Skip to content
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • RSS
Awful Library Books

Awful Library Books

Hoarding is not collection development


  • Home
  • Why We Weed
  • Hire Us
  • Street Cred
  • Submissions
  • Practical Librarian
  • Home
  • Practical Librarian

Category: Practical Librarian

This is the place where we put more serious discussions of librarianship.

Practical Librarian - Mission statement

The Mission-Collection Connection

June 3, 2017 Holly Practical Librarian One comment

A library’s collection exists to help the library meet its mission. When you are having trouble letting go of non-circulating library materials, or talking the Powers That Be into allowing you to do some weeding, this is a great point

Continue reading »

Primary Source Material in the Public Library

December 10, 2016 Holly Practical Librarian 3 comments

You may be tempted to keep older history materials, such as those written during the time the event was happening, because they are “important” or as valuable primary source material. Here’s the thing about primary sources: they are valuable and

Continue reading »
Estimating Shelf Capacity

Size Matters: Estimating Shelf Capacity

November 6, 2016 Mary Kelly Practical Librarian 6 comments

Once upon a time, Holly mentioned that I had a special formula for determining shelving capacity. This brought about a flurry of requests from many people. The reality is that I had little scraps of paper with a few notes

Continue reading »

Managing Periodicals

May 7, 2016 Holly Practical Librarian 5 comments

When I started my current job, I was assigned a collection to manage: periodicals.  Honestly, I was less than excited about that.  I was responsible for periodicals in my old job too, and was hoping to get away from it!

Continue reading »

Dealing With the Staff Hoarder

April 23, 2016 Holly Practical Librarian 3 comments

Holly and I are fond of telling people in our presentations that every library has at least one hoarder on staff. The punchline is, if you say no, then it probably is you.  Without fail, at every presentation we have

Continue reading »

The Problem of Oversized Books

April 3, 2016 Holly Practical Librarian 6 comments

Many of my posts start off with a strong opinion. Here is today’s: I HATE OVERSIZE BOOKS! Coffee table books belong on coffee tables. There, I’ve said it. Well…I don’t hate oversize books themselves. They’re gorgeous. What I hate is

Continue reading »
Wilderness Gear cover

Time of death….

March 20, 2016 Mary Kelly Practical Librarian One comment

This was written when I was a little more than irritated about the umpteenth time I have seen more tape than book. The “rescue at all costs” a 5 dollar paperback is one of my top library peeves (right after old

Continue reading »

But I Might Need It Someday!

March 13, 2016 Holly Practical Librarian One comment

Photo (Creative Commons) Courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/drzuco/6664693057 Do you save extra copies of books just in case they may be needed in the future? When you see something popular, classic, unique, or expensive in the donation pile, but you know you

Continue reading »

Posts navigation

1 2 3 4 Next Posts»

Subscribe to ALB by Email

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Nehru Jackets to Knit or Crochet
  • Fashion Forward Sweatshirts
  • Talk to me!
  • Make it in a Mold!
  • Dating 101 for the Guys

Popular Posts

  • Satan for kids
  • Train Up Your Child
  • Crafts for (the) retarded?
  • Things Librarians Say
  • What’s In a Name?
  • Kids Cook Too
  • Satan for Kids, Part 2
  • Glorious Macrame
  • Skirtains, Anyone?
  • Even Men Can Cook!

Shop at Amazon and support ALB!

Powered by WordPress and Tortuga.