NCompass Live - http://nlc.nebraska.gov/NCompassLive/ Sept. 27, 2017 Learn how to keep your library collection user-friendly, increase circulation, and improve the appeal of your library with these weeding tips, tricks, and techniques. Denise Harders, Co-Director of the Central Plains Library System, will discuss the importance of weeding and how to do it successfully. We will also hear about the annual CPLS Month of Weeding project.

2.  Also known as deselection or selection-in-reverse
 The periodic or continual evaluation of resources
intended to remove items that are no longer useful
from the collection.
 It is an essential, though difficult, element of
collection development that ensures that the
collection on the shelves is useful and accessible.
 Weeding helps the library provide customers with an
inviting space full of interesting, relevant and
intriguing materials.
 For the librarian, weeding has additional advantages.
It helps you to find gaps in your collection so that you
can make new purchases with confidence, and it
creates space for those materials.

3.  Most of us were taught by parents and
teachers to treat books and magazines with
respect. In fact, we learned to have great
respect for anything printed. The problem is
that we are confusing the information
contained in a package with the packaging.

4.  I bought this book.
 It’s an award-winning title!
 Someone might need it—someday.
 The mayor donated it.
 I loved this book!
 People should read the classics.
 We need to have (number) books in the library.
 I have no budget to buy new books.
 If someone in the community sees me throwing
away books…
 Weeding is on my list…but not at the top.

5.  Save Space
 Shelves should never be more than 85% full (75%
is better)
 Shelf space costs money
 It costs to purchase more shelving
 Employees spend time shifting
 Patrons get frustrated
 Save Time
 Busy patrons don’t want to sift through old,
inaccurate materials
 Reader’s Advisory is easier

6.  Appeal
 Patrons are attracted to new material
 Circulation will increase after weeding
 Enhance your library’s reputation
 Reliability
 Currency
 Trust that you have “good” material
 Constant Feedback
 Identify holes in the collection
 Prepare a wish list
 Familiarity with what is on the shelf

7.  Physical Condition
 Copyright Date
 Author
 Circulation Stats
 Relevance
 Format
 Illustrations
 Visual Appeal
 Publisher
 Duplicates
 Expense to
Replace
 Similar Resources
 Reading Level
 Current Interest
 School Curricula

8. CREW Method of Weeding
Continuous
Review
Evaluation
Weeding
https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ld/pubs/crew/index.html

9.  Weed a little bit every day.
 Look for shabby and outdated material when
checking items in.
 Identify unused duplicates while shelving.
 Check “shelf-sitters.”
 Unattractive covers
 One-book wonder
 Simplified or abridged classics
 Cataloged incorrectly
 Check Dewey number
 Check Subject headings

10. X / X / MUSTIE
Copyright Date
Is item more
than X years old?
Maximum
permissible time
without use.

11. M = Misleading (Inaccurate)
U = Ugly (Condition)
S = Superseded (Outdated)
T = Trivial (No longer of interest)
I = Irrelevant
E = Available Elsewhere (ILL)

12.  Gather usage statistics.
 Inventory report and/or Circulation statistics.
 Gather weeding tools.
 Slips, shelf marker, book truck, pencil, CREW manual.
 Examine the section item by item.
 Check standard indexes. (Available from NLC)
 Fiction Core Collection
 Children’s Core Collection
 Public Library Core Collection - Nonfiction
 Treat books removed according to slips.
 Bindery, Mending, Discard, Replace, Recycle.
 Display low-circulating, high-quality items.
 Place your next weeding project on your
calendar.

13. A rule of thumb held by many library
professionals is that about 5% of the collection
be weeded every year. This allows for turnover
of the collection every twenty years. While this
doesn’t literally mean that no book that exists
in the collection in the year 2000 will still be
there in 2020, even classic literature and
perennially useful materials will generally
become worn and tattered after twenty years
of use and need to be replaced with a fresh
copy.

14. Questions to ask yourself when weeding.
 Would I be embarrassed if the library didn’t own
it?
 Does the book fit the needs of my community?
 Does it have local interest?
 Is the author still living and writing?
 If I put this on display, would it go out?

15.  Local History
 Unless the item is beyond repair
 Works by Local Authors
 Especially during the author’s lifetime
 Works with Local Settings
 Unless they have not circulated in 5 years
 Genealogy Material
 Reference Works Augmented by Later
Editions
 Quotation Books
 Unless they are in poor condition

16.  Sell them
 Friends Book Sale
 Annual Sale
 Ongoing Rack Sale
 Used Book Dealer
 Better World Books
 Thrift Books
 Donate them
 Hospital
 Nursing Home
 Correctional Facility
 Charity

17.  Recycle them
 Paperback books can be put in recycling bin
 Hardback books must have covers cut off before
the pages can be recycled
 Destroy them
 Should be reserved for materials in worst
physical condition
 Unavoidable
 Should be done discreetly

18.  Wasting tax dollars
 Throwing “good” books in the trash
 “Book burning”
 Bad PR

19.  Classics can still make up part of a core
collection.
 Only include if they support curriculum.
 It’s our duty as librarians to expose
students to “great” literature.
 Unless a movie comes out based on a
classic, are students still reading them?

20. Keep library staff informed so they can
alleviate patron anxieties.
Never complain to patrons about “bad”
material.
Explain that you are making room for new
materials, making the shelves easier to
navigate, and replacing outdated information
with the latest current information.
(Rebecca Vnuk, Booklist Online, February 15, 2012)

21. What are yours?
600’s
700’s
Cookbooks
Picture books
Romances

22. The point of weeding…is to provide
your patrons with better service,
clearer access to the world's
knowledge and entertainment. By
streamlining your collection for
efficient and reliable use, you are
making it easier and faster for the
people of your community to
find the facts, phrases, and stories
they need.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission, 2012.
CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries, pg. 90.
www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew/index.html.
(Photo: http://www.savvysugar.com/Can-Overdue-
Library-Books-Hurt-My-Credit-Score-1093998)