Rightsizing the Academic Library Collection by Suzanne M. Ward

 

By Adame, Katelynn

  Ward, S. M. (2015). Rightsizing the academic library collection. ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association.

Summary: 

Ward's Rightsizing the academic library collection provides a new take on the deselection/weeding process. Always a daunting task, the book proposes the solution of rightsizing for academic libraries. The book begins my evaluating some of the challenges faced by academic libraries, including collaborative efforts, instruction design, employee relation, online learning, enrollment consideration, data collection, diversity, and more. Ward points out that libraries, "need to prove not only that their services benefit the institutions students and faculty, but also that these services are an integral part of student and faculty success," (p. 3). Where collections are concerned, issues of space, quality, and usability are all considerations when advocating for the growth of the library and their collections. Collection curation and deselection criteria should constantly be evolving to meet the needs of students, however, predicting the needs can be difficult, leaving library staff trailing behind while students advance. Large, unruly collections can be difficult to maintain and use, posing potential risks to funding and accessibility of the library collection. Ward does cover some traditional methods of weeding, and while these values still have merit, they may not necessarily be the best solution for academic libraries. The concept of Rightsizing requires libraries to assess their collections and evaluate what a suitable collection may look like for their institution. Rightsizing implements a plan that clearly "state the project’s objectives, staffing assignments, available resources, importance and relationship to the library’s primary goals, expected time frame for a large retroactive effort, measures of success, and strategy for ongoing maintenance," (p. 49). Instead of an annual practice, rightsizing transform the practice of deselection into an ongoing practice that is integral to the lifecycle management of an overall collection. The goal is to ultimately utilize space as best as possible while providing a collection that is usable, accessible, and offers students multiple avenues of information access. 

Evaluation/Review: 

As someone who works in a library with an unruly collection, this was an invaluable resource. Weeding has been an ongoing issue for our institution. Our general collection is full of outdated and unused material. While we continue to get new materials, our old materials seem to never leave. This leaves our collection daunting and unusable for students. I believe Ward has posed some excellent solutions through Rightsizing. Her solution of creating a weeding plan and criteria to generate an ongoing process of weeding can be helpful for librarians who do not have the time or resources to complete the laborious task of weeding. Rightsizing offers a means of maintain a collection that is realistic, manageable, and suitable to your staffing and institutional needs. For individuals in academic libraries, balancing collection management alongside other duties as liaisons, instructors, committee members, and more can be daunting. Typically, the practice of weeding gets pushed aside, leaving a collection in less than ideal condition. Rightsizing might be an excellent solution for information professionals who are looking to manage an unruly collection. 

What to Think About When Managing a Collection

 Kami Whitlock

Preschel Kalan, A. (2014). The practical librarian's guide to collection development. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2014/05/20/the-practical-librarians-guide-to-collection-development/

 

Preschel shares her thought process while weeding and purchasing books. She first talks about the importance of knowing the library’s user population. She then shares her thought process while weeding. She suggests establishing priorities, checking statistics, examining the physical condition of books, and keeping guides current. She also shares tips for materials on different subjects. One take away from the article is to think of this process as ongoing. She is weeding and purchasing books as much as she can throughout the whole year. This gives her a chance to add additional copies of books that are in high demand and adapt frequently to users needs. To be successful in this, she must be very aware of her budget.

 

This article is meaningful for librarians who are new to collection development. Although the information in this article is brief, the points she suggests to think about are meaningful and useful. She gives practical examples and explainations of what to look for while making weeding and purchasing decisions.  

A Review of Prosser's "Affect and Deaccessioning in the Academic Library: Feelings About Books and Place"

Tallent, Diana

Prosser, D., (2020). "Affect and deaccessioning in the academic library: Feelings about books and place". Library Trends, 68(3), 506-520. doi:10.1353/lib.2020.0003.

In this study, Prosser addresses deaccessioning, more commonly known as weeding, getting at the root of why it is one of the most painful processes for librarians, library communities and bibliophiles. The topic rose to the surface as a hot button issue for her “… in the summer of 2018 during the deaccessioning of collections of books and bound periodicals from Olin Library at Rollins College, a liberal arts institution in central Florida” when a strong emotional reaction to the project became a notable source of criticism of the library. She roots through the literature on this topic and examines how affect -- which she asserts is at the heart of the relationship people develop with print books -- is reconciled with the library’s need to make room for new and updated acquisitions.

