters of the authors' last name so they look like our picture book collection.

Before I can move the books to share, I have to deal with the reference collection. There are some encyclopedias that need to be withdrawn because they are outdated, and I need to move the older set of World Book encyclopedias to the circulating nonfiction collection. Then I can move the rest of reference.

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!