Weeding Criteria

CREW Weeding Manual

 CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries .  Jeanette Larson,  Texas State Library and Archives Commission 2012

CREW Weeding Manual

 CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries .  Jeanette Larson,  Texas State Library and Archives Commission 2012

Recent articles / websites about using CREW / MUSTIE criteria for weeding

• Chant, Ian. "The Art of Weeding | Collection Management." The Art of Weeding | Collection Management, Library Journal, 23 June 2015 

• Ford, Deborah B.  2015. "To Weed or Not to Weed? Criteria to ensure that your nonfiction collection remains up to date. School Library Journal, 4 Sept. 2015. 

• Lamb, Annette, and Larry Johnson.  2004-2013. Information Access & Delivery: Collection  Maintenance & Weeding. The School Library Media Specialist.

• Mississippi Department of Education. 2017.   "Weeding of Collection Resources." Mississippi Public and Nonpublic School Library Guide and Resources, p. 44 and    Weeding Overview for School Librarians.

• Weeding Library Collections: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for Library Collection Evaluation. American Library Association., Dec. 2015 

What are the Acceptable Age Spans for Dewey categories as determined by the CREW method?" Titlewave® Help Center, Follett School Solutions, Inc., 2018,  

Dewey ranges where titles with older copyrights are more likely to contain outdated/inaccurate information according to CREW

003-007 Systems Data/Computer Programs: 3 years

320-329 Political Science: 5 years

361-369 Social Problems and Services: 5 years

370-379 Education: 5 years

380-389 Commerce, Communications and Transportation: 5 years

520-529 Astronomy and Allied Sciences: 5 years

570-579 Life Sciences/Biology: 5 years

610-619 Medical Sciences/Medicine: 5 years

910-919 Geography, Maps, Atlases: 5 years

Note that these numbers are from Follett and refer to adult titles. Children's titles with simpler and more basic information usually don't date as quickly, but should be reviewed if they are older than the target range just in case.

MUSTIE

Misleading   – dated or wrong facts; outdated attitudes, stereotypes, archaic language

Ugly  – torn, dirty, broken, written in, brown ; dated or bad illustrations / fonts

Superseded – newer editions available (esp. almanacs, encyclopedias, etc.)

Trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific merit ; self-published ; esoteric

Irrelevant – doesn’t support curriculum ; out of scope reading / interest level ; dated popular culture ; esoteric subject

Elsewhere – information available elsewhere in collection or community ; e-resources supplant text

Gillian's List of all the things a school library IS NOT.

If something falls into one of these categories, it may not belong in your library.  Consider these when weeding and when accepting donations.

A school library is not:

• a history of children's literature collection

• a historical archive of school curriculum materials

• an annex to a private or classroom collection

• an indulgence for  hoarding tendencies

• a showcase for locally affiliated private or out of scope publications

• an archive of student work

• a storage facility for text books or reading sets

• a leveled literacy center

• a museum of audio visual and computer equipment, materials and manuals