Prosser’s article intrigued me because it gets at the strong emotional bond which people have for books and which, I think it is probably safe to say, most book lovers feel, at least to some extent. I bristled a little at her assertions that, “Print Collections look backward. Electronic resources by their nature look forward” not only because those statements seem to connote that the past is inferior to the future (do we stand on the shoulders of giants or not?), but also because I simply don’t categorically agree. Like most affected bibliophile’s, I find electronic resources problematic 1) in their very lack of existence in the physical plane, 2) because they are available to the end user only at the purveyor’s whim, and 3) because they are not owned, only their use is authorized for a time, and that time frame is almost always subject to change without notice. Something so temporally and physically amorphous is not appropriately fixed to be forward looking unless embracing cancel culture is the new norm.

When Prosser states that “Deaccessioning is at the heart of library stewardship”, she is fundamentally, if painfully correct. We cannot have collection development without weeding because no library is large enough nor their budget massive enough to house everything, no matter how much we might like to try. Still, when she recounts the dumping of deaccessioned library books into “… dumpsters in the parking lot…” I couldn’t help but question why Olin Library didn’t find some other option for disposing of or attempting to rehome the materials. All the libraries I have worked for have had deaccessioning guidelines, some adopted voluntarily, and some dictated by a system or larger institution. If there were people pulling books indiscriminately out of the dumpsters, it stands to reason that there had to be a way to give many, if not all, of those items away and avoid the public (and private) outcry. She is correct in saying, “Perhaps modeling and eliciting an emotional intelligence of weeding is in order” though she might have added that this is true on both sides of the equation.

Weeding without worry: transparency and communication help ease weeding woes

Kate Lasky

INFO266 Spring 2019

Vnuk, R. (2016, May). Weeding without worry: transparency and communication help ease weeding woes. American Libraries, 47(5), 50+. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A452496301/GPS?u=s9186272&sid=GPS&xid=2feffce8

In “Weeding without worry,” author Rebecca Vnuk reviews opportunities to improve communications and support transparent practices in the deselection of library material as a regular and proper process for all librarians.

Weeding is often negatively represented in the news. Damaging stories are most commonly generated by an employee or community member who is uninformed about the process of weeding and its necessity as part of collection development. Author Rebecca Vnuk advocates that librarians prepare public communications in advance of large weeding projects and promote transparency.

The article outlines several ways librarians can frame communications by focusing on making room for new materials, updating the offerings, opportunities for inter-library loan, and patron requests for purchase. The article offers a few examples of weeding “horror stories.”

Finally, the author advises librarians to find ways to reuse and recycle weeded material to help patrons understand the books will be used in the future.

The article, though brief, is a helpful reminder that effective communications requires thoughtful preparation in advance. Creating a list of frequently asked questions and answers and posting them on the library website can help employees, patrons, and board members better understand the finer points of deselection of materials.

Should These Clothes Be Saved?

Richers, Katherine

 

Friedman, V. (2019, 29 April).  Should these clothes be saved. The New York Times. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/fashion/smith-college-clothing-collection.html

 

Summary

Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts has a collection of 3,000 pieces women’s clothing that’s unusual because most of it is not designer or from anyone famous. The collection has recently come under scrutiny for its purpose and value.  Many pieces are stained and have been donated by alumnae or were purchased at auction by the professor who started the collection. English, history, anthropology and math classes have studied the collection. The dresses are considered important by students and by staff because they belonged to everyday women. However, at this point it’s not a formal collection and what could happen to it without funding and institutional support sounds dismal. Moving the collection to another institution has been suggested.

 

Evaluation:

I chose this because it spoke to me on collection weeding. This isn’t even a formal collection but it’s become a valued part of a college. I wouldn’t know what to do. I like the idea of moving the collection somewhere else but the staff students seem to really like it and find it useful. The professor who started it has a point; why shouldn’t a women’s college study the clothing of ordinary women? At the same time, a museum might increase the audience.

 

 

 

Weed ’em and reap: The art of weeding to avoid criticism

Tammy Ross

Allen, M. (2010). Weed ’em and reap: The art of weeding to avoid criticism. Library Media Connection, 28(6), 32-33.

