1. How to get your
Weeding
off the Ground
Ann Lininger, Racine Public Library
Angela Milock, Wisconsin Library Services
Jane Richard, Wisconsin Library Services

2. You have permission!
 Don’t let an emotional connection to
materials get in your way
 Examine the lifetime cost/benefit of items
 Get buy-in from staff, board and other
interested parties
 Get inspired – check out resources like awful
library books (awfullibrarybooks.com)

3. Why weed?
 Increased circ = increased funding
 Better representation of items patrons want
and need
 Ensure the accuracy and currency of
collection
 Easier for patrons to find what they are
looking for

4. Pre-planning
Decide weeding criteria Exceptions not covered here
 M.U.S.T.Y.  Special collections
 Misleading Examples:
 Ugly  Local history
 Superseded  Genealogy
 Trivial  Award winners
 Your library does not need it  Academic collections
 Circulation stats  Different criteria: curriculum,
faculty favorites, etc.
 Lifetime circs
 Recent circs
 Age of material

5. Pre-planning
 Who and what else is affected?
 System and other libraries
o Number of copies in your system
o System collection policies
 Central versus local processing
o Updating the catalog holdings
 Friends’ book sale: warn them that there will be a
big shipment coming

6. Pre-planning
 Pull reports from ILS
 Circ reports over time to compare post-weeding
 Shelf list of what to pull takes the guesswork out
o Your criteria would determine this
Example:
1. Books published on or before 1994
2. 0, 1, or 2 total checkouts
3. Last checkout before 1/1/08

7. Pre-planning
 Scheduling
 Continual weeding=The CREW way
 One time event
 Worker availability
 Calendar of events
o Re-model or other change to the building

8. Pre-planning
 How to process
 Items
o Discard stamp
o Storage
 Catalog record
o Adhere to system standards
– Depending on your system, records would be either deleted
or suppressed
o Keep up with holdings work

9. Jump right in!
 Start with one manageable section, one
classification number or even just one shelf
 Enlist the help of staff at every level
 Example: Circ staff empowered to divert books in
bad condition, instead of re-shelving
 Get into the Zen of de-selection

10. Process items
A flowchart might help visualize the steps

11. In the stacks
 Clipboards  Discard stamp
 Markers  Gloves
 Sticky notes  Allergy medicine
 Flags  Warm bodies
 Small book truck(s)  Weeding criteria
 Boxes  Procedures manual
 Computer work stations  Highlighters
 Pencils  Phone

12. Post-weeding
 Friends group for book sale
 Crafternoons!
 Storage
 (Shhhh…dumpster)
 Donate
 Jail library groups
 Goodwill
Isaac Salazar creation
 Better World Books:

13. Before….
After weeding