Post on 05-Jan-2016
Weeding 101: What to keep, what to toss, and what to replace
Presented By: Jill Burket Ragase
"NEXT TO EMPTYING THE OUTDOOR BOOKDROP ON COLD AND SNOWY DAYS, WEEDING IS THE MOST UNDESIRABLE JOB IN THE LIBRARY. IT IS ALSO ONE OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT. COLLECTIONS THAT GO UNWEEDED TEND TO BE CLUTTERED, UNATTRACTIVE, AND UNRELIABLE INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES." -
WILL MANLEY, "THE MANLEY ARTS," BOOKLIST, MARCH 1, 1996
weeding the ongoing process of removing resources from the collection.
Do I have to?
• Space
• Time
• Increased Appeal
• Accuracy
• Feedback on Collection Strengths and Weaknesses
Deciding what to Keep and what to toss
MUSTY + DATA = WEEDING
m Misleading Information
U Ugly
S Superseded by Better Works
T Trivial
Y Your Collection Has No Use
Considerations:For all materials, consider: Date when was the item published? When was it added to the collection?
Author is the author still read or likely to be read in the future? Is the book a lesser work?
Publisher was the book self-published or published by an ‘instant’ press that may not have taken car e in editing and printing?
FOR CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT MATERIALS, ALSO CONSIDER:
•Format
•Current interest
•Use in school curricula
•Series Fiction
Additional Considerations
•The library's selected service responses and resultant goals
•The needs and demands of the library's community of users
•The availability of more suitable material
•The relationship of a particular item to others on that subject
•Cooperative agreements with other libraries and the ability for patrons to use other libraries in the area
•The degree to which the library serves as an archive or local history center
•The ability of the library to borrow the item through interlibrary loan
What about fiction
Duplicates
Poor Condition
Obscure
Genre Fiction
A word about picture books
There is no reason for this section to be anything less than exemplary
Data, data, data Put your OPAC’s tools to use
Exceptions:
Award Winners
Local History/Genealogy
Local Authors
Public Relations Hot Button Items
The 8/3/Musty Rule
The first number refers to the number of years since the book’s last copyright date.
The second figure refers to the maximum permissible time without usage
MUSTY
I need a schedule Me too!
Common missteps We’ve all been there
BUT… There are not buts in weeding
That’s taxpayer moneyBut I bought that book myselfBooks are valuable I’m afraid it will look ad to have empty shelvesThis is someone’s favorite books