Summary

Although my focus this semester has been on public library collection management, I was interested in reading an article about collection management in schools. In this article, Melissa Allen points out that the library is “the largest classroom in the school providing service to every student and every teacher in all curricular areas” (p. 32). She compares weeding the library collection to weeding a garden. Just as flowers can’t flourish when surrounded by weeds, students can become overwhelmed by outdated information or overcrowding on library shelves. As a result, their ability to efficiently locate quality resources is hindered. Allen reminds the reader that school curriculum is frequently revised; therefore, the library collection should also be in “a continuous state of change” (p. 32). Weeding should not be a project taken on every 10 years; rather, it should be an ongoing process that sees librarians weeding small sections at a time throughout the year. Allen identifies four main reasons for weeding: 1) space constraints, 2) creating an uncluttered library helps patrons find what they’re looking for more easily, 3) patrons want attractive, clean books in good condition, and 4) collections not weeded often can “contain unacceptable stereotypes and misinformation” (p. 32). Allen created the acronym MUSTY as the criteria for weeding:

M: Misleading/inaccurate
U: Ugly or worn beyond mending/rebinding
S: Superseded by newer edition or better book
T: Trivial with no real value
Y: Your collection has no use for this material; it’s irrelevant to the needs of users

Allen urges librarians to examine career materials, computer/technology instruction books, encyclopedias, atlases, and reference books (which become outdated every five years) and any other titles that imply currency but are older than seven years. Any of these items that heavily circulate will need to be replaced (p. 33)

To avoid criticism that sometimes comes when a library throws away what others deem to be “perfectly good books,” Allen provides creative suggestions for what to do with weeded books. After they’ve been deleted from the library’s catalog, they can be cut up and used for class projects; turned into scrapbooks, jewelry boxes or memory books; or donated to organizations that sell donated books for charity or ship them to less fortunate countries.

Evaluation

I liked that this article addresses ways to combat criticism. I am someone who frequently weeds clothes from my wardrobe that I no longer wear or that have become worn or faded. I bag them up to give my mother for the church thrift store, and when she goes through them she sometimes questions why I am giving away a perfectly good sweater or pair of pants. Now I tell her up front that anything in there is worn or no longer fits and she’s less likely to raise an eyebrow. Allen suggests a similar proactive approach in that libraries should publish their mission statement, selection and weeding policies, collection stats (such as average age and number of resources per students), and any other information that can stress the positives of weeding.

Crying Over Spilled Milk

Mercado, Crystal

Dickenson, G. (2005). Crying over spilled milk. Retrieved from
    https://www.scribd.com/document/221220527/Dickinson-Crying-Over- Spilled-Milk-1

In this article, Dickenson explains why weeding the collection in the library on a regular basis rather than on a seasonal or annual basis is a necessity. She also gives pointers and tips to Library Specialists that may be hesitant to begin the process.

Unless the library has established a routine for regularly scheduled weeding, it can be a daunting task. When I started in the library, I instructed the staff and students to weed out any fiction books that fell under the MUSTY and CREW idea. Over the last school year, we weeded over 1,000 fiction books. In true fashion for librarians that are afraid of "backlash from the community," the board was questioning why I discarded so many books. Dickenson's article gives good reasons as to why weeding is not only a necessity but the responsibility of the library to keep updated, useful information on the shelves for patron use. She compares weeding to spoiled milk in the fridge.

Crash Course in Collection Development, chapters 11-12: Collection Maintenance; Mending and Preserving

Riggs, Michelle

Disher, W. T. (2014). Crash course in collection development (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. P. 86-106.

In Chapter 11, Collection Maintenance, Disher discusses the importance of reviewing our collections on a continual basis: patrons become overwhelmed when faced with stuffed shelves; there is no room for new materials, and research shows that weeding actually improves circulation. Disher addresses the common misconceptions many librarians hold about weeding, including concerns with taking time, making judgment calls, harming the collection, needing the materials later, disposing of something of value, and the general feeling that it is wrong to throw away books. He then provides recommendations for beginning the weeding process, including reviewing the collection development policy, collection analysis, and community analysis, and then making a plan, scheduling time, and monitoring progress. He reviews criteria for weeding, and the options of discard, reorder, mend, or enhance.

In Chapter 12, Mending and Preserving, Disher reviews common misconceptions that mending is cheaper or faster than replacing, and that old equals valuable. He explains the damage that can occur to a book’s binding, spine, and paper and whether it is worth mending. He then explores various sources of damage and how they may be prevented, including damage from light, tears/folds, photocopying, water, and food/drink. Finally, he provides a list of online resources for book repair and preservation.

