Sustainable collection management

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1 What to do with Weeded Items

Sustainable Collection Management: What to do with Weeded Items

By Ellen Ast

Emporia State University



2 What to do with Weeded Items Abstract

A library that uses what it already has acts in ways that are more environmentally and

financially sustainable. When it comes to weeding and de-acquisitioning items from a library¶s

collection, finding alternatives to trash and recycle bin disposal is a growing movement toward

greener collection management, and the future holds room for new markets and uses for de-

selected items. Efforts toward the establishment of libraries holding only weeded items should be

supported in order to increase sustainable librarianship and to decrease the psychological,

political, and practical barriers libraries and staff face when it is time to weed. Putting weeded

items toward marketing and pedagogical uses has the ability to give items new purpose and to

earn the public¶s trust ± that libraries are making good use of their resources instead of wasting

them.



3 What to do with Weeded Items Introduction

National attention to library closures, reduced hours and services, and layoffs all have

one thing in common: Lack of money. Testimonials from librarians facing budget crunches

describe how money is allocated toward maintaining essential services, while plans for

expansion, innovation and hiring may drop on a library¶s list of priorities until a more favorable

budget is passed. Especially at risk is a library¶s collection. Managing a healthy collection means

new items must be acquired and current items must meet user needs and attract people to the

library. Also, weeding is necessary to keep a collection fresh and physically accommodating for

new and more frequently-circulating items. However, people and organizations that have

experienced a spending crunch may have learned that when it is time to reduce spending and to

use more of what one already has, sometimes the current inventory is enough. Apply this

philosophy to libraries and a growing movement toward sustainable librarianship: When money

is short for new materials, labor, outreach services, and physical space, a library¶s collection can

still thrive and attract users if creative ideas toward reducing waste are put into practice. One

way to do this is to dispose of weeded items in green ways ± ways that lessen environmental

impact ± and to find alternatives to throwing them away.

³Every single library ± no matter the size, budget, type, or location ± can actively

participate in µgreen weeding,¶ another form of library resource sharing. The act of weeding itself

obviously ensures that collections, like gardens, stay green and healthy, but libraries can also

strive to reduce their footprint by making conscious and collective efforts to pursue only

environmentally friendly discard options´ (Penniman & McColl, 2008).

Disposal takes several forms: Exchange programs, donations, book sales, and credit from

publishers against future purchases. Materials are also transported to storage, recycled, and



4 What to do with Weeded Items thrown into the garbage. This presents challenges to weeding. Politically, libraries may fear

opposition by users and governing boards. Psychologically, libraries fear removal of something

that might have value. Common excuses for not thinning a collection are lack of time,

procrastination, fear of making a mistake, fear of adverse or embarrassing publicity, and fear of

being called a ³book burner´ (Evans & Saponaro, p. 303). However, arguments in favor of

including weeding in collection management policies say regular weeding is necessary to

improve access, save money and space, and gain trust.

³Because different types of libraries have significantly different clientele and goals, they

approach de-selection from different points of view«variations occur in how they select the

weeds and what they do with the weeds after pulling them´ (Evans & Saponaro, p. 297).

This paper will not discuss theories and practices behind de-selection. Instead, it will

discuss how weeded materials are disposed. Part of that discussion will include disposal

alternatives, and then end with an analysis of why this information is relevant to collection

management practices and the future of librarianship.

Disposal

Disposal methods differ from public, school, and academic and special libraries, however

the most common options among institutions are storage, special collections and archives (if

relevant to institution¶s history), replacement, recycling, throwing away or selling or donating

(more of those options will be discussed in the next section). Compared to academic, school, and

special libraries, little has been written about disposal at public libraries because they dispose of

more materials at a faster rate than other libraries because fewer public library users want

specific items, preferring instead up-to-date material on a subject or books by a favorite author

(Line, 1993). ³Public libraries regularly dispose of books that have become worn out and of



5 What to do with Weeded Items stock that is no longer used. There is thus a high degree of substitutability; if one book is not

there, others will often do as well.´

Little in-depth research literature has been published specifically about how libraries

dispose their discarded items once they are weeded. But opinion pieces and articles give practical

insight into the matter and bemoan the more conventional method of throwing away items

because of the bad public impression that can make ± not to mention the anecdotal anguish some

librarians feel about weeding. An article published in 2010 for an International Federation of

Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conference called for more awareness in particular

about waste management and environmentally sustainable disposal practices. ³More difficult and

complicated is the recycling of other, non-paper, items´ (Urness, 2010).

