To Keep, or Not to Keep Reference Sections?

"Who needs a librarian and cataloger when you have Google and the internet? Well, who needs a teacher when you have Wikipedia? And, who needs a doctor when you have WebMD? Just as Wikipedia doesn't replace the teacher, and WebMD doesn’t replace the doctor, In the same way, Google search and internet doesn’t replace the librarian and cataloger."

-Salman Haider
(b. 1977. Librarian, cataloger, blogger, and creator of Librarianship Studies & Information Technology blog)



    With many school Library Learning Commons (LLCs) eliminating their print reference sections should I be doing the same? At this point, I think not. New to my current library, it has taken me a few months to learn the collection, and by learn, I mean ‘get introduced.’

    Last month I weeded the reference section of damaged, outdated and irrelevant books. I discarded 48 books, of which 11 were old student dictionaries that were covered in graffiti and over 10 years old. I then organized the shelves by genre for the most part. In Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tips and Tools is says, “A good reference source is one that serves to answer questions, and a bad reference source is one that fails to answer questions.” (p. 23, Reidling, Houston, 2019). If I combine this guideline with MUSTIE, it justifies my discarding even more books as I go through them.

    Not one person has touched the encyclopedias since I started in the library, nor has anyone asked about them in any way.

    In Reference Skills for the School Librarian; Tools and Tips, it states, “Some reference materials, obviously, become outdated. If so, a school librarian should consider the following basic guidelines: print encyclopedias should be replaced every five years (and the old ones not sent to a classroom, but discarded).” (p. 18, Riedling, Houston, 2019).

    I have not packed up the encyclopedias because I am waiting to see if they are used at all, and I am sensitive in my situation as a temporary librarian. Having already made several changes and knowing that the ‘contracted’ librarian will be returning next year, I figure that I had better not act until I am sure it’s ok. I’ll give it some more time but will likely discard them at some point this year. I have noticed that book recycling centres do not accept encyclopedias so I anticipate that I’ll be taking them apart to recycle the paper and throw out the covers.

    After the reference section was tidied up and labeled, it was easier to see and browse books with more space on the shelves. A group of primary students soon discovered the pop-up books and their library visits have been enriched ever since. The pop-up books create a nice social arena for students to talk and figure out how to ‘fold’ the books up again. Complex learners especially like the dynamic interaction with the books.

    What about the rest of the reference section? Have other reference books been used? In the past month several of the intermediate classes have started research assignments and some students thought to see what reference books were on the shelf before searching the catalogue. There was really nothing there for them other than one student who looked at a book about Egypt for her passion project. The large ‘coffee table’ photographic books of Canada and British Columbia have been recently used by Grade 3 students learning about landforms. The historical atlas has been useful by the Grade 4 students learning about the Fur Trade. We had body science presentations a few weeks ago which sparked interest in the body books, many which have large fold out pages, too large for a student desk but perfect for a large library table.

    That’s about it. Given that our library has about 600-800 student visits a week between scheduled and non-scheduled book exchanges…I would say the reference section is the least used section in the library.

    For National Mathematics Day, I asked every student to colour a tree and we created a collaborative tessellation. Our reference section had a large coffee table book about MC Escher which I presented to students. It was the first reference book I used since starting in the library in three months earlier.

     I figured the best way to promote the reference books was to make a current and relevant display. I set up a salmon display when our salmon eggs arrived in our library. The display included two reference books, one on salmon, the other on marine life in the Pacific Ocean. It worked! The books have been getting quite a bit of attention. Given that both books have large, glossy photos with little text, they generate a lot of questions from students. These books have become a valuable tool as a springboard for deeper inquiry.

  

    How does the print reference section differ from the digital reference sources available? The print references are tactile, and aesthetic. The art books, body books, pop-up books are held in hands, peered upon, and read by several students at the same time. There are social interactions, and learning connections being made as students talk about what they see and read. The print resources lend themselves to inquiry based learning by appealing to students’ tactile, and visual senses. There are opportunities to learn unexpected things from unexpected places with no device necessary.

 

    There are limitations in our print collection. Our library books about ‘countries around the word’ are lacking and outdated. I have discarded grossly outdated books but the selection was bare to start with. I have been looking for current books about the countries being researched and have found that the books are expensive and published 5-15 years ago. It does not seem prudent to spend so much money on outdated materials when ‘up to date’ digital resources are available for free. Intermediate students research ‘a passion project,’ which is a topic of their choice. The student interest changes yearly. Is it practical to have 2-3 books about ‘everything each student is passionate about?’ I have tried to fill the library gaps as best I can with a limited budget but it is just not realistic. I don’t have the funds that allow me to have current books on such a broad range of topics. If it is a ‘trendy’ interest I can justify buying some books on the topic knowing the it is relevant and will interest others as well.