I focused on these chapters because my library has an aged collection that needs attention, and it is often difficult to feel confident when making collection maintenance decisions. The information is easily understood and valuable to help justify decisions made about library materials. One thing that had not occurred to me is that the wall of windows located next to our picture book section is likely doing significant harm, and those blinds should be aimed upwards to direct the light off the books.

Is Ther a Future for Collection Development Librarians?

Clark-Collier, Kelsey

Thomas A. Karel, "Is There a Future for Collection Development Librarians?" (2013). Proceedings of the Charleston Library Conference. http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315257

How has the development of the E-Book and other digital resources impacted the role and purpose of the collection librarian? This is the core question that Thomas A.Karel seeks to discuss and address in his article titled Is there a Future for Collection Development Librarians? Reflecting on his career as an academic librarian, which required a great deal of collection development responsibility, Karel discusses how factors such as changing acquisiton plans combined with a lack of available space for the thousands of journal databases and 500,000 book titles housed within his library has resulted in an increasing number of demands being placed on the institution to develop an effective collection development and management policy. 

Following this, Karel touches upon his main critical point, which is the effect of the introduction of E-Books into his library's collection. He argues that the expertise of librarians regarding selection is considerably diminished when it comes to digital materials, a concern shared and supported by a wide  variety o recent literature. Karel goes onto list factors that pose threats to the collection librarian (such as E-books, diminished interest from faculty in ordering materials and the ever incresing demands from students regarding information needs) as well as potential opportunities (establishing closer relationships with vendors, working more closelywith faculty to select materials, and taking the opportunity to update exisiting collection development policies). Karel concludes by reflecting upon a teaching session he attended withother librarians where themes affecting collection development were discussed, along with varying degrees of concern and hope regarding the future of collection development in all different types of libraries.

This article stood out to me for a variety of reasons. While the impact of digital resources and technology on traditional print library collections is a complex topic that I have expierenced in prior courss, it is my belief that the notion of digital materials replacing print materials is somewhat overestimated, especially in school and public libraries. That's not to assume that patrons have been reluctant to adapt to new forms of technology and digital services. Rather, I feel that libraries as repositories of print and tangible resources is a deeply ingrained concept that spans thousands of years, and is likely not going away anytime soon. As Karel discusses however, the real core questionp is not whether digital materials will overtake print materials, its to what degree are which librarians in the present day willing and able to incoporate digitial materials innovatively into their institutions in such a way that benefits both library users and potential non-users. He takes it one step further by providing three excellent questions that serve as solid foundations for discussion and debate regarding the topic:

1.) What does a Collection Development librarian do?

2.)What tasks can be effectively carried out by other staff? 

3.) What, ideally, might be the role of a Collection Development Librarian in the new electronic enviornment?

These questions serve as excellent foundations for further discussion and debate because they provide an opportunity to gain insight not only into the current role and purpose of collection development librarians, but also the factors that are affecting this particular position both here in the present and in the future. 

Transforming as a School Librarian and the Power of Weeding

Morgester, A.  (2018). Transforming my perspective. Knowledge Quest, 47, 2, 22-27.

Summary

Anne Morgester, a highly experienced, involved, and reflective school library leader,

shares the most simple message for those of us new to the school library:  we must

continually transform. Five pivotal career milestones allowed her to clarify her
purpose and vision. She insists that school librarians must always examine
perspectives and, if necessary, rethink practices with the guidance of one’s purpose
and vision.

Evaluation

From the start, I could relate to Morgester and felt encouraged.  She began as a

secondary English Language Arts classroom teacher and, like me, decided to
pursue a school library endorsement.  I could not, however, imagine myself being
able to gather five such impactful experiences with a young family, fettered by
familial responsibilities prioritized over a new career.  Though feeling slightly less
inspired as I read on, I realized that I could make an effort to experience any one of
the transformative opportunities detailed. Morgester explicates each of the following
experiences and argues its transformative impact:  

1.  Seek out professional leadership at the state level;

2.  Participate in rich, engaging professional development;

3.  Get involved and lead within the AASL professional organization;

4.  Invest in a collaborative district-wide effort to revise the school library job
description and train library staff to meet new expectations.

