Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. Depending on the job it can be daunting, physically challenging, politically charged, and often emotionally draining. When we do it, we feel as if we must be as sneaky as possible. And sneaky is rarely thorough or efficient. Too often, we don’t do it at all.
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. Depending on the job it can be daunting, physically challenging, politically charged, and often emotionally draining. When we do it, we feel as if we must be as sneaky as possible. And sneaky is rarely thorough or efficient. Too often, we don’t do it at all.
Somehow, in a culture where you must have a new $30,000 car every four years and a new $500 cell phone every two years and a new wardrobe every season there is this perpetual myth that every book, every $3.00 paperback Scholastic tv tie-in that winds up in a library should be there forever. There is this weird idea that in a culture driven by a 24/7 news cycle, updated almost by the second , that books written before some of today's children were even born about countries and people deeply affected by what is happening today, are okay. There is this myth that every library is the architectural equivalent of Hermione’s purse of perpetual holding. Somehow you can keep cramming stuff in there just in case you might need it someday without the purse ever getting heavier and more difficult to use, and without the materials inside ever becoming obsolete and useless.
Somehow, in a culture where you must have a new $30,000 car every four years and a new $500 cell phone every two years and a new wardrobe every season there is this perpetual myth that every book, every $3.00 paperback Scholastic tv tie-in that winds up in a library should be there forever. There is this weird idea that in a culture driven by a 24/7 news cycle, updated almost by the second , that books written before some of today's children were even born about countries and people deeply affected by what is happening today, are okay. There is this myth that every library is the architectural equivalent of Hermione’s purse of perpetual holding. Somehow you can keep cramming stuff in there just in case you might need it someday without the purse ever getting heavier and more difficult to use, and without the materials inside ever becoming obsolete and useless.
This myth of infinite holding, as I call it, affects all types of libraries, but is perhaps most harmful to school libraries. School libraries need to be as up to date as possible in all their holdings. They need to be as easy to use as possible. They and their holdings need to be as visually appealing as possible on the outside since many of their customers can’t read, or need to be enticed to read, the quality content on the inside. These requirements should be foremost in our minds when we go through our stacks, make budget requests, and when we explain and fight for our jobs. Shelves full of dusty, yellowed, dull-spined books is an adult aesthetic, and a very specific one, and it has nothing to do with school libraries.
This myth of infinite holding, as I call it, affects all types of libraries, but is perhaps most harmful to school libraries. School libraries need to be as up to date as possible in all their holdings. They need to be as easy to use as possible. They and their holdings need to be as visually appealing as possible on the outside since many of their customers can’t read, or need to be enticed to read, the quality content on the inside. These requirements should be foremost in our minds when we go through our stacks, make budget requests, and when we explain and fight for our jobs. Shelves full of dusty, yellowed, dull-spined books is an adult aesthetic, and a very specific one, and it has nothing to do with school libraries.
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. I’m here to say, and to encourage you to say, that it is not dirty, except literally sometimes, and it’s not a secret. It’s not “bad”. It’s not “censorship”. It’s not “waste”. It’s our professional duty and we do it with care and consideration and deep understanding of our materials and our role in our school communities.
Weeding is the dirty secret of librarianship. I’m here to say, and to encourage you to say, that it is not dirty, except literally sometimes, and it’s not a secret. It’s not “bad”. It’s not “censorship”. It’s not “waste”. It’s our professional duty and we do it with care and consideration and deep understanding of our materials and our role in our school communities.
Establish your right and duty as a library professional to deselect materials as part of collection development.
Establish your right and duty as a library professional to deselect materials as part of collection development.
Quotable quotes
"Why we weed". Awful Library Books. Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner. 2013
"Weeding is an essential component of library collection management. Most libraries simply do not have unlimited space, and we must continually make room for new materials. Weeding is necessary to remain relevant to our users and true to our missions. Remember – unless your library exists to archive and preserve materials for the ages, we are not in the business of collecting physical things. We collect information and provide access to information. "
“Responsibility for Selection” ALA Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School & Academic Libraries. 2018
“…In school libraries, the school board is legally responsible for the resources in school libraries; however, it often delegates this to the professional school library staff. Although many people contribute to the selection process by recommending resources for the library in an advisory capacity, the policy should clearly state that the responsibility for coordinating and making final decisions rests with the library professional staff.”
