If you maintain a separate print reference collection for kids, what titles are on your shelves? How current is your collection? What kind of use does your children’s reference collection get?
As I visit different libraries around the state, I wonder about the practice of keeping print reference collections for children and even adults. Reference materials are costly, and they take up much shelf space. Given the availability of online reference material and electronic databases, I know it must be hard to decide what to keep in the print reference collection and what to weed.
Some librarians justify their reference materials by pointing out that school assignments often require kids to use print materials. Others say that outdated encyclopedias still contain good information, and that they have no funds to purchase a new set.
In some places, librarians have dismantled their print reference collections. They have tossed old and under-used reference materials and interfiled other reference works with their nonfiction collection. Most report that these interfiled titles increase in circulation.
I applaud those librarians who are tackling this issue with creative ideas. It’s a whole new world of reference these days, and libraries need to start thinking in new ways about print reference collections. So, what do you think and what have you done about reference materials in your library?
The first three people who reply to this message will receive a new book on the van!
I would love a good answer for this question.
I went through mine for outdated stuff (and boy did I find it!), but I have kept it a separate section. I’m not at all convinced that this is the best option, but tossing these things into general nonfiction didn’t seem so helpful either.
My criteria for reference shelf inclusion: really expensive items (Children’s Core Collection, A to Zoo, Best Books for Children, etc.), items I think are likely to walk (Guinness Book of World Records–only the most current), and stuff that kids would need if they were doing homework here (dictionary, thesaurus, most current encyclopedia set).
I would love to hear any other answers…
We we just discussing this issue at our library.
We have a set of encyclopedias from World Book 2004 which are still on the shelf for those patrons who claim they must have something printed but we also have an subscription to Britannic online.
Last month the Britannica had zero hits, it is expensive and there is some talk of getting rid of it. We want to be able to have good reference for youth but we also want to use our limited funds effectively. My question is, can EBSCO be used as a replacement for an encyclopedia? If not, how do we better promote this service that we have. It has been advertised to the schools but perhaps they need a reminder. We also could promote it more to home school families. But I guess there is always going to be a time of year that reference is not used as much.
Food for thought.
I recently finished weed/inventory of both youth and adult non-fiction with my head stuffed full of innovations like combining collections, highlight hot circulators and more. We have a diverse population of readers with wide variations in reading ability with Plowshare and Crotched Mountain so Ive combined all biographies in one space and combined my few Y NF with adult and weeded with hard eye on circulation, current/best info and what I’m hearing and seeing from students and teachers in the area. I’ve freed up space in children’s for a “recommendation station” that the kids have really reponded to and are making suggestions for. NF circulation has increased, that space is now the favorite spot to sit and browse. I can see “holes” better and I haven’t missed anything yet. I’m constantly checking with whoever is in front of me from area schools about who’s using what and what is needed. It was really great to see the Monday Nonfiction resources in the blog and I’ll be using the Core Curriculum info as well. More validation that I’ve kept the right things and what to continue “developing”. Thanks Ann and colleagues for support and encouragement along the way.