5.  Volunteer to weed a school library collection.

The last transformative experience on this list actually reignited some inspiration as
it seems to be the easiest endeavor. I could, realistically, invest a couple hours each
week weeding at a local school library.  I believe this experience will educate me in
ways that I can’t beginto understand. But, more importantly, I acknowledge a hint
of social justice in the activity of weeding. Morgester’s belief about weeding must be quoted in its entirety:

"I now believe that failure to effectively weed our collections is nothing less than a form 

of censorship.  If we don't weed effectively, either our students need a machete to bushwhack

their way to the engaging, relevant, and accurate materials we have or they simply don't

attempt to explore the shelves because what they want is buried in the mass of weeds" (27).

As a teacher of literacy, I recognize the wisdom in her stated belief.  My non-readers
do not make the first effort to experience a book because they admit being overwhelmed
with all the choices in the library.  By weeding the collection, a library can expose the
better holdings. I also suggest that the school librarian work closely with any teacher
who has a free-choice reading program.  Like several teachers at my site, we chose to
focus on a topic or genre (or combination of like-genres) each month. The librarian and
clerk then curate a couple of bookshelves for which students can more easily browse.  
In my mind, this practice is like plucking the flowers from the vast meadow so that
students may enjoy.

In the end, I appreciated Morgester’s editorial because the clear takeaway is that
school librarians must seek out opportunities to transform and we are never complete
static works.

Curating, not weeding

Libraries are often constricted by physical space, meaning they simply cannot add books without getting rid of books. Especially today, as more space is needed for other uses such as study space, casual reading areas, and activity rooms. How can librarians meet the needs of the collection and the needs of the users at the same time?

Weeding projects are usually intensive projects that are not to be lightly undertaken. It involves experience, time, and qualitative/quantitative reasoning that libraries may not have. Furthermore, faculty or patrons may feel like certain titles belong in the library and should not be discarded. Librarians need to be able to effectively communicate plans and roll out lists of potential discards for the active community. Collection management plans can help focus the direction of a collection as well as communicate to stakeholders of the library. However the librarian feels about this problem, there are several different methods to curate and not simply weed.

Held, T. (2018). Curating, not weeding. Technical Services Quarterly, 35(2), 133-143. Doi:10.1080/07317131.2018.1422882

Curating, Not Weeding

Haskins, Ashley

Held, Tim. (n.d.). Curating, Not Weeding. Technical Services Quarterly., 35(2), 133-143.

This article draws attention to the fact that many librarians and users are uncomfortable removing any books or cultural artifacts from a collection, (potentially because librarians confuse books with the content they contain) but asks librarians to confront the finite nature of library space. This issue is compounded by the expanding nature of information and the increased services demanded by patrons.

The authors state that users were not impressed by predominantly older results in catalog searches and the dated appearance of the stacks, and recommend building a digital collection of books and OERs to supply knowledge without using library space. However, the same issues of overwhelming users with outdated information and diluting the search for quality resources can exist in online resources as well. The authors do not acknowledge the need to also weed digital collections and OERs, seeming to forget their own advice “For rightsizing, librarians must have a plan, including goals, resources, and ongoing maintenance.” (p. 136)

This article is a good reminder that increased collection numbers don’t correlate to increased use, and can actually overwhelm and discourage patron use. The article concludes that “right sizing” a collection increases usability and provides a thoughtful consideration of weeding policies.

Weeding, OERs, right sizing

To Weed or Not to Weed

White, Kristine

Ford, D. B. (2015). To Weed or Not to Weed? School Library Journal, 61(8), 13.

http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=108665799&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This is a short and sweet article about why it is necessary to weed collections and how to go about it.  For example, to help with the consideration of items:

M=misleading: factually inaccurate 

U=ugly: beyond mending or rebinding 

S=superseded by a new edition or a better book on the subject T=trivial: of no discernible literary or scientific merit or entertainment value 

I=irrelevant to the needs and interests of the library’s community E=elsewhere: nonessential material easily obtainable from another resource 

Keeping Your Library Collection Smelling F.R.E.S.H!

Hulten, Alicia

LaGarde, J. (2013, October 1). Keeping Your Library Collection Smelling F.R.E.S.H! [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/10/keeping-your-library-collection.html

Summary: Jennifer LaGarde is a teacher librarian with over 20 years’ experience in public education. In this online article, she offers several reasons why it is important to weed the school library’s collection. It is easy to imagine the difficulty of getting rid of old, dated books especially when you have an already small collection and insufficient funding to replace those books. However, holding on to outdated can be detrimental to a well-built library collection in several ways.

