Are nonfiction books still relevant?

Our media center has over 5,000 nonfiction titles. Many of them, however, have never been checked out, or at least not since I've been here. Are nonfiction book non-useful, non-relevant, non-important?

I've thought about replacing the covers of these informational books with an image of the Google search page, but decided this wouldn't really address the underlying issue. Most students can access and store more information on their cell phones than we have information in the whole nonfiction collection. So, what should I do with these dust-collectors?

Of course, not all the nonfiction books are collecting dust. I can’t keep graphic novels on the shelves. Then again, are graphic NOVELS really nonfiction? Books of world records, sports and music all circulate fairly well (almost all of those are located in the 700s).

The three hundreds, which contain the social science books, don’t move quite so well. In fact, I’m not sure I've checked out a book from the 300s since in the year and a half Ive been here. The 800s don’t circulate much better, though the language arts teachers do check them out for class assignments sometimes.

So, what should I do with all these books that don’t get checked out? And what about all that space those shelves take up (though some of the shelves are only partially filled)? I could take out shelves and make more collaborative spaces around the media center.

I’m not ready to just scrap all those nonfiction books, even though I wonder about their usefulness. However, I do know I want to make some changes. I’m considering breaking down some of our bookshelves, and rearranging our nonfiction books around the room based on categories. But then I wonder, W.W.D.D. – What would Dewey do?

Perhaps he would roll over in his grave if he saw me take the graphic novels out of 741.5 and put them in a special collection. Or what if I just make a sports section? I think this is going to be my first big change.

Chaos may abound. The world may start spinning backwards. But maybe, just maybe, by separating the books into sections, it will make some of them more noticeable, and if kids notice them, who knows, maybe they will actually read them.

Let me know if you've tried this before. How did it go? Or, let me know if you think it’s going to be a disaster.

The Great 21st Century Library Experiment

The Great 21st Century Library Experiment

I became the media specialist at a middle school that was less than ten years old, but the library was much older. No, it didn't have dark corners filled with cobwebs, or old dank tomes with crumbling pages. Everything in the place was relatively new, but it felt old.

I'm not blaming the media specialist who was before me. She was a professional, who had done exactly what had been expected of her for almost her whole career. But, times, they are a changin'.

So, here I come, a brand new media specialist with no clue. During my interview, some teachers said the media center needed a make-over. They wanted a media specialist who could bring it to the twenty-first century.

I plastered on a huge smile. "I'm the guy for that." They believed me. Heck, I said it with such confidence, I even believed.

Don't tell any of them, but I'm still not sure what I'm doing. So, this blog is the "scientific" journal recording the observations, revelations, jubilations, and, yes, probably even some frustrations of my 21st century library experiment.

Like any good science, these observations have to be analyzed and scrutinized. And for that, I am asking for your help. If something seems a little fishy, call me out. If you've done "it" differently (for better or worse) let me (us) know. 

We learn from each other. We build on each other. We support each other.

Join me in The Great 21st Century Library Experiment.