Ahh weeding. Who doesn’t love it? I don’t mean weeding in a garden, I mean getting rid of the crappy books in a library’s collection. They might be crappy because they are old or because they got destroyed or they are ugly or offensive. Circulation actually goes up after you weed because patrons can see all of the good books stuck in between the dreck. Also, it shows that you care about keeping your collection current and useful to your patrons. I like to think that patrons appreciate this.
Other than getting rid of unused, old, and ugly books, you get to find some serious gems. I’m definitely not an expert gemologist in this field – that honor goes to the delightful blog, Awful Library Books – but I just thought I’d share some of the ones that I found . . . and then deleted.
First, R.L. Stine. Oh, Mr. Stine. Patrons really do read your books. Teens love horror and thriller stories. But you are the victim of some seriously dated and heinous cover art. I’ll certainly replace your books or ones like it, but until then, look back on what you have wrought:
Now this next one, I’m not sure what to say about it. I think the title says it all. I mean, how can you hijack a cave?
Lastly, this one is actually just awesome. I have the red-covered version, but it’s basically the same.
Here’s a little excerpt, a peek into the mind of Han Solo:
“Han shook his head. Long ago he had told himself that females – mammalian, reptilian, or some biological class yet to be discovered – were beyond his meager powers of comprehension. Better leave them to mystery, he’d often advised himself.
But for a while at least, Han had begun to believe that there was at least one female in all the cosmos that he was beginning to understand. And yet, he’d been wrong before.”
Ooh, I bet it’s Leia!
Go forth and weed, my friends.
lcarslibrarian 