Balance

As the new year gets started, I really seem to be coming across this word, Balance, a lot. National Geographic pointed it out to me in their new series, 7 Billion. All those diet and fitness commercials on television say with a balanced diet. My three-year-old daughter reminds me that she knows how to balance on a beam.

All this reminds me of the balance I am looking for in the library. I started a weeding project in the nonfiction section this week, and I began in the biography section. I am trying to find a balance of what "old" people/biographies do students need or want access too and what biographies seem irrelevant these days. Those will be weeded and new "more relevant" biographies will be added. I am also trying to balance the look of the shelves so students want to approach the biography section. Right now the section looks crowded and unapproachable, and I feel like students don't even want to walk into the stacks, not just in the biography, but in all the non fiction section. So, I need to find some balance.

Here is my plan, so I am curious what others think. I am not too far into the project to put a screeching halt and change things around, but I'm getting close so offer your advice quickly, please. I am re cataloging all of the biography anthologies (presidents, Famous African Americans, Notable Pioneers, kings and queens) as 920 and the "solo" biographies as 921. I feel like the biography anthologies don't get used when they are mixed in with the solo biographies. What I'm not sure about yet is how to organize the 920's. Should I try to categorize them? For example, President biography books would either go 920 PRE (category President) or 920 WAL (organized by author)? If I go with category, what do I do with stand alone 920 books that don't have a category? Well, I have a few weeks to worry about that. I am still in the weeding and separating 920 and 921.

I hope you find balance in your library, on the bike and in your life. I'm working on all three.