Deselection Policy

I.          Weeding Purpose

Patrons of Longview Middle School Libraries benefit from a well-weeded collection in the following ways:

• Yearly budget monies are spent on resources and materials that useful to current needs;

• Patrons can quickly and easily find the resources and materials they need;

• Patrons are confident that the resources they use are carefully evaluated and are appropriate to the patrons’ tasks;

• Library resources and materials are evaluated often to insure they are meeting the needs of the patrons; and

• The library remains an inviting environment for study, learning, and the free exchange of ideas.

II.        Frequency

Books will be continuously evaluated for wear and damage as they are returned by patrons. Rotating portions of the collection will be inventoried at the end of each semester on an annual basis. Circulation reports will be run and analyzed near the end of each school year. Weeding decisions will be based upon the condition of the collection, circulation, and need.

III.       Responsibility for Deselection

Teacher librarians will make recommendations about items to be weeded. 

IV.       Deselection Criteria: Books, Audiobooks, and DVDs

Books will be weeded based on the following considerations taken from the CREW Guidelines for Weeding Your Collection (Larson, 2008):

1.     The age of the book          

Categories that require frequent review:

• 000:     Computer

• 100:     Psychology

• 300:     College and career material

• 400:     Grammars superseded by online citation machines

• 500:     Astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology

• 600:     Electronics, engineering, health, technology

• 900:     Popular biographies          

Categories not quickly outdated, Dictionaries, Literary criticism, Classics of literature, Foreign language literature, Art books, Local history/geography books providing general principles of a subject or discipline

2.    The number of years since the last recorded circulation of the book:

• Nonfiction: Not circulated within the last 10 years

• Fiction: Not circulated within the last 5 years

3.    Negative factors called “MUSTIE” factors:

• Misleading (and/or factually inaccurate)

• Ugly (worn, unappealing cover, beyond repair

• Superseded (replaceable by a newer edition or better resource about the subject

• Trivial (no discernible merit, generally trendy and of little lasting interest)

• Irrelevant to the needs and interests of our community

• Elsewhere (the material can be borrowed from another institution or through another format.)

V.        Deselection of Online Databases

Online databases will be evaluated annually based on the criteria outlined in the Key Issues for e-Resource Development (Johnson, et al., 2012) which include:

• Continued relevance to the resource users

• Usage trends

• How the resource compares to other resources in terms of cost per use

• If the resource continues to represent value for money

• If other options for access might be more cost effective

• If the number of simultaneous users is set at the appropriate level

These factors will be weighed against the following

• Promotion of the resource

• Level of training provided to users of the resource

• Reliability of access

• Level of support provided by the vendor

VI.       Disposal of Weeded Items

Teachers within the building will be given the first opportunity to request and take deselected materials. All remaining items will be processed as surplus using the procedures outlined by the Longview School District. Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) will not be placed in the collection, but will be made available to students or can be recycled. It is unethical to sell copies provided by publishers for librarian review, so any review titles will be offered to students or teachers.          

Sources Consulted in the Creation of the Longview Middle  School Collection Development and Deselection Policies:

Bishop, K. (2007). The collection program in schools: Concepts,practices and information sources (4th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Kreitzer, M. (2010). Pineview High School collection development policy retrieved from http://www.pineview.org/uploads/3/8/6/3/3863562/pvhs_library_collection_policy_updated_oct-2010.pdf

Larson, J. (2008). CREW: A weeding manual for modern libraries. Austin, TX: Texas State Library and Archives Commission retrieved from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ld/pubs/crew/index.html