| By Gale Staff |
It’s mid-June and it’s been a rainy spring, which means many things. The tomato seedlings are establishing a healthy root system. Lilac blossoms, intensely fragrant but short-lived, have briefly confetti-ed the lawn and blown away. Swollen peonies are unfurling like sails as we speak. The yard is muddy, dog tracked. And the weeds are already out of control. Maintaining the vegetable plot and the flower beds is tough work but it’s obviously the only way to grow a garden – you can’t plant new things in space you don’t have.
The Need to Weed
The same is true of library shelves – you can’t fit new books in space you don’t have. The difference is that the older books that need to be cleared in order to make room for new growth are very unlike weeds, which is what makes the task so difficult. Unsightly weeds strangle the plants we’re nurturing, while books, though sometimes old or tattered, still hold a special place in our hearts.
This is where the Thorndike Press Weeding program can help! For every large print book you weed from your collection, Thorndike gives you $10 off each new large print title you purchase. It’s a way to make the parting more palatable.
Why Weed?
There are numerous benefits to weeding out older titles to make room for new books. If you dread the task of pruning away books that have been on display for a while, consider these benefits:
- Relevance: Weeding fiction that patrons are no longer seeking out allows you to make room for newer titles with more immediate relevance to your community and your readers’ needs and interests. (Check out Valeria Luiselli’s Lost Children Archive or Help Me! One Woman’s Quest to Find out if Self-Help Really Can Change Your Life by Marianne Power!)
- Currency: Many readers are looking for the latest and greatest titles that they’ve been hearing about on NPR or reading about in reviews and bestseller lists. Weeding ensures that your offerings are as timely as possible. (Don’t miss I Know Who You Areby Alice Feeny and Wunderland, by Jennifer Cody Epstein!)
- Appeal: Let’s face it, books that have been in circulation a while receive their fair share of wear and tear. Replacing old titles with new ones can make your shelves more visually appealing as patrons scan them to see what grabs their attention. Remember, library offerings need to be as vibrant and eye-catching as possible – just like those peony blossoms. Competition for patrons’ attention is fierce, considering that potential readers are also distracted by social media, binge-able television programming, and movies, not to mention the plethora of booksellers, online and otherwise.
How to Reap Your Rewards
Ready to start earning $10 off new titles for each older book you weed from your collection? Here’s how:
- Contact us and let us know how many books you’ve weeded out and which new titles you want for your shelves, and we’ll apply your discount. OR
- Place your order online here and use promo code TPWEED20.
Like a bed of freshly planted flowers, a library shelf full of new books entices library patrons, drawing them in for a closer look. But many patrons won’t take that closer peek if they’re seeing the same choices on display that they noticed the last time they visited. So, mix it up, and save some green while you’re at it by reaping the rewards from weeding!
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