Weeding is one of those polarizing library topics.  I rarely find anyone who is neutral about it – you either love it or loathe it.  (I happen to LOVE it.)  I recently moderated and presented for a Library Journal webinar on weeding, along with Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly of Awful Library Books and Kathy Schalk-Greene of the Mount