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Library Collection Guidelines – CBSE NEP and International Boards

By Collection Development No Comments

Jamie Taylor jamiehowardtaylor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The library collection policy for a CBSE school library should be based on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and the National Education Policy (NEP). The policy should include the following elements:

  • The library should have diverse books, including literature, non-fiction, reference materials, and digital resources.
  • The library should prioritize acquiring books that align with the NCF and NEP, focusing on Indian authors and works that promote inclusivity and diversity.
  • The library should actively seek out and acquire books representing India’s cultural and linguistic diversity, including regional-language books.
  • The library should provide access to various digital resources, including e-books, databases, and online journals.
  • The library should review and de-select materials that need to be updated, in better condition, or no longer relevant to the curriculum.
  • The library should work closely with teachers and students to ensure the collection meets their needs and supports the school’s curriculum and educational goals.
  • The library should have a system to monitor the collection usage and use the data to inform development decisions.
  • The library should also have a process for accepting donations and gifts of books and other materials.
  • The library should also have a process for interlibrary loans and document delivery to support the research needs of the school community.

Percentages of different genres in the library collection

Justori Genre.jpg – Wikimedia Commons under CCA

The percentage of different genres in the library collection can vary depending on the specific needs and interests of the school community.

However, as a general guideline, a balanced collection should include a mix of the following genres:

  • Literature: This can include fiction, poetry, and drama from various cultures and time periods. The percentage of literature in the collection could be around 25-30%.
  • Non-fiction: This can include books on subjects such as science, history, and social studies. The percentage of non-fiction in the collection could be around 30-35%. (However, this is being reduced due to the use of information online)
  • Reference materials: This can include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other resources students can use for research and study. The percentage of reference materials in the collection could be around 10-15%. (This is also being reduced due to databases and online encyclopedias)
  • Digital resources: This can include e-books, databases, and online journals. The percentage of digital resources in the collection could be around 10-15%. (The increase is directly proportional to the number of devices students and faculty are using in schools)
  • Multilingual collection: The collection should represent India’s linguistic and cultural diversity, including books in regional languages. The percentage of multilingual collections in the library could be around 10-15%. A general guideline, a balanced collection should include a mix of books in different languages, including regional languages, to represent the linguistic and cultural diversity of India.

It’s important to note that this is just a general guideline, and the actual percentage of each genre in the collection may vary depending on the specific needs and interests of the school community.

I have not conducted a personal audit, but based on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and the National Education Policy (NEP), you can use them as a reference.

Difference between the library collection for a CBSE school and an International school library

The library collections of a CBSE school and an international school library have many similarities, but there are also some key differences.

  1. One of the main differences is that a CBSE school library is expected to align its collection with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and the National Education Policy (NEP) of India, which prioritize Indian authors and works that promote inclusivity and diversity. An international school library, on the other hand, aligns its collection with its specific curriculum, whether it is IGSC or any other.
  2. Another difference is that a CBSE school library is expected to have a significant percentage of its collection in regional languages, reflecting India’s linguistic and cultural diversity. On the other hand, an international school library may have a more diverse collection of books in different languages, including English, as well as books in other languages spoken by its student population, which may be French, Chinese, Japanese or Spanish.

Additionally, an international school library may have more resources to support students learning English as a second language, such as ESL materials and language learning software.

Similarities between CBSE and International School Curriculum:

  • Both libraries should have a diverse collection of books, including literature, non-fiction, reference materials, and digital resources.
  • Both should also prioritize the acquisition of books that align with the school’s curriculum and educational goals and actively seek out and acquire books that represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of the school community.
  • Both should have a system in place to monitor usage of the collection and use the data to inform collection development decisions.

It’s important to note that the specific collection of a CBSE or an International school library may vary depending on the school community and the region.

Library Collection policy for an IB school

The International Baccalaureate (IB) organization oversees the IB Diploma Program and provides guidelines for the development and management of school libraries but does not have a specific library collection policy. However, IB schools are expected to have a library collection that supports the school’s educational goals and mission and aligns with the IB’s philosophy of international-mindedness and intercultural understanding.

