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S Superseded by Better Works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

Questions? jill@jumbleofjill.com@jumbleofjill