Miss M. Reads

 There seems to be endless information in the world, and with that, endless opportunities for reference materials, from the classic encyclopedia to the “deep web” (information that cannot be accessed through a search engine, such as that in a database). That information is constantly evolving though, which charges libraries and librarians with the task of ensuring their collections reflect the latest information. This is a major challenge, given that newly published printed reference materials are often already out-of-date by the time they land in the patrons’ hands (Riedling).  So how do libraries and librarians stay current in this rapidly changing, information overload era? The first step must be to weed out the outdated and the inaccessible materials. Books containing outdated information must be weeded from the collection, even if that means that all books on a particular topic are removed. Nearly two decades ago, librarian Gail Dickinson created an excellent analogy to ...

  “We may appreciate the qualities of an antique ... but increasingly most of us choose to use the more modern version of things in daily life.” - Layla McCay   Eight years ago, columnist Rafael Behr wrote in an opinion piece for The Guardian, “We can’t embrace the future if we’re longing for the past.” Now, I have no idea what he wrote in the rest of the piece, if it has anything to do with libraries, or whether I even agree with his other opinions, but I thought that this was a particularly apt description of the state of reference services in the school library learning commons (LLC).   My LLC is a bustling hub of the school, with students flocking there everyday to socialize, play games, and find their next favourite book; busyness aside, the LLC is sorely lacking in one key area. You guessed it – reference services.   The State of the Collection Don’t be fooled by my use of the word “lacking” – the non-fiction collection currently boasts over 5500 texts. Unfort...