"You're getting rid of this?!" cries the teacher, holding up a beaten and battered, weeded copy of Nancy Drew from who knows how long ago. "I used to love these as a kid! You can't get rid of these!"
Oh, but I can. And I will.
If you're new here, I became a school librarian last year after seven years in the classroom teaching middle school English/Language Arts. I inherited three neglected libraries that hadn't been thoroughly weeded in... forever?
Thousands upon thousands of yellowed, dated, musty, falling-apart books jam-packed the shelves, making it impossible for students to see all the beautiful books we do have. The problem? There had been no regular maintenance for years—no weeding, no inventorying. It was a mess.
Fast forward a year and a half, and the job is done—for now, at least. Our A M A Z I N G library assistant and I spent a year and a half weeding all three libraries: the K-1st library, the 2nd-5th library, and the 6th-8th library. Last school year, we weeded by eye, removing anything that was gross, ugly, dated, or simply unappealing to today’s kids (or anyone, really—see Exhibit A.)
This year, we weeded with data, following ALA criteria, and as of today—April 3, 2025—our grand total is 17,399 books weeded across the district's three libraries. Yes, you read that correctly. It was that bad. This number also includes books that have been lost since the last inventory was done about ten years ago.
To give you a clearer picture, let’s take a look at my TitleWise Analysis from my middle school library in October 2023. Brace yourself—it's some sad, sad data:
The average publication year of this library was 2000. I was 6 years old in 2000!
21% + 41% ≠ 100%
Yikes. 66% aged titles.
Oof.
I'll let you have a moment to let that data sink in. Our kids deserve the best academic experience possible. They deserve books that speak to them—not to their parents’ generation, not to their grandparents’ generation, but to their interests, experiences, and world.
Here’s my updated TitleWise Analysis data from today in my middle school library.
Yeah, we need more books per student. That will come with time. But look at that average age! 9 years improvement.
12 years improvement on nonfiction and 6 years for fiction.
The percentage of aged titles dropped from 66% to 47%. Muuuuch better.
Larger percentages of diverse books and books that support SEL. Not to mention drastic average age improvement.
Best of all? Without changing any circulation policies (students and staff can still check out the same number of books as before), we're on track to increase circulation by 16.5% compared to last school year.
Now, we finally have space for dynamic shelving, signage, and front-facing books. We even genrefied the fiction chapter books and biographies.
And the benefits go beyond just numbers. Students are excited about the collection. They can actually see the books now. They’re discovering new authors, engaging with nonfiction, and making connections that weren’t possible when the shelves were crammed with outdated titles.
Consistently weeding on a schedule is the way to go—don’t let it become an overwhelming mess. Get my editable weeding schedule template here to keep your collection fresh, engaging, and relevant. Weeding is a constantly ongoing process, and it works, my friends!
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