Shelving + Weeding = Better Collections

Due to budget cuts in the large county library system in which I work, all of the part-time shelver positions were eliminated about a year ago, all of the shelving duties were absorbed by the remaining staff, and the branches began opening an hour later so that staff could shelve materials during the first non-public hour before the doors opened. Ironically, I just transfered to the branch that I first began my library career at 33 years ago. And, with a Masters degree, I am shelving picture books once again. But there is an up-side to the situation, I've found, in terms of collection management. By getting up close and personal (down on the floor!) with those pictures books I've been assigned to put back on the shelves, I can instantly see which books are in poor condition, which sections are crowded, which titles remain in their place and never get checked out, and which titles fly out of the library again as soon as they are reshelved. That's information that helps me manage the collection better. Because I can see and weed, on a daily basis, the broken and the neglected. And I can order additional copies of the hotter titles and authors. The other up-side to shelving is that it keeps me humble and reminds me to focus on the process. Because, quite frankly, getting all of the picture books shelved at my library is an unattainable goal.