• Misinformation: Material that is out of date could contain misinformation and do more harm than good. For example, LaGarde found a reference book that said “scientists do not believe HIV is transmitted through sexual content”[sic] (LaGarde, 2013). It is important to ensure library shelves are free of old materials which may contain this and other kinds of misinformation. 

• Text poor: These books are often text feature poor. Newer books contain captions, diagrams, bullet points, sidebars, and fact boxes. These text features help students learn and retain information more readily.

• A books cover: Readers in fact do judge a book by its cover. Students who see a book that looks dated and/or is in disrepair, then will most likely not want to check it out. Today’s readers want colorful, glossy covers that have eye-catching art/photos.

• The times they are a-changin’: Older books reflect the time in which they were written. As librarians we have to make sure our nonfiction books are equitable and reflect modern viewpoints. Likewise, fiction and picture books should be reflective of the diverse population of the school and the larger community.

• Small but mighty: It is better to have a smaller collection of newer, high interest books, than rows and rows of old, dated books. Holding on to old collections could give library visitors the impression that the library is outdated and obsolete.

The article also includes a link to an entertaining video of CSLA’s Book Cart Drill Team performing “Weed It!” to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It!” Lagarde also provides a helpful flyer that can be downloaded as a PDF. The flyer offers tips for keeping your library’s collection F.R.E.S.H. She asks the following questions:

Does it Foster a love of reading?

Does it Reflect your diverse population?

Does it reflect an Equitable point of view?

Does it Support the curricula?

Is it a High-quality text?

If the answer is no to any one of these questions, then Lagarde claims the book must go.

Opinion: This article offers a concise and clear reminder of why it is so important to weed old books out of the school library. She makes a valid point that holding on to out of date materials can hinder a library’s function as a place where the love of reading is cultivated and grows. Fostering this love of reading within a school library can be difficult if the collection consists of books that students do not want to check out. LaGarde’s article provides a fresh look at weeding, and a good reminder to school librarians that weeding is not only important but necessary.

The Art of Weeding

Smith, Cassandra

Chant, I. (2015). The art of weeding. Library Journal, 104(11), p. 34-37.

Article can also be found here: https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/06/managing-libraries/the-art-of-weeding-collection-management/#_


Summary

This article explains the importance of weeding and explains criteria, steps, and tips of successful weeding to maintain a healthy collection. Similar to a garden, a library needs regular maintenance to flourish. Nuggets of wisdom in the article include:

“Those shelves hold a lot of junk that has to make way for the new titles getting published every day.”

“When people can browse the shelves without having to sift through older material they’re not interested in, they’re more likely to find something they are looking for.”

“When ordering material, having an end-of-life-plan for it is essential”

The article also suggested doing continual weeding everyday rather than one big project once a year. One person referred to weeding as “selecting for the book sale.”

Evaluation

Many people are nervous when it comes to pulling materials from the collection. But this article helps puts many of their common concerns at ease. There isn't enough physical space to continually add to a collection. People will have a better experience browsing the shelves if it isn't cluttered with outdated, battered, or irrelevant information. Make room for the new stuff by clearing away the old. Sometimes books are still in decent condition, but aren't (for various reasons) circulating any longer. These titles would be better off sold or made into art than taking up precious realty on the library shelves.

Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-By-Shelf Guide

Vigil, Sharon

Vnuk, R. (2015). Weeding handbook: a shelf-by-shelf guide. The basics [Chapter 1]. (pp. 1-20). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/lib/sjsu/reader.action?docID=4531556&ppg=90

Summary:

The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-By-Shelf Guide is published by the American Library Association and was written with the goal of giving the reader a “good grounding of how and why to weed library collections.” The first chapter of this book provides a basic overview of the weeding process and includes a detailed step-by-step guide. It also includes frequently asked questions about weeding and retention and weeding guidelines that can be adopted and adapted to fit the needs of any library. This chapter offers a lot of good information about weeding and is a great resource for library staff who are unfamiliar with the weeding process. I did not have a chance to read the remaining chapters, but I plan on doing so in the near future.