In a study of seven different types of libraries around Canada, most recycled damaged

and unwanted print items while libraries with plastics recycling in their areas recycled materials

in other formats. Some collection material was required to be destroyed because of licensing

agreements, while other materials in sound condition were recycled because staff expertise had

determined it as the best disposal method. Finally, libraries threw remaining leftover materials

into the garbage.

These findings closely resemble what is written about disposal practices in developed

countries. ³In the province of Alberta, there is continuing work to reduce and divert the waste

sent to landfills as well as investigation of alternative waste management methods. However,

most municipal waste is disposed of by this method´ (Urness, 2010). Yet the line between

whether to cast an item into the trash or recycling is not as easily drawn for the majority of

weeded materials still in reasonable condition or that still carry informational value. Other

options exist in these situations.



6 What to do with Weeded Items Alternatives

When it comes to weeded items, the majority of libraries feel their trash could be

another¶s treasure, or at least converted into attractions and learning opportunities before they

finally get disposed. According to Penniman and McColl (2008), ³Gone are the days of sneaking

to the dumpsters with boxes of weeded books in tow to throw away.´ Libraries needing to

dispose of materials have a growing number of ways to donate, trade, and sell them ± good news

also for libraries looking for alternative revenue sources.

Selling and donating weeded books are the most common book disposal alternatives,

which are increasing in popularity as more ways to do so become available online. Websites like

B-Logistics and Better World Books acquire discards from member libraries and sell them online

through eBay, Amazon and Alibris. Some proceeds go back to the member library. Other

libraries donate books to schools, shelters, nursing homes, and other service organizations for

people with barriers to information materials. Two years ago a group of librarians started a wiki

called Green Weeding for Libraries to collaborate about alternatives to throwing away books, or

how to throw away books in more environmentally-friendly ways.

Some libraries go beyond these alternatives and find ways to use books for purposes

other than reading. An example of how a library used weeded books to furnish the children¶s

section in another library is presented in an article about the Morrison Regional branch of the

Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Public Library in North Dakota. When the library needed to

replace a worn-down playhouse in the children¶s section, it used hundreds of weeded books

donated by a nearby public library to build a new one.

³Juvenile fiction books of a specific size were gathered for the sides, and picture books

were used to make roof µshingles.¶ Children¶s staff worked together«after some trial and



7 What to do with Weeded Items error«glue or staples«rows or staggered«binding in or out«plastic clear or no plastic

clear«eventually this collaborative effort resulted in a BookHouse´ (Snyder, 2008). The house

was large enough to allow up to six children inside and it was well-received by visitors.

In an article (2008) about what law libraries do with their discarded law books, some

creative answers were given by practicing law librarians. An academic library gifted its weeded

books to a new law school in Mexico, while others give books to people who want them for

alternative purposes.

According to Nancy Weiss and Karen Wallace, law librarians who were quoted in the

article, ³Some have gone to a local purse-maker, many to an area high school art teacher for an

altered books unit, and a few to someone who was going to make them into a lamp«We were

able to donate the books to a local university theater department«When a theater company, film

crew, or television crew needs to have law books as a background, the books have an opportunity

for their 15 minutes of fame."

Significant research specific to re-using weeded library materials has yet to be done,

although more literature is being published about the growing movement in green disposal

methods, which emphasizes finding new uses for de-selected items.

Analysis and Conclusion

The authors of the book Coll ection Development f or School Libraries (2003) suggest

every library include in their collection development policies a disposal plan for weeded items.