“Collection Maintenance and Weeding” ” ALA Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School & Academic Libraries. 2018
“Weeding or the deselection of material is critical to collection maintenance and involves the removal of resources from the collection. All materials are considered for weeding based on accuracy, currency, and relevancy. Space limitations, edition, format, physical condition, and number of copies are considered when evaluating physical materials.”
The Wise Whys of Weeding by Arlen Kimmelman. Teacher Librarian Vol. 46, Issue 1 October 2018
"The language of consumer behaviorists explains much of the same behaviors librarians see in their patrons. Common phrases such as "wanting what we cannot have" (or do not have), "missed opportunities," "ignoring the facts," "focusing on irrelevant information," "expecting perfection," and "anticipating regret" are the conditions that cause choice overload (Barry, 2004; Rosenfeld, 2014; Schwartz, 2004). Substitute "patrons" for "shoppers" and "book" for "product" in most of this research, and the parallels become even clearer. For example, as Barry (2004) summarizes, "As options increase among varieties of gourmet jam or chocolate [books], shoppers [patrons] are less likely to buy any of them" (p. 13a).
National School Library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. 2018. American Association of School Libraries. Page 55.
“The effective school library includes a professionally curated collection of resources selected based on their authority, currency, relevance, scope, and relationship to other items in the collection.”
Collection Development Policy
Collection Development Policy
Know your Collection Development Policy (sometimes called a Selection Policy). If you don't have one or need to update one use the ALA Toolkit to build one. Make sure you CDP includes sections on Donations, Maintenance and Weeding, and Reconsideration Procedures.
ALA Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School & Academic Libraries
Feel free to borrow, with citation, from the Cambridge Public Schools Library Media Department's Selection Policy.
Selection Policy. Cambridge Public Schools Library Media Department. 2016,
Use professional standards inform your thinking
Use professional standards inform your thinking
Note that ALA, SLA and MSLA no longer establish goal numbers for per pupil collection sizes or book expenditures. With the inclusion of so many e-resources with different funding structures and ways of providing access that supplant or enhance print collections it is too difficult to come up with target numbers. Best practice advice is to consider quality over quantity and compare collection sizes to similarly sized schools in your area. That said, the latest available recommendation numbers are from the School Libraries Count! longitudinal report, 2012.
The Massachusetts School Library Study: Equity and Access for Students in the Commonwealth, MSLA , March 2018, pages 58-59
“In the digital age it is difficult to ascertain what constitutes an adequate library collection and how to calculate the size of the collection. While school librarians develop and manage hybrid print/digital collections there are few metrics beyond usage statistics to count books or journals/magazines in e-book, e-reference, and e-journal collections to which libraries subscribe. Quantitative standards formerly set by professional library associations are difficult to apply to digital collections. In addition, digitized text shifts the focus from the number of items on library shelves to technological infrastructure [i.e., internet access, bandwidth, and hardware/devices]. This issue raises questions about the capacity of school libraries to provide access that is in large part determined by adequate funding provided on the local level as well as how funding is allocated for technology infrastructure. For example, in many cases funding for technology infrastructure is allocated through IT rather than library departments and grants, which can vary among districts. Traditional per capita allocation determined by a school’s population size may not be a critical factor in funding electronic infrastructure and e-resources. However print collections are still sensitive to student population size. In addition, access to e-resources affects the nature and size of the print collection, especially for non-fiction, reference and periodical materials. The size and age of the library’s print collection, is no longer a reliable measure of access to up-to-date, authoritative sources. However, under-funded school libraries will have smaller, and probably older print collections. Also, the age of the collection may no longer be responsive to curriculum, especially in Dewey categories such as science and social studies....”
