You are now entering the Kids’ Zone:

GROUP FUN!

Browsing and Lounging!

Playtime!

Plain Old Reading

But all these great literacy and pre-literacy activities take uplots of SPACE . . .

And a lot of children’s areas look like this . . .

No room for Group Fun No room for Browsing and

Lounging No room for Playtime No room for Plain Old

Reading

Not to mention that there’s barely any room to WORK.

Q: What’s on the shelf for me today?A: Hard to tell. I don’t see any colorful covers begging for attention.A: Some of the spines are so worn I can’t even read the titles.A: The shelves are so crowded my little fingers can’t pull the books out.

Same shelves—used differently—need more SPACE to showcase

popular, timely and timeless titles

Best SPACE scenario:new shelving showcases beautiful,

thoughtful collectionsBright, crisp titles stand out

Weeded shelves are easier to navigate

THE WARY WEEDER:“[I] don't like throwing materials away for fear that they may be useful some day.” (145)

THE WEEDAHOLIC: “The problem with not weeding is that children find it more difficult to find the good books in the forest of old, damaged, or unattractive books left in the collection.” (145)

Fasick, Adele M, and Leslie Edmonds Holt. Managing Children's Services In the Public Library. 3rd ed. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.