My Undoing

Today I sat in the bookshelves of Stewart Elementary and read a book while tears streamed down my face.


Let me start at the beginning...

There is more to library work than meets the eye.  Most of it is enjoyable and rewarding, but some of it is truly difficult for bibliophiles.  And the hardest task is ... Weeding.  Weeding is literally discarding books. Weeding is a necessary part of collection maintenance that keeps collections current and makes room for the new.  I have yet to weed a collection and not have students ask if we have gotten "all new books" in the library.  There is a simple truth about library shelves: dirty, old, warped, ripped, faded spines overshadow the new books.  And sadly the reverse is not true. The eye is drawn to the damage, not the shine.  Thus, students often say that there are no "good books" in a library because the library staff probably hasn't done the necessary work to "weed" the collection.  But when space is limited, and new books are coming in, the books that are not circulating need to be removed. Just like in your garden at home, you have to pull the weeds so the pretty flowers can be more attractive.

To better support the reading program in the Princeton elementary buildings, the Media Paraprofessionals and I are labeling the books in the collections with their corresponding Lexile score. This is a huge task.  Huge.  And to make the task more manageable (I learned the hard way) it is best to have the collections in good shape.  Which means, weeded.  Why label a book that is falling a part?  Why label a book that students can't relate to?  So, here at Stewart Elementary we are working on weeding the collection.  The last two days I have been in the Easy shelves pulling books and making the hard decision if it stays or if it goes. 

I pulled one book that looked dated and didn't have a title on the spine.  Typically an indication to me that the book is old and probably needs to leave the collection. When I pulled the book I happened to have it turned on it's back and I flipped through the pages back to front.  The sketches were black and white with an occasional highlight of pink and the text was the dated. I had a sense of recognition, but I brushed it aside since I have that feeling a lot since I work with books all day.  I immediately knew that I would remove this book from the collection. But when I finally turned to the front cover of the book I saw something unexpected. A wave of awe washed over me.  

It was the book.  The one book from childhood that I remember.  Really remember loving  It was the book that I looked for 5 years ago when my daughter was born but couldn't find in the public library system, Amazon, eBay or any book vendors.  

It was The Book. 

Marshmallow, story and Pictures by Clare Turlay Newberry published in 1942.  (Yes, 1942)  A simple story that we all know: one pampered animal at home, another brought into the house, rivalry, then friendship. A classic story structure for children's literature.  

But this book was The Book of my childhood.  I  didn't own it, we borrowed it from the public library. But I remember my parents reading me this book over, and over, and over again.  I'm certain I checked it out from the library a dozen times if not more.  I loved the soft fluffy look of the cover.  I loved cuddling with my parents under my pink canopy bed to listen to the story about Marshmallow. I loved when Marshmallow finally won over Oliver, the cat, by kissing Oliver on the nose.  I loved the book so much that my grandpa bought me a real bunny.  And of course I named the bunny Marshmallow.  When that bunny died, my parents bought me another white bunny and his name was Marshmallow 2. 

Today when I read the book I was a little sad at realizing that the book is actually poorly written and the illustrations are simple, at best. But of course, 35 years ago, that didn't matter to me I still loved the book.  

Today, our kids and students have a wonderful selection of well written and amazingly illustrated books to choose from.  Oddly enough finding Marshmallow rejuvenated my mission to offer students the best books possible in their school library.  Students today would not connect to Marshmallow, but by removing Marshmallow I made room for a new book that today's students will connect with.  Possibly making room for someone to find their own Marshmallow.