A library collection at an IB school should:

  • Be inclusive and diverse: The collection should reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the school community and the world and include books by authors from different cultures and backgrounds.
  • Support the curriculum: The collection should include resources that support the school’s academic programs, including the IB Diploma Program, and provide students with the information and skills they need to succeed in their studies.
  • Encourage reading for pleasure: The collection should include a variety of fiction and non-fiction books to encourage students to read for pleasure and develop a love of reading.
  • Be up-to-date and relevant: The collection should be regularly reviewed and updated to include current and relevant information and resources.
  • Provide access to digital resources: The collection should include access to digital resources, such as e-books, databases, and online journals, to support research and study.
  • Reflect the language profile of the school: The collection should be available in the languages spoken by the students and in English.
  • IB schools should also have a system to monitor the collection usage and use the data to inform collection development decisions.

The library staff should actively seek out and acquire books that align with the school’s curriculum and educational goals and represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of the school community.

It is important to note that these are just general guidelines. The most important role of the librarian is to provide the resources to match the curriculum and the specific needs and interests of the school community.

Should school libraries include romantic novels for teenagers?

By Collection Development, Librarian's Role, School Libraries 3 Comments

It is generally considered that teenagers above 14 years may read romantic books because it  can positively influence a teenager’s understanding of the complexities of relationships and serve as an essential tool for personal growth and self-discovery.

Reading any literature can also help teenagers develop their reading skills and expand their vocabulary. 

Here is a list of the positive impact of romantic novels: 

  • It can provide a safe outlet for exploring and understanding their emotions and experiences related to relationships and love. 
  • Reading about characters going through similar experiences can help teenagers feel less alone and more understood. 
  • Romantic literature often provides healthy and positive examples of relationships, which is beneficial for teenagers as they navigate the complexities of their relationships.
  • It can help them develop empathy and understanding towards others. They can explore different perspectives and emotions of characters in romantic literature.
  • They can develop the ability to relate to others and create stronger relationships. 
  • Reading romantic novels from other cultures gives us a more global perspective and understanding of culture and relationships. 

Some popular romantic Indian titles include:

The Secret Wish List by Preeti Shenoy

The One You Cannot Have by Preeti Shenoy

The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan. 

These books offer a mix of romance, family dynamics, cultural traditions, and self-discovery.

A study published in the International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research found that reading romantic literature can also positively impact readers’ emotional well-being. The study found that reading romantic literature can help improve readers’ moods and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

Here are a few romantic book titles for teenagers  (15 years and younger)

  1. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
  2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  4. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
  5. The Selection by Kiera Cass
  6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  7. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
  8. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  9. The Selection by Kiera Cass

A balance of different genres of books and media is always recommended.

Here is a list of recommended Indian fiction for grades 12 years and above

More Indian Fiction from Good Reads

Here are a few examples of popular romantic fiction for young adults from other countries.

  1. China: “To Our Youth That is Fading Away” by Guo Jingming
  2. Korea: “Love Alarm” by Chon Kye-young
  3. Nigeria: “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” by Lola Shoneyin
  4. Spain: “The Red Notebook” by Antoine Laurain
  5. Eastern Europe: “The Museum of Abandoned Secrets” by Olga Grushin
  6. India: “The Immortals of Meluha” by Amish Tripathi.

Colleen Hoover’s romantic titles are trending in urban society. However, Colleen herself recommends her books to older students above 16 or above 12th grade. The content has explicit sexual descriptions and mature themes like rape and sexual assaults.

What can librarians do – include or not?

A balance of genres is important to create a robust collection to meet the needs of all students – intellectual, social and emotional well-being. It is important to provide recreational reading too.

It is also important to keep in mind that since we do not know each child personally, it is important to keep general romantic fiction in the collection and not very intense romantic novels because they may turn out to be triggers that we may not know. 

For example, several years ago – Thirteen Reasons Why? by Jay Asher, created quite a storm in teenage circles.

Differences between adult romance novels and young adult novels

Adult romance novels typically feature characters in their late twenties or older with complex relationships. They may contain explicit sexual content and mature themes such as infidelity, rape, divorce,  and ageing. 

Young adult romance novels, on the other hand, feature characters typically between the ages of 12 and 17 and may focus on themes such as first love, coming of age, and self-discovery. 