    Digital resources are current and the content is almost unlimited. Students can research anything they need to know about. Students will require a device, which may not always be available. Rapidly growing enrollment at our school means that our school iPads, laptops and lab computers are booked most of the time. For some things it is simply easier and faster to look it up in a book, like a dictionary, or thesaurus rather than hunting down an available device. When students use the computer lab, and laptops there is one student per computer and there is very little discussion between students unless it is for technical trouble shooting. There is some opportunity for interactions with iPads because sometimes the students share one, but all in all, using the digital resources is mostly solitary. When researching, our students are encouraged to use vetted sources available from Focused Resources Digital Resources, and sites like it. In Achieving Information Literacy by Asselin, Branch, and Oberg, it is  suggested that  'acceptable' school library collections include over 25 digital titles, and at least one digital reference database including electronic an encyclopedia (p. 30, Asselin, Branch, and Oberg, 2006). Often students use general internet searches that exposes them to advertising and distracting links on the sidebar.

    We must keep in mind that many parents have become vocal about their concerns about how much screen time their child is exposed to. I’ve learned that many parents like having the ‘allowable’ screen time to be at their discretion, and want their kids off screen at school unless it is for essential learning. We as educators need to teach digital literacy skills but this should be in conjunction with print literacy skills. Many of the tools and processes are similar.

    In Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips it says, “For school librarians reference services are more than just information skills or activities; these services represent significant and meaningful engagement in a profoundly human activity, ministering to one of the most basic needs of humans-the desire to gain knowledge.” (p. 3, Riedling, Houston, 2019).

  

     The reference section in our library does allow our students to gain knowledge, but it is going to need me promoting the books to draw them into the reference section. When I take down the salmon display, I thought I would display some of the art books with art supplies and blank bookmarks for students to design. I can also feature some of the pop-up books with instructions on how to make pop-ups. There are some great websites with kid friendly instructions. 

  

     I love the phrase, “Using technology to promote books—not replace them!" which is the first thing you see on Joyce Valenza’s slideshare, Reading 2.0. A few slides down there is a photo of an open copy of Twilight with a tag that lists several related websites. I think this is a great way to promote reference materials as well as fiction and non-fiction books. Her blog entries in Never Ending Search are insightful and cover a range of library issues and ideas. 

     I will also display some of the historical reference books with fiction and historical fiction books that relate to the same setting or timeframe. Creating trivia questions and setting up some relevant realia (related everyday items) to encourage interest and inquiry could also be successful.

  

     When the reference books are used, do they answer the questions of the users? No, not really but they do provide an opportunity for a general ‘overview’ of a particular subject. The books also prompt discussions and questions. The reference books are still useful … for example, although the Egypt book used by a student for research was outdated, I could show the student to look at the chapter names and bold text headings to guide them in their online search. Photos from the reference book also gave them some direction for further inquiry. The Greek phrase for ‘encyclopedia’ translates as ‘general education.’ (p. 66, Reidling, Houston, 2019). In this way, the reference resources are meeting some needs.

     I’ll disprove myself… I had Grade 7 students ask me for a dictionary the other day because they were playing Scrabble at recess (the library is open at recess and lunch three days a week). The best part was the squeal of joy when one student discovered ‘pog’ was in fact, a word. In Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips, it states, “…there still remains a distinct and important place for numerous versions of general, foreign language, historical, slang, and dialect, thesauri, and specialty dictionaries in today’s modern, technological school libraries.” (p. 64, Riedling, Houston, 2019)- absolutely! It is my job to show students how useful and easy these resources are to use but they must be present in the library in order for me to do this.

    “A resource is any material, regardless of form or location, which provides necessary answer(s).” (p.3-4, Riedling, Houston 2019). The dictionary DID provide the grade 7s with the necessary answer so that reference book is staying for now.

    In the meantime, I have started an analysis of our library collection by surveying students and teachers by asking for input on their library needs. I have run several Follett reports that show the make up of our library collection and I now feel like I can begin to start to work on policies for evaluation and selection.  "It is better to have a small but relevant and up-to-date collection of materials than a large collection that is neither useful or of good quality." (p. 25, Reidling, Houston, 2019).  To keep, or not to keep reference resources? I will be keeping what is relevant, and looking to update and replace other resources. The digital resources are accessible to students, so I will aim to keep print resources accessible to them as well.

Works Cited

Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association & The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada, 2006.

Riedling, Ann Marlow, and Houston, Cynthia, Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips. 4th ed., Libraries Unlimited, 2019.

Joyce Valenza. Reading 2.0, School Library Journal, blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.

Webliography

Best Quotes About Libraries Librarians and Library and Information Science (librarianshipstudies.com)

Easy Pop Up Card How To Projects for Kids - Red Ted Art

Follett School Solutions | PreK-12 Education Technology, Products, and Services (follettlearning.com)

Reading20 | PPT (slideshare.net)