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36 Ontario School Library Association The book in your hand is one you remember purchasing. you were so pleased to find something that fit the curriculum and engaged your students. it was money well spent; money that was spent about seven years ago. upon further examination, you realize the content is a bit dated and the cover depicts students using flip phones. The condition of the book is pretty good though -- little to no damage and the cover is still shiny. "Someone could still use this book," you think to yourself. Do you put it back on the shelf? is your anxiety level increasing? here's another scenario. your school board's central library services team has arrived and their orders have been to support you in your large-scale weeding project. The staff and community have been notified and have even been given solid reasons as to why this work is important. you're committed, but as the pile of books for deselection grows, so does your heartbeat. Was this a mistake? Whether you are weeding your collection on your own, or leading a team of qualified staff, the anxiety associated with such a task can be too strong for even the best of librarians. The notion of the printed page being destroyed is not an easy one to accept, no matter what the justification. There is a widely-accepted view that any knowledge is better than no knowledge. This view becomes more accepted in schools that deal with budget restraints and an already shrinking library. There are many stakeholders in any library who have their own expectations of what your space needs to offer, so the anxiety you feel will come from several places. There is your own school's administration, other teachers and staff, parents, community members, and of course, the students. There is even the chance the public at large may be affected as it's not unusual for a disgruntled observer to alert the local media. Why is Weeding Important? Like crabgrass, the outdated, damaged, and inappropriate materials can start to strangle your garden of good reads. you want to avoid the same fate for your library. The most rewarding thing you'll hear after a large-scale weeding project is an unsolicited comment like "look at all these new books!" Weeding quite literally gets books into the hands of students because weeding allows students to see the books. you'll observe an almost magnetic reaction between their hands and those now visible resources. Weeding improves visibility, and provides more space and access. What Needs to Go? every school needs current, relevant and appropriate resources. Libraries should want a collection that highlights and celebrates every identity, and sometimes this can mean judging a book by its cover. Books in your collection that reinforce stereotypes or colonial visions are often good candidates for deselection. i've worked closely with ruth hall, Program Coordinator for Library and Learning resources at the Toronto District School Board. here are criteria that she's summarized for our own team. it's taken largely from the board's own collection development guide provided to teacher-librarians: • Condition (stained, missing pages, torn) • Currency (copyright date, age) • multiple copies • relevance to the curriculum and specialty programs (iB, Arts, ShSm, etc.) • relevance to your students (age/grade/learning needs/ culture/interests) • equity (variety of people, beliefs, viewpoints, socio- economic and political, indigenous peoples, sensitive topics/issues) • Canadian • Visual appeal and format • Durability and cost For teachers new to the role and even with a board's collection development policy in hand, weeding can be challenging. Where do you go from there? here are some principles: Philip WasleyThe Anxious Weeder