Hello Librarians, These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone: How often do you modernize your reference sections? - Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal? How broad of a reference section do you maintain? - Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them? I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent. Thanks, Ross
I would like to burn our entire reference collection for the reasons you state below. However, I have a librarian who disagrees with me and since my wishes do seem a bit extreme, we've compromised on a very modest reference collection of about 4-5 shelves. When I started four years ago the reference section took up almost an entire wall and, apparently, no one noticed when we reduced it down to less than 1/4 its former size. As a side note, many of the books we removed from our reference section we just converted to regular circulating items and - wait for it - they still don't circ. I think the days of going to the library to sit down and look something up in a heavy paper book are over, as are the days when the reference companies issued new editions of their reference books annually. Thanks for letting me rant - to your specific questions, the libraries I've worked at back when we had reference sections, updated their books as they were published, not all at once. We maintained a complete Dewey decimal of reference books, maybe leaning a bit more heavily into areas we thought were of interest to our particular community. Good luck! Deb Hemmye Library Director Huntington Woods Public Library 26415 Scotia Road Huntington Woods, MI 48070 248-543-9720, ext. 686 Currently listening to The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans. From: "Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> To: "Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> Sent: Friday, May 8, 2026 9:48:54 AM Subject: [Michlib-l] Encyclopedias/Reference Materials? Hello Librarians, These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone: How often do you modernize your reference sections? * Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal? How broad of a reference section do you maintain? * Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them? I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent. Thanks, Ross _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
We dismantled our reference collection several years ago. We transferred some items to circulating and withdrew most of the rest. There is a small 'ready ref' collection at the reference desk which I'm also thinking of dismantling as we almost never use it. And yes, we would rely on the MEL E-Resources for any reference type of materials along with easily findable on credible online sources. (And yes, credible online sources may become a casualty of AI, but let's not let that ruin our Friday). Barbara Barbara Beaton Assistant Director/Reference Librarian Milan Public Library Milan, MI 48160 734-439-1240 www.milanlibrary.org<http://www.milanlibrary.org> she/her ________________________________ From: Tahquamenon Library Director via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org> Sent: Friday, May 8, 2026 9:48 AM To: michlib-l@liblists.org <michlib-l@liblists.org> Subject: [Michlib-l] Encyclopedias/Reference Materials? Hello Librarians, These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone: How often do you modernize your reference sections? * Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal? How broad of a reference section do you maintain? * Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them? I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent. Thanks, Ross
I do reference acquisition for the Ferndale youth department (excluding the YA collection) and we buy an entire World Book set every other year. The newest set is kept behind the desk and doesn't circulate, and the set from two years ago is shelved with nonfiction and does circulate (and indeed does get checked out). When we rotate a set out entirely there is usually a librarian at one of the public schools who would like it. Other books, such as dictionaries, we replace as-needed. Ours is an extremely small reference section (two small shelves behind the desk) but it does get used, and anecdotally I'm actually seeing an increase in our World Book usage both among kids and adults as the internet becomes less reliable and everyone is tired of screens. -- Mary Grahame Hunter Ferndale Area District Library Youth Services librarian Juvenile nonfiction, juvenile international, and parent/teacher selector 248-548-2504 x699 On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 10:25 AM Barbara Beaton via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
We dismantled our reference collection several years ago. We transferred some items to circulating and withdrew most of the rest. There is a small 'ready ref' collection at the reference desk which I'm also thinking of dismantling as we almost never use it.
And yes, we would rely on the MEL E-Resources for any reference type of materials along with easily findable on credible online sources. (And yes, credible online sources may become a casualty of AI, but let's not let that ruin our Friday).
Barbara
Barbara Beaton
Assistant Director/Reference Librarian
Milan Public Library
Milan, MI 48160
734-439-1240
www.milanlibrary.org
she/her ------------------------------ *From:* Tahquamenon Library Director via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org
*Sent:* Friday, May 8, 2026 9:48 AM *To:* michlib-l@liblists.org <michlib-l@liblists.org> *Subject:* [Michlib-l] Encyclopedias/Reference Materials?
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections?
- Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal?
How broad of a reference section do you maintain?
- Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
We eliminated our reference section during our renovation, including all 20 volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary. I hated to see it go as it was in pristine condition and I thought the kind of thing a library should have, but it was in pristine condition because hardly anyone used it in the 20 plus years we owned it, and it took up a lot of space. We saved some local interest reference materials but everything else went. Like so many of our collection decisions we depend on MeL so we don't feel we need to use limited shelf space for things that may only be accessed every 10 or 20 years or so. Mark On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 9:49 AM Tahquamenon Library Director via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections?
- Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal?
How broad of a reference section do you maintain?
- Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- *Mark Morton* Director Leland Township Public Library 203 E Cedar St PO Box 736 Leland, MI 49654 231-256-9152
I'm with you, Deb! Burn the reference collection down. We went from a full reference section to nothing. Everything is circulating, but like Deb found out, it still doesn't circ, so they're getting weeded.
On 05/08/2026 10:16 AM EDT Deb Hemmye via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
I would like to burn our entire reference collection for the reasons you state below. However, I have a librarian who disagrees with me and since my wishes do seem a bit extreme, we've compromised on a very modest reference collection of about 4-5 shelves. When I started four years ago the reference section took up almost an entire wall and, apparently, no one noticed when we reduced it down to less than 1/4 its former size. As a side note, many of the books we removed from our reference section we just converted to regular circulating items and - wait for it - they still don't circ. I think the days of going to the library to sit down and look something up in a heavy paper book are over, as are the days when the reference companies issued new editions of their reference books annually.
Thanks for letting me rant - to your specific questions, the libraries I've worked at back when we had reference sections, updated their books as they were published, not all at once. We maintained a complete Dewey decimal of reference books, maybe leaning a bit more heavily into areas we thought were of interest to our particular community.
Good luck!
Deb Hemmye Library Director Huntington Woods Public Library 26415 Scotia Road Huntington Woods, MI 48070 248-543-9720, ext. 686
Currently listening to The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans.
--------------------------------------------- From: "Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> To: "Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> Sent: Friday, May 8, 2026 9:48:54 AM Subject: [Michlib-l] Encyclopedias/Reference Materials?
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections? * Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal? How broad of a reference section do you maintain? * Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
I just eliminated our reference collection because it wasn't getting used. The only things I kept as reference were two sets of encyclopedias and a couple of expensive medical manuals. Everything else was weeded out or moved to circulating. I hoped that interfiling them might get them more use, but we'll see what happens. Brandy Lindsey Learning Commons WL Western On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 10:53 AM Amber Hughey via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
I'm with you, Deb! Burn the reference collection down.
We went from a full reference section to nothing. Everything is circulating, but like Deb found out, it still doesn't circ, so they're getting weeded.
On 05/08/2026 10:16 AM EDT Deb Hemmye via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
I would like to burn our entire reference collection for the reasons you state below. However, I have a librarian who disagrees with me and since my wishes do seem a bit extreme, we've compromised on a very modest reference collection of about 4-5 shelves. When I started four years ago the reference section took up almost an entire wall and, apparently, no one noticed when we reduced it down to less than 1/4 its former size. As a side note, many of the books we removed from our reference section we just converted to regular circulating items and - wait for it - they still don't circ. I think the days of going to the library to sit down and look something up in a heavy paper book are over, as are the days when the reference companies issued new editions of their reference books annually.
Thanks for letting me rant - to your specific questions, the libraries I've worked at back when we had reference sections, updated their books as they were published, not all at once. We maintained a complete Dewey decimal of reference books, maybe leaning a bit more heavily into areas we thought were of interest to our particular community.
Good luck!
*Deb Hemmye* Library Director Huntington Woods Public Library 26415 Scotia Road Huntington Woods, MI 48070 248-543-9720, ext. 686
Currently listening to *The Correspondent,* by Virginia Evans.
------------------------------ *From: *"Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> *To: *"Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> *Sent: *Friday, May 8, 2026 9:48:54 AM *Subject: *[Michlib-l] Encyclopedias/Reference Materials?
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections?
- Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal?
How broad of a reference section do you maintain?
- Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
I just went through and weeded out much of our reference collection. Hardly any of it was getting used at this point and was either woefully out of date or replaced by digital resources. What I did keep are the few resources that I want to make sure are in the building if people need them - *101 Legal Forms for Personal Use* (NOLO), the Michigan building/electrical/plumbing code books, and some maps/atlases (particularly road atlases and outdoor recreation maps). Almost all of these are also in our circulating collection. *Chelsea Heisler* *Local History & Genealogy Librarian* *Marshall District Library* *124 W. Green St.* *Marshall, MI 49068* *(269) 781-7821 ext.2300* On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 10:59 AM Lindsey, Brandy via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
I just eliminated our reference collection because it wasn't getting used. The only things I kept as reference were two sets of encyclopedias and a couple of expensive medical manuals. Everything else was weeded out or moved to circulating. I hoped that interfiling them might get them more use, but we'll see what happens.
Brandy Lindsey Learning Commons WL Western
On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 10:53 AM Amber Hughey via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
I'm with you, Deb! Burn the reference collection down.
We went from a full reference section to nothing. Everything is circulating, but like Deb found out, it still doesn't circ, so they're getting weeded.