Such a plan is important should a library come under scrutiny for deciding which materials to

remove and what eventually happens to them (McGregor, Dillon & Henri, p. 231). At a time

when green waste management practices are considered the most responsible, libraries may be

questioned if their unsustainable disposal methods are revealed. Libraries may also face public



8 What to do with Weeded Items criticism for throwing away materials which may have value. Whatever controversy may arise, a

collection development policy that covers de-selection and disposal is considered good collection

management protocol in literature specifically about weeding.

As charitable as the some of the disposal alternatives previously mentioned are, they raise

discussion: ³If an item is not worthy of retention in a library, of what value is it to anyone else?´

(McGregor, Dillon & Henri, 2003). Some practitioners argue that items which a staff decides no

longer belong in a collection have enduring value and thus pedagogical potential. ³Different

editions of textbooks shed valuable light on what was being taught, and presumably what was

thought to be important, at particular points in time, and on how these perceptions changed´

(King, 2010).

There are also low-cost ways a library can make use of its weeded items in-house. First, it

can display in a designated area books about to be de-acquisitioned which might pique peoples¶

interest. Displayed books can be organized by subject, age, circulation, or whatever the library

chooses, and information can be provided about why those books were de-selected and about the

library¶s weeding policy. Information can also be provided about why the content of displayed

items has current value. Facts such as when a book was acquired and when it was most heavily

circulated can have value in connection with the library¶s past. However a library goes about it,

the marketing potential with de-selected items is great because the public can get a deeper look at

how a library manages its collection and weeded items can fulfill a new purpose: To teach about

the past.

Another look at this issue addresses a proposal for a new type of library in the future ± a

facility that only holds items weeded by other libraries. Such a depository may be the answer to

the psychological barriers which keep some libraries from being adequately weeded. All



9 What to do with Weeded Items information associated with a weeded item holds value, even for the simple means of comparing

it to content in new information forms. A physical library existing for the purpose of managing a

weeded book collection is preserving all levels and stages of information, from data to

knowledge, from which all can benefit. Efforts toward the establishment of libraries holding only

weeded items should be supported in order to increase sustainable librarianship and to decrease

the psychological, political and practical barriers libraries face when it is time to weed.

If a library must sneak de-selected materials into the trash and recycle bins, then perhaps

something is wrong, either with its policy or its operations. Putting weeded items toward

marketing and pedagogical uses has the ability to earn the public¶s trust ± that libraries are

making good use of their resources instead of wasting them. With the exception of moldy books,

damaged tape ribbons, and other physically unusable items, a library that uses what it already has

acts in ways that are more environmentally and financially sustainable. To conclude, the

movement toward finding alternatives to trash and recycle bin disposal should be helped along

until minimal waste is sent to landfills, especially as the future holds room for new markets and

uses for de-selected items.



10 What to do with Weeded Items R eferences

(2008). What do you do with old law books? AA LL S pectrum, 12(7), 38.

Evans, G. E., & Saponaro, M. Z. (2005). Developing l ibrary and inf or mation center

coll ections. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.

King, J. (2010). Old books: research archive or landfill? Hist ory o f Economics Review, 52, 127.

Line, M. B. (1993). Changes in the use of literature with time - obsolescence revisited. Library

Trends, 41, 665.

McGregor, J., Dillon, K., & Henri, J. (2003). Coll ection management f or school l ibraries

(pp. 231-242). Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.

Penniman, S., & McColl, L. (2008). Green Weeding: Promoting eco-friendly options for library

discards. Library J ournal ( 1976), 133(15), 32-3.

Snyder, N. (2008). A N ovel A ppr oach: Library Buil ds H ouse fr om Weeded Books. C hil dren &

Libraries, 6 (3), 16-17.

Urness, C. (2010). Library Coll ection Dis po sal : new t ool s f or media Management . World

Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA General Conference and Assembly,

Gothenburg, Sweden.

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