Additionally, young adult novels often concentrate more on the characters’ personal growth and development, while adult novels may focus more on romantic relationships.

Finally, a robust collection of all genres is recommended to build healthy individuals in society. Variety is the spice of life, and that’s why Librarians are an important part of the school eco-system.

 

Do we value comic books? Do we value graphic novels? Are they useful?

By Collection Development, comic books, Reading and Writing No Comments

By Airi Ozaki

A parent comes up to me in the library and says, “Please help my child read. He/she is only reading comic books. I want you to make him/her read real books.” 

Almost all librarians have faced this situation. Let’s look at graphic novels/comics as a form of literature. And you know, that every library must have comic books and graphic novels to satiate the needs of our community.

Fundamental differences between comic books and graphic novels:

Comics:

  • Comics are single stories in a series.
  • Comics come in a periodical format.
  • Comics have advertisements (not all).
  • Comics may have an ISSN.

Graphic novels:

  • A graphic novel is a long story with no series (generally).
  • A graphic novel comes in a book format.
  • A graphic novel has an ISBN.

Many universities have described comic/graphic stories as “hybrid literature’. These comic books receive more respect when used as a critical appreciation of artform, play of words, symbolism, design, structure, and plot lines.

Why are comic books valuable?

By Airi Ozaki

Comic/graphic stories have the elements of a story, and through this format, children can learn the different story elements of a protagonist, antagonist, settings, and plot. From early readers to learning a second language, developing fluency in a language, dyslexia individuals and sophisticated readers and illustrators can benefit from comic books and graphic novels. Most popular ones internationally are the Marvel comics, Japanese Manga (for all ages), and the DC comics

Some benefits of comic books/graphic novels

  • Struggling readers develop confidence and fluency with this format.
  • Children with autism can identify emotions through the art and images in a comic books.
  • Learning to infer, question, and identify evidence based on their reasoning through text and images can help build literacy.
  • Children begin to read meaning between the lines and figure out what the narrator describes.
  • Allows students to develop speaking skills and learn new vocabulary.

Practically speaking, we have all grown up with comic books, which have proven helpful in every child’s life. It quenches the child’s dreams, aspirations, emotional, social, fantastical, or heroic needs. Thus, making it meaningful and very valuable.

Genres are available in Comic Books/Graphic novels.

They range from historical fiction, biographies, mythologies, fables, and folklore, thus providing children explore and learn the different elements of genres through this kind of literature.

ACK – under CC0

Reading and writing go hand in hand. They are like daal and rice. One is not complete without the other. Writing in comic style allows students to express themselves in shorter and quicker ways. Learning about comic strips helps children learn a new form of writing. 

  1. Authors and illustrators use text boxes with words, colors, textures, and frames to tell their stories.
  2. They use speech balloons and sound effects to narrate their action in the story.
  3. Motion lines and character expressions are a part of the narration to tell their story. 

You can use these tools to provide students to create comic books online and a platform to share their lives.

What are Webcomics?

Young adults and adults have found their passion in Webcomics.

What are webcomics? “Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.” (Wikipedia)

This format has become very popular with the country’s young generation. It usually highlights politics, social awareness, and feminism, and they spread their ideas, words, and art through social media. Every country has its popular webcomics. 

Popular Webcomics in India

Striptease mag includes comics, graphic novels, and everything akin to it. There are some great reviews and recommendations for Indian graphic novels.

Brown Paper Bag: Satire that appeals to all. It will make you giggle at each chapter. Sailesh, aka Saigo, a 20-year-old Bangalorean, blends humor with everyday life. Anecdotes include how a left-handed person feels in India and even using profanities in front of parents. Find it on Facebook here

UrbanLore is by Kaveri Gopalakrishnan, and Aarthi Parthasarathy reflects the urban lifestyle. Humorous stories about women’s restrictions and feminism, how life works for women in India. You can find them on Facebook here

Sanitary Panels has simple artwork but makes up for it with giggle-worthy humour. The series is great for quick reads, topics on gender roles, personal life, and social interactions.

