Weeding

Weeding materials no longer needed is an integral and ongoing part of maintaining relevant, accurate and up-to-date collections. Start with this great article, Seven Answers to Seven Weeding Questions, by Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly.

• • • Collection should reflect current school curriculum and learning goals

    • Keeps collection exciting and relevant

    • Increases library appeal & circulation

    • Save patrons and staff time

    • Protects readers from inaccurate information

    • Encourages browsing

    • Eliminates items no longer of interest to patrons

    • Saves space

    • Increases use of other materials

    • Reduces duplicate copies

    • Eliminates items no longer fitting library’s mission

    • Saves time inventorying

    • Gives newer material the opportunity to circulate

• • • "There's no such thing as a bad book."

      • The wrong something is not better than nothing.

    • "Someone might need them."

      • Unless the information is outdated, they can be recycled or passed onto another community organization that can make better use of them.

    • "It might be valuable."

      • Check if this is true at sites such as AbeBooks at www.abebooks.com/books/RareBooks

    • "I'm worried people will get upset if I get rid of things..."

      • This is where having a developed, Board-approved policy, with a statement concerning weeding, becomes invaluable. Learn whether your school district has a comprehensive policy.

    • "History is history and some books and topics never become outdated."

      • Information can and does become outdated as time goes by, with new points of view from voices that may not have been heard before. Check out the hilarious site Awful Library Books if you don't believe us!

    • "But this book is still popular and seems timeless."

      • What once might have been acceptable may now be a harmful stereotype that depicts or uses outdated concepts and language.

From the Texas State Library and Archives Commission comes the Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding (CREW) method of weeding library items and their MUSTIE criteria.

Misleading - is the text still factually accurate?

Ugly - is the book shabby or falling apart?

Superseded - has a new edition replaced an old one?

Trivial - does the item have literary or scientific merit? does the item have a limited window of popularity? (perhaps this was a book made into a movie which is no longer trending)

Irrelevant - does the item fall within the collecting scope and selection guidelines? does the item have low or no circulation?

Elsewhere - can the resource be easily borrowed from another library?; is the item easily found on the Internet?; are there a wealth of other, similar items on the topic in the library?

Further guidelines and thorough explanations on weeding can be found in the publication CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries, which is available as a free download. The CREW website also has additional teaching resources for the CREW method.

• Weed-as-you go: If physical items are returned and are shabby or falling apart, or if there is another MUSTIE need to weed, consider weeding on the spot. Also, consider weeding old editions upon receipt of new editions superseding them

• Weekly: Shelf check to remove items according to MUSTIE or copyright/published date criteria and make a chart of the stacks and color in where you've weeded

• Quarterly: Consider weeding by Dewey class/decade

• Annual: Consider deep weeding the physical collection during annual inventory

• Duplicate copies no longer needed

• Items in poor condition

• Older single title authors

• Obscure, ephemeral, or post-trend titles

• Series books when titles are missing

Destiny Library Manager makes it easy to weed with reports. Watch the free webinar from Follett.

• "Ditch that Book" from BookRiot

• Weeding guidance from NYC School Library system

• "Weeding is an Equity Issue" by Rabia Khokhar in Canadian School Libraries Journal