Letting Go

Are some of the magazines in your library torn, wrinkled, and covered with thumb prints, while others have scarcely been touched? It may be time to start weeding your collection. As the youth services director at the Prairie Trails Public Library, I was recently asked by my director to evaluate our children's periodicals and to cancel subscriptions that didn't circulate.

Of the 30 youth magazines in my library, I discovered that 11 had never been checked out. It's still too early to predict if seven new magazines will ever become hits with kids, but I can safely say that close to half of our collection hasn't budged from our racks—not once in the last year. Although I didn't get rid of all of the nonmovers, I did cancel seven subscriptions, mainly those that duplicated more popular titles with similar themes. So Zoobooks stayed and Your Big Backyard and Ranger Rick did not. Highlights for Children stayed, but Jack and Jill and Cricket did not. Plays is now gone because we already have a solid inventory of back issues (we keep magazines for three years), and our shelves are stocked with many books on the subject. Indeed, some decisions will be purely subjective. I hung on to Boys Life because I didn't think it was fair for girls to have two magazines, Girls Life and American Girls, and boys none, and I couldn't part with National Geographic World because I'm certain it'll be needed for an assignment one day.

While many librarians get anxious about the very thought of weeding, there are some basic guidelines that'll make this task a lot easier. Before you embark on weeding your periodicals, remember the purpose they serve. Magazines are popular because they're portable and fun to read—kids can take them on road trips, read them at lunchtime and before bedtime. They're also read during short trips to the library, when kids don't have access to the Internet. Magazines are for flipping through and skimming, and most likely not for reading from cover to cover. Kids are visually attracted to them—especially the colorful photographs. While it's important to stock magazines on history, science, and other essential topics, publications that are text heavy and feature illustrations are simply ignored. A child interested in the Titanic, for example, will look in the online catalog or check the bookshelves rather than search through racks of magazines. And unless articles are indexed—which can be a huge project in itself—librarians often won't know they exist.

Sure, it's part of our job to promote magazines with prominent displays (although that didn't work for me) or by recommending them. If your library has a writing club or if writing is promoted in your local schools, be sure to tell kids about magazines on creative writing. Try collaborating with teachers by asking them to assign research in specific periodicals. I booktalk magazines and remind kids they exist, but it's more important for me to push books rather than magazines with stories.

We all know the realities of being a librarian: if there are five kids lining up for assistance, and there are still programs to plan and books to order, you'll likely choose the best and quickest way to serve your patrons. And that might mean resorting to an online search rather than riffling through magazines. The Internet has certainly made accessing information a lot easier, but magazines shouldn't be eliminated just because they're available on the Web. It can take longer to download some photos, depending on the speed of one's computer connection. It's also sometimes more difficult to locate a specific article online because Web sites aren't always updated regularly and may not include entire articles. Databases such as EBSCO's MasterFile and FirstSearch don't always carry photographs and may not include all children's magazines. That said, Cobblestone Publishing (www.cobblestonepub.com) has a good Web site with easy-to-find historical articles, and Time for Kids (www.timeforkids.com), a children's version of the magazine, is great for current events.

There's no denying that weeding can be tough. But get over the guilt—it's simply not cost effective to subscribe to magazines that no one reads, even if they're a personal favorite of yours or of parents. I kept New Moon because I like its content, but after five years with little circulation, I might end the subscription next year. You wouldn't think of ordering books that no one reads, so why treat magazines differently? There comes a point when you have to say, "This has to go," so take a deep breath and chuck magazines that don't circulate. Keep telling yourself, "It's more important to have magazines kids will read." If it makes you feel better, wait six months before you make your final decision.

This isn't a time to be sentimental. Don't keep magazines just because they were around when you were a kid. Children today have completely different needs. If I had the opportunity to order periodicals for a brand-new library, I'd order some staples such as Zoobooks and Highlights for Children, but I wouldn't consider ordering every classic, such as Jack & Jill, Stone Soup, and Your Big Backyard, which other libraries have had forever.

There are so many more options for kids these days, so be selective. Celebrities have their own magazines, as do television characters and specialized sports. I'd buy any bad book, just to get kids reading. (I'm one of the few librarians who buys Jackie Chan books.) The same applies to periodicals. Kids just want more information on what's popular; it's all about sports, electronic games, celebrities, and fashion and beauty. If wrestling or skateboarding is en vogue, magazines on those subjects will be in demand.

If a parent expresses disappointment over my decision to cancel a subscription to a magazine, I'd explain that it wasn't circulating and that our money would best be used on materials of interest. However, I would consider resubscribing if there was a request—I order books based on one request. Think of a magazine request and a book request in equal terms; a subscription is usually equivalent to the cost of one or two books. I ordered Bop, a teenage entertainment magazine, because we received so many questions about books on celebrities. And since kids constantly request books on popular TV shows, I thought Nickelodeon and Sesame Street would be helpful. I also ordered a snowboarding magazine—even though we have no mountains in the Chicago area—simply because there were several requests for books about it. If in doubt, look at books on similar subjects to see how often they get checked out. The only requested magazine I didn't order was Wrestling World because of its violence, nudity, and adult ads.

I've asked several librarians to share helpful tips on their weeding experiences. Susan Dailey, a children's librarian at the Ossian (IN) Branch Library, suggests keeping a magazine, even if it doesn't circulate, if it's the only one suitable for a certain age level. Kay Bowes of Concord Pike (DE) Library catalogs back issues and shelves them in the nonfiction collection based on subject. Linda Allen of the Sno-Isle (WA) Library System keeps magazines that are useful for school assignments.

With so many magazines out there and more sprouting up all the time, you've got to make some tough decisions. Just remember, the old standards don't necessarily apply anymore: it's time to think about what kids want to read, rather than what we want them to read.