Green Humour is a collection of 250 stories about wildlife, animals, and birds. The focus is on wildlife and nature with a sense of humour. You can find them on Facebook here.

Strippy is another fun online comic strip.

All comic books can be purchased at

Banning Books & Reconsideration Policy

By Collection Development, General, Library Policy, Professional Learning No Comments

Here is my story: 

Fantasy Fairy Tales Child Girl Forest House Queen

A long time ago, when I was a Primary School Librarian, a parent came up to me in the Library and asked me to take off all the fairy tale stories from our primary collection. She remarked that the fairy tales were full of violence and were inappropriate for children. Many fairy tales have evil parents who send their children away, ugly beasts that kidnap children and mistreat them. She said, “These stories place parents in poor light, especially the story of Cinderella, where the stepmother is evil.” She questioned me, “do you think all stepmothers are evil? Is the goal of Cinderella to only marry the Prince and live happily ever after?”

In Hansel and Gretel, the father asks the children to leave their home? The children are stranded in the forest with an evil witch who wants to boil the children? What about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? It belittles the role of parents. These are just a few examples from 100s of examples that we encounter. 

What do Librarians do for building a collection?

A dynamic librarian will provide a variety of books that include fairytales, becoming of age stories like Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, Talking Of Muskaan by Himanjali Sankar, Slightly Burnt by Payal Dhar, Daddy Come Lately by Rupa Gulab, Asmara’s Summer by Andaleeb Wajid are just a few examples. Check out other additional titles.

As librarians, we include picture books with unconventional stories like  The Tree Boy by Srividhya Venkat, Nayantara Surendranath, Puu by CG Salamander, Samidha Gunjal, Sadiq Wants to Stitch by Mamta Nainy, Niloufer Wadia Ritu weds Chandni by Ameya Narvankar and more titles. 

Discussing sensitive topics that deal with gender and the caste system is very complex. However, we must find ways to address them with an open mind without sharing our strong opinions by providing a platform for discussion, where there is respect, kindness, and acceptance of different views and voices. Stories like these will give healthy discussions while igniting empathy. Turning the Pot, Tilling the Land: Dignity of Labour in Our Times, Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability, and here is another list of nonfiction for older students in secondary school.

Evolving School and Growing Libraries

If schools need to transform, the library collection must evolve and create a collection of print and digital resources that provide different perspectives that include historical and current ideas.

Students are curious. Children want to read books that reflect different communities, lifestyles, and perspectives. The library collection provides opportunities to learn new things. As librarians, we want to bring in a unique collection of books stories that provide perspectives and courage to change and evolve.

Evolving Society and Libraries

As our society evolves, we as librarians want to rise above hypocrisy and double standards. Librarians want to grow and provide a progressive collection of resources to meet the students’ changing needs. What can librarians do to ensure they are progressive and meet the needs of the students while supporting the school and parent community.

Our modern children want to learn about present-day problems, ways of life about gay rights, same-sex marriages, gender equality, and the treatment of privileged versus the unprivileged classes. Schools and libraries want to introduce new literature. However, some parents who find these topics uncomfortable and challenging resist these stories. 

What can Librarians do?

Some of the considerations to evolve as a progressive librarian, we must

  1. Learn and read the school’s school vision, mission, and culture.
  2. Understand the national textbooks. Use the Preamble of the constitution embedded in the textbook to develop your school’s collection to build an inclusive collection.
  3. Identify the curriculum of your school.
  4. Create a selection policy that says that the collection development meets the school policy’s needs and the progressive expectations of a global community.
  5. Create a reconsideration policy for individuals who want to restrict books in the Library

What is the Reconsideration Policy for withdrawing books and Why?

A reconsideration policy is created to ensure that there is transparency in the process of banning or stopping the circulation of books to a particular class or for circulation. 

Librarians are often confronted by community members, either parents or teachers, to ban or withdraw books from their class or the school library. Creating a reconsideration policy for removing books from the collection will allow an open discussion to hear the community member’s voices and allow a democratic process of including books or withdrawing the books from the Library.

The librarian and the curriculum coordinator can draft a document called the reconsideration policy procedure to allow members of the community to voice their opinion of individuals who desire to withdraw or ban particular titles from the collection or stop the circulation of books.

