Changes to the Wolcott Elementary Library
When I started as the Librarian at Wolcott Elementary School, I was replacing someone who had been there for more than 25 years. During this time, the librarian had not removed books from the collection unless they were damaged beyond repair. Weeding- as this is referred to in the library realm- is an essential part of collection maintenance in the library. Weeding is when one removes items no longer appropriate for a library's collection. There are a variety of reasons why one would do this including the need for accuracy in materials, the lack of infinite shelving space, and lack of use of materials. I worked for years on carefully analyzing and weeding the collection to free up space for new materials as there was no more shelf space for new purchases.
I also found the size and layout of the space to be constraining. The one open teaching space with tables was narrow and had heavy wooden chairs and tables that were difficult to move without more than one person. The chairs were so heavy, the students in K and 1 had trouble moving them. The chairs were clearly designed for adults. After several years of reorganizing, we were able to eliminate one bookcase that use to house mostly CDs, DVDs, VHS, and big books in hanging bags. This gave us more room for the teaching area. The following school year, we were able to purchase new chairs and tables thanks to a PTO fundraiser. The tables are on wheels and are able to be flipped up, rolled out of the way and nested together so the space can be easily cleared out completed for special events such as author visits or the tables can be quickly moved for different uses during the school day. The new chairs were designed to be lightweight, but durable.
Another problem with the library layout was that there was in incomplete computer area. There was only room for about 13 large desktop computers on a counter along two walls. The remaining students in a class used laptops on tables on the other side of the library which meant they had to wait by the desktops during directions and would have to try to remember the directions when working on the other side of the space. We replaced the large desktops with all in one computers that took up much less space while still allowing for a larger computer screen. This enabled us to have 15 computers along the wall. Then we eliminated another bookcase in this area which gave us room to put tables that hold 9 more computers. See photos below.
I also found the size and layout of the space to be constraining. The one open teaching space with tables was narrow and had heavy wooden chairs and tables that were difficult to move without more than one person. The chairs were so heavy, the students in K and 1 had trouble moving them. The chairs were clearly designed for adults. After several years of reorganizing, we were able to eliminate one bookcase that use to house mostly CDs, DVDs, VHS, and big books in hanging bags. This gave us more room for the teaching area. The following school year, we were able to purchase new chairs and tables thanks to a PTO fundraiser. The tables are on wheels and are able to be flipped up, rolled out of the way and nested together so the space can be easily cleared out completed for special events such as author visits or the tables can be quickly moved for different uses during the school day. The new chairs were designed to be lightweight, but durable.
Another problem with the library layout was that there was in incomplete computer area. There was only room for about 13 large desktop computers on a counter along two walls. The remaining students in a class used laptops on tables on the other side of the library which meant they had to wait by the desktops during directions and would have to try to remember the directions when working on the other side of the space. We replaced the large desktops with all in one computers that took up much less space while still allowing for a larger computer screen. This enabled us to have 15 computers along the wall. Then we eliminated another bookcase in this area which gave us room to put tables that hold 9 more computers. See photos below.