Reasonable Expectations Reflection

For the last two days, I weeded the non-fiction collection in the library in order to improve in an area of vital importance as a library media specialist. One of Riedling's components consists of "knowledge of the library media collection" (a task that I have not had time to do yet, despite the fact it is January and I started in September), so I thought I would accomplish a few tasks at once. First, I have a huge order of fiction books coming in, so I need to make more room available for the books; second, next week, I am doing inventory. Weeding is a challenging job to a new librarian. While necessary, it seems unnatural for a librarian to discard books. I pulled out a lot of outdated books, but first, I made sure I had one or more resources on that topic. I laughed when I saw the date of a book titled Teen Pregnancy; I could see a parent getting quite upset concerning the information in that text. I remember a lot of the research projects that the teachers assigned because I pulled books for the students, so that also made the weeding process easier. I had a chance to look at the entire non-fiction collection. After I weeded the books out of the collection, I checked to see how many times the book was signed out, in-house uses, and the last date the book was signed out. I had to put a few books back on the shelf. I also noticed a few books that I missed pulling for certain research projects (not that I missed too many because I used the catalogue and searched key terms), but that I could pull next time the teacher assigns that particular project. I also noticed a few topics in which I needed to look for more current information. The one area that I thought looked weak because of a lot of older resources was anything to do with Canadian history. I was reluctant to discard the resources until I find more current resources (However, we have Louis Riel in the graphic format). Weeding is a great way to get to know the collection; I pulled out two trolleys of books. I feel more confident just knowing what is in the library. I was talking to a teacher who is going to teach Tourism for the first time and I had quite a few Travel guides in my ordering cart, but I wanted to make sure that she would use them because they are expensive. I sent her the links from Amazon and Chapters, so she could have a look at the titles I was considering. However, after going through the collection, I suggested that she come and have a look because we have quite a few books she could use for this year until she is sure about what and how she is going to teach the students. I bet the gazetteers will come in handy for this course.

As to the other suggestions that a teacher-librarian should possess in order to support successful reference services, such as "eagerness to apply information skills, where applicable, to all levels of student research," I spend a lot of time showing students how to access a variety of resources for their projects, such as books, the reference section, the Internet, and databases; recording their resources on a working biliography sheet; and how to cite. I love to hear the students discuss with each other the new information that they learned.Basically, I take one day at a time because learning a new job is a huge learning curve. Riedling's suggestions are not unreasonable, one must take the time to be indispensable!