Taking the reconsideration in a very optimistic view, the librarian must keep the larger picture in mind because India is a secular democratic country. Most education system promotes open-mindedness, critical thinking, and cultural competency. It is imperative to create a tolerant mindset if views and opinions do not match your own. Each individual is entitled to their perspective. 

Here are details in Creating a challenge/reconsideration of resources for withdrawal.

Should Librarians Ban Books or Stand Up for Freedom?

By Collection Development, General, Reading Program No Comments

Should librarians ban books that are controversial or stand up for freedom of expression?

The primary role of a library is to promote the progress of knowledge, promote love for reading and through this give people a better quality of life. Libraries are centers of all forms of learning. Scientists, artists, and philosophers have discussed, learned and grown in their fields of knowledge only because of libraries. Libraries have always witnessed controversial debate only to bring out the best of knowledge.

Looking back into history there has been many classics and other novels that have been banned at schools and in many countries. More often than not, books with sexual content, profanity, offensive language, stories based on chemical abuse (drugs), satanic themes, religious preferences have been subject to complaints and have pressured librarians not to include such content in the schools. Sometimes, it is the plot or the characters’ viewpoint that impacts morality making it the contention for books to be banned.

Robert A. Heinlein said about censorship: “The whole principle is wrong; it’s like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can’t eat steak.” A library is a venue to provide the users with all forms of information and not control it in any way, even if librarians do not like or agree with some of the content.

You may argue, that the librarians have a moral duty to their students and therefore needs to carefully curate books and help them have a balanced approach to all forms of knowledge. And, on the other hand, we do want our students to think, make informed decisions and choices, have an opportunity to discuss, learn, and find solutions to the problems that may have cropped up in the story.

In Rodney A. Smolla research paper, “Freedom of Speech for Libraries and Librarians” she says, “Like art museums, libraries will be among the repositories of knowledge and culture in a modern society that can expect to find themselves under increasing pressure to serve as society’s censors.” And as librarians, we must have the courage to fight against censorship. Here are some examples of books that were banned at one time or the other.

To kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple was banned for a while because it was said to promote racial discrimination and racial hatred. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was considered immoral and for having sacrilegious content. Harry Potter series was deemed to be anti-family, violent, and satanic. Another classic, Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, was banned because of profanity. Looking For Alaska by John Green as taken away from libraries for “offensive language” and “sexually explicit content.”

Recently, a group of parents and teachers talked about banning fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and other such tales which had wicked plots and made step parents and abandoning of children, unnerving plots and they believed that these stories created a negative impact on little children. So, where do we stop and what do librarians do?

Do we become strong and stand up for freedom of knowledge by supporting challenging options, when adding books to our collection? Do we introduce students to LGBTQ books? Do we create an open society of communication and individual rights or do we shun them under hypocrisy and fear? Do we provide an opportunity for healthy discussion and openmindedness, where students can learn and discuss? Or close their minds under the garb of protecting them. What do we do? Do we begin to have an open discussion with parents and share our rationale with them? Do we trust our children to be intelligent enough to have a rational discussion or think of them to be dumb witted? Do we stand up for a reason or given in to being the nurturing and protective agents? Here is a list of books that were banned in India. And here is a list of LGBTQ Books and here is a list of controversial books you might want to have in your library.

Genrefication – What and Why?

By Collection Development, General No Comments

This term genrefication was created in the Urban Dictionary in 2008 and is defined as an exercise of classifying books, magazines, films into specific genres or categories. Genrefication of the collection started with an intent to help users locate the resources speedily. This genrefication first started in bookstores and music stores, the owners classified music according to the genre, for example, all the romantic songs were categorized under Romance,  rock music was categorized as – Hard Metal, Rock and Roll and others. The same genrefication process found its’ way in bookstores, all mysteries were clubbed together, while mythology and religious texts were classified in one area and so were self-help books, making it easier for every reader. This helped customers locate what they were looking for efficiently and speedily.

Looking at the successes with bookstores and music stores, librarians decided to break a few conventions of the traditional Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)  rules to accommodate and popularize the libraries. Schools and college libraries now started categorising fiction and nonfiction books to meet the needs of the school.