Position Statement on Qualitative Standards. AASL. 2013
"In the history of school libraries, national quantitative standards provided guidance for the minimal size of collections, space needed for facilities, and adequate staffing. These standards led to significant growth in early school libraries and offered baseline numbers for the allocation of school funding. They were ultimately about access: sufficient quantities of resources, time, and space for students and staff in a building to have sufficient access to the high quality and current materials needed for reading and learning. As we move toward a future where technology is essentially ubiquitous, the standards needed for access are of an entirely different order from those of the Twentieth Century. Many of today’s students have unprecedented access to unlimited quantities of information; access issues in this context are about selected quality not quantity. Issues of equity also persist and are exacerbated by technological gaps. These kinds of access issues vary from locality to locality and with the introduction of new technologies.
School librarians should engage in a continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of the school library program to meet the needs of patrons for access to ideas and information through the resources of the library. Such an evaluation should be locally based, responsive to community needs, and flexible to allow for new formats, new modes of access, and changing demographics. National attempts to provide quantitative measures would lose this local context and flexibility. Rather than quantitative standards that promote compliance with an inflexible and minimal list, school librarians need the dispositions of deep commitment and inquiry required by continuous program assessment and advocacy with stakeholders."
Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Centers in the United States: Results From the 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey. Amy Bitterman, Lucinda Gray, and Rebecca Goldring. National Center for Education Statistics, 2013.
“The number of holdings in public library media centers per 100 students was 2,188 for book titles and 81 for audio/video materials at the end of the 2010–11 school year (table 5).”
Budget and Replacement Costs for books and other materials
SLJ’s Average Book Prices for 2023 . School Library Journal, 29 Feb 2024.
2024 School Spending Survey Report. School Library Journal, 4 April 2024.
Books by the Foot
If you're redesigning and need to figure out how much shelving you need to free up or purchase
Size matters, estimating shelf capacity. Awful library books, 2016.
Cost of Keeping a Book
In 2010 Courant and Nielsen (p.91) published a study that concluded it cost $4.26 a year to keep a book on the open shelves in an academic library. Certainly school library costs are lower, but even if it's only $.25 a year if you have an 8,000 volume library that adds up to $2,000. Mostly the cost comes from library staff time shelving and searching around unused books for the ones you need.
Use local statistics to both explain your position and generate criteria
Use local statistics to both explain your position and generate criteria
School / District Statistics
Need enrollment or other basic statistics for your school or other schools in your area? They are all collected here. Look under "Directories" for individual school and district-wide profiles.
School and District Profiles. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 2025.
Online Catalog / Circulation Statistical Reports
Use your online circulation system to generate statistics for collection numbers, age and usage. These provide you with data for checking your assumptions, informing your project design, and setting weeding criteria. Most online systems provide "canned" or "ready-made" reports where you may be able to choose limiting factors such as calendar dates, patron types, type of materials and a variety of other points to customize your findings. Many systems also provide data dump reports which kick out raw data that can be exported to a spreadsheet software such as Excel or Google Sheets and manipulated there.
Here are some numbers to look for / generate
Collection counts -- Number of volumes. Number of titles. Number of volumes per patron / patron group
Circulations for selected span of time that can also be limited by patron / volume / title
Mean, median and mode publication years for collection or Dewey range
"Collection analysis" ; "Aged Titles" ; "Collection statistics"
Average cost of materials in a collection or Dewey range ; average cost per patron / patron group
Follett TitleWise
If you have a Follett Library Solutions TitleWave account you can request a TitleWise report which gives you number of items, average publication date, number of volumes per student and other useful statistics. These reports have drill down capabilities which allow you to calculate statistics for specific Dewey ranges or collections and will let you to generate pull lists based on CREW criteria. If you are a Follett Destiny customer you can generate these reports yourself from Destiny.
Do keep in mind that they are primarily a book / materials vendor and so your numbers may look dire.
Sign up for a free account here.
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