On 05/08/2026 10:16 AM EDT Deb Hemmye via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
I would like to burn our entire reference collection for the reasons you state below. However, I have a librarian who disagrees with me and since my wishes do seem a bit extreme, we've compromised on a very modest reference collection of about 4-5 shelves. When I started four years ago the reference section took up almost an entire wall and, apparently, no one noticed when we reduced it down to less than 1/4 its former size. As a side note, many of the books we removed from our reference section we just converted to regular circulating items and - wait for it - they still don't circ. I think the days of going to the library to sit down and look something up in a heavy paper book are over, as are the days when the reference companies issued new editions of their reference books annually.
Thanks for letting me rant - to your specific questions, the libraries I've worked at back when we had reference sections, updated their books as they were published, not all at once. We maintained a complete Dewey decimal of reference books, maybe leaning a bit more heavily into areas we thought were of interest to our particular community.
Good luck!
*Deb Hemmye* Library Director Huntington Woods Public Library 26415 Scotia Road Huntington Woods, MI 48070 248-543-9720, ext. 686
Currently listening to *The Correspondent,* by Virginia Evans.
------------------------------ *From: *"Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> *To: *"Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org> *Sent: *Friday, May 8, 2026 9:48:54 AM *Subject: *[Michlib-l] Encyclopedias/Reference Materials?
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections?
- Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal?
How broad of a reference section do you maintain?
- Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
As a school librarian, I have gotten rid of the entire reference section. Everything that we used to have, we have through MeL, other subscription databases and eBooks through Gale. I did subscribe to the OED to replace all the dictionaries. All the reference moved to Gale eBooks (and EBSCO), I have CultureGrams for country research and it updates each year. Lots of other reference on MeL as well. The Britannica resources are top notch for general reference. It does integrate helpful AI for research and not doing student work for them. Students prefer the permalinks if I help them with reference questions because they can get it at home, or I can just email them helpful research. Our circulating collection is mostly monographs for classes, other interesting non-fiction and fiction. You can take a peek at what we have for high school students here: https://www.galepages.com/lom_inac It was nice to have the reference shelf space back. I was able to purchase more fiction, which is what circulates the most right now. Klaudia On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 9:49 AM Tahquamenon Library Director via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections?
- Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal?
How broad of a reference section do you maintain?
- Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
We too have taken some of our Reference section and put it in with the non-fiction, but ours has been going out. And, believe it or not, our students have been asking to take the reference materials out this year - just for regular reading. Our biographical encyclopedias were being used for one of the 9th grade class biography report assignments until we changed teachers. Our Bibles have gone out several times this year and the history-related texts and atlases have been going out as well. Almost all of it is boys interested in non-fiction. On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 1:23 PM Klaudia Janek via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
As a school librarian, I have gotten rid of the entire reference section. Everything that we used to have, we have through MeL, other subscription databases and eBooks through Gale. I did subscribe to the OED to replace all the dictionaries. All the reference moved to Gale eBooks (and EBSCO), I have CultureGrams for country research and it updates each year. Lots of other reference on MeL as well. The Britannica resources are top notch for general reference. It does integrate helpful AI for research and not doing student work for them. Students prefer the permalinks if I help them with reference questions because they can get it at home, or I can just email them helpful research. Our circulating collection is mostly monographs for classes, other interesting non-fiction and fiction. You can take a peek at what we have for high school students here: https://www.galepages.com/lom_inac
It was nice to have the reference shelf space back. I was able to purchase more fiction, which is what circulates the most right now. Klaudia
On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 9:49 AM Tahquamenon Library Director via Michlib-l < michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Hello Librarians,
These questions are aimed more towards the various school-public libraries, but could be applicable to everyone:
How often do you modernize your reference sections?
- Is it on a rolling basis, or an all-at-once deal?
How broad of a reference section do you maintain?
- Do Mel resources supplement your reference, or have they replaced them?
I would like to structure reference modernization into our acquisitions, but with the prevalence of the internet, we have seen declining use of the resources by our students and public. An attempt at increasing circulation was made some years ago by moving some materials into the non-fiction sections, but that has not helped to a large extent.
Thanks,
Ross _______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list -- michlib-l@liblists.org To unsubscribe send an email to michlib-l-leave@liblists.org
-- *Linda A. Quiggle* Jonesville High School Library 460 Adrian Rd. Jonesville, MI 49250 (517)849-9934 lquiggle@jonesvilleschools.org
participants (10)
-
Amber Hughey -
Barbara Beaton -
Chelsea Heisler -
Deb Hemmye -
Klaudia Janek -
Linda Quiggle -
Lindsey, Brandy -
Mark Morton -
Mary Grahame Hunter -
Tahquamenon Library Director