In my school, in the Elementary Section, we separated the picture books, series of fiction, comic or graphic novels, mysteries, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction from the formal DDC that we had followed in the past. In the Secondary Section of our school, we classified the fiction into various genres ranging it from realistic fiction, sports fiction, historical fiction, mystery, supernatural, science fiction, fantasy, biographies, adult Indian Fiction. We divided our collection into a few genres and not all. We continued to also maintain the Dewey Decimal Classification for the nonfiction books.

Genres Examples – CC

By doing this we noticed that students were able to get to the titles quickly, they had more time to browse the blurbs of the stories and were able to quickly identify the books in the series.

Yes, it was a big task, rearranging the books, it was a big project that we librarians had undertaken and took a couple of months. But it helped students access the books that are purchased for their learning. Teachers too found it easier to locate the resources for teaching and supporting student learning. Susanne has very well defined and discussed the pros and cons on her website.

According to my experience, I noticed:

  1. Children were becoming more independent and could locate similar-books of their interests
  2. Children were comfortably recommending and taking ownership of the library as their space
  3. Circulation of books increased
  4. Students could easily identify genres and eager to try new genres
  5. The library looked different and better
  6. Book talks became more natural and fun to share with children.
  7. A friendly and comfortable environment for students to access books

Should you want to genrefy your collection and want to discuss, you are welcome to email me.

Weeding Books

By Collection Development, Librarian's Role, School Libraries No Comments
Weeding Books

Books by Toby Hudson, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Weeding books – What’s that? What does that mean and why is it important and how much to weed are questions every librarian struggles with. According to Jeanette Larson, who has over thirty years of experience in various libraries says that “Weeding is the systematic removal of resources from a library based on selected criteria. It is the opposite of selecting material, though the selection and de-selection of material often involve the same thought process. Weeding is a vital process for an active collection because it ensures the collection stays current, relevant, and in good condition. Weeding should be done on a continuous, on-going basis.“.

If we accept her claim, it becomes necessary for librarians to review their collection regularly. The most popular acronym used in weeding is:

MUSTIE the crew method
M = If books have misleading and/or factually inaccurate information
U = Ugly, yellow, faded and cannot be mended
S = Superseded, that means there is a better and new version of the book
T = Trivial and has no discernible literary or scientific merit
I = Irrelevant to the needs and interests of your community
E = The material or information that can be obtained through other means electronic format or library loads.

However, there are books weeded based on time.  It is often said, that if the books are not circulated in three or five years, it is time to find a new home for the resources. However, classics, award-winning book, books about local history and geography, stories by local writers, books gifted or local literature are often maintained until they become MUSTIE.

Encyclopediae are always a question for Librarians. There is a lot of money invested in it, so it becomes very painful to get rid of them. In this age of the internet, I believe, that print encyclopedia does not play a vital role in the Library and if fact, it could easily be replaced by the internet and a computer since both costs almost the same. And, it is believed that if the encyclopedia is over ten years old, it’s information becomes irrelevant.

Different subjects areas have different shelf lives. Resources under subject areas like technology, medicine, media, agriculture, careers, and sciences like biology, engineering often are regularly updated. Therefore, copyright of these books beyond 3-5 years must be checked and weeded. While the arts, history, geography, children’s literature, biographies could be targetted to 10 years. However, if they look shoddy and pale, you may want to weed that too.

I think the hardest job for librarians is to weed the collection especially our favorite subject areas and other favorite books. However, for the library collection to stay relevant and fresh, it is necessary to set some time during the year to weed out the resources. Yes, every year, it is time to say goodbye to some of the resources.

And, then the question arises, how much to weed? I would say weed according to the criteria, even if it means to have fewer books in your library. Stacking books on our shelves in your library does not make the library relevant and useful. If no one is using the resources, why keep them? Isn’t the library supposed to be a learning place for our users? No educational institutes should have a bookkeeper and a library of irrelevant resources!

Electronic resources that are not relevant must be weeded out too.  I can almost hear some librarians say, OMG, we’ve spent so much time and money in procuring these resources – but as Ranganathan said – What use are the resources if they are not in the hands of the users?