Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The reality Begins

October has been the month to really get into weeding.  About 1000 books have been removed from the shelves...still 4000 to go!  It's so hard to let go of the books from the 60's so many memories!  But reality is....the students today will not pick up those monotone "ugly" books of the 60's (the ones I read over and over).  When I first started teaching (back in 1980) I tried to read those special books that I loved in Fourth Grade..I realized that the books that I adored have no interest to the students today - even way back in 1980.  One of my favorite books was the Five Little Peppers and How they Grew.  My fourth grade teacher (Mrs. Lednicky) shared the book as a read aloud...and then I must have read it over and over.  I found that book to read to my fourth graders.  I made it one chapter before i realized that it was NOT going to be a good selection.  Just as television shows, movies, and music reflect on our society - so do books.  Those few classics that are truly timeless are hard to find and hard to motivate students to read.  So....today we weed the "golden oldies" and move on to modern and "pretty"...and even electronic.  Rummel Creek may be 50...but our library collection will be much more current!
Weeded books....4 carts full

Another loaded cart of weeded titles!

The shelves before weeding....

The shelves after weeding....

Another shelf before...

And after...just current titles left.