Evaluation:

I don’t have any experience yet with weeding, but after reading this chapter, I have a much better understanding of what weeding entails. This book appears to be very comprehensive and concise. I also found this book to be rather humorous. For example, in response to the following question, “How do you justify weeding to patrons when they complain that your budget is going up?” the author refers to the “Cart of Shame,” which is “literally, a bookcart you use to store some of your worst discards.” She gives some examples of specific books that obviously needed to be discarded. One of these examples was a book on housekeeping, circa 1960, which points out the advantages of having a dishwasher so that the “lucky housewife” will be able to save time. In the future, when I am tasked with weeding a collection, I plan on using this book to guide me through the process.  

Weeding and Collection Management in Youth Services

Smith, Cassandra

Library ProKits (2015). Weeding and collection management in youth services [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SCLhFcmS_Y

Summary

This 13 minute video offers suggestions for increasing circulation through weeding and other methods. One librarian explains how to use Web Dewey to find how other libraries are cataloging books so that like-items can be grouped together. They recommend having bookshelves only ⅔ full, allowing for ample room for “face outs.” Shelf ends highlight “If you liked [title of book], try one of these” posters with read alikes on display. Similar to a book store, they also recommend stacking multiple copies of books under a display copy.

Evaluation

The two ladies in this video offer great insight into how to increase circulation. Once a collection has whittled down to what users are truly interested in, circulation will increase because they won't have to sift through old or uninteresting materials. Their creative methods could prove beneficial to many libraries. Many people gravitate or shy away from books based on their covers, so it's important to showcase covers as much as possible. With fewer books on the shelves, that frees up more space for outward facing books.

Crash Course in Weeding Library Collections

Adcock, Chris


Goldsmith, F. (2016). Crash course in weeding library collections (Crash course series (Westport, Conn.)).


Crash course in weeding library collections is divided into 8 chapters with sequential and information-dense titles: Introduction to Weed Identification;  The Weeding Process; Library Staff Weeding Responsibilities; Determining Datedness; Creating a Weeding Plan; Weeding as Library Policy; Communication and Publicity about  Weeding, and Models and Tips for Library Administrators.

The chapter that really drew me in the most as a library student was "Introduction to Weed Identification." I think that this is probably the most difficult part of weeding - how can you tell the weeds from useful resources? This becomes very difficult in collections of more than a thousand records where even when weeds are easily identifiable once encountered there are so many items to consider that they become drowned out. A good way to systematize weed identification is a handy acronym used by Goldsmith called "MUSTIE:"
Misleading (dated)
Ugly (in poor condition)
Suspended (No Longer Current)
Trivial (Poor Quality Content)
Irrelevant (Out of Scope for this Library's Community
Elsewhere (would be a better place for this material, including potentially a different and more suitable collection).

In addition to judging collections buy this criteria, weeding becomes additionally complex when one looks at the relationship of the collections to the community which they serve. An extreme example of this would be an advanced scientific paper search engine in a small rural library. The item might be extremely up to date and useful, but not necessarily for the community it is serving. Weeding should also be made as transparent as possible: library patrons should know that weeding is not done to water down/censor collections or reflect the individual tastes of librarians. It is done to remove irrelevant, damaged or out of date material and increase the findability of higher quality resources.

Digital Weeding

Weeding. [Fine Art]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. 

https://quest.eb.com/search/163_2961979/1/163_2961979/cite

DiBello, Amy

Moroni, A.E. (2012).WEEDING IN A DIGITAL AGE. Library Journal, 137(15), 26-28

Permalink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=80445399&site=eds-live

Ebooks may not require shelf space, but librarians are not exempt from weeding their digital collections. Alene Moroni's article about weeding in a digital age encourages librarians to retain useful materials, strive to keep the most accurate information, and consider whether or not what they keep is meaningful to patrons.

Removing an ebook from a collection requires several steps, such as contacting a vendor and manually removing the bibliographic record from the catalog. Collection maintenance tools can reveal which titles are in demand and as platforms become more sophisticated, developers are proving themselves to be receptive to librarians' needs for collection management tools.

Simple Weeding Guidelines

Lugo, Adriana

Manning, P. (1997, May). When less is more: Cultivating a healthy collection.
School Library Journal. p. 54.

This article presents  very direct, clear guidelines to follow when weeding
a collection of books. The article explains what steps to take in order to
begin sorting, repairing or discarding items. It presents us with four criteria
to follow when trying to decide what to do with a book. As the article goes
on, it further presents what to consider when weeding nonfiction instead
of fiction. It’s a very well written, clearly stated article that would help
beginning librarians or paraprofessionals in charge of school libraries in
updating their collections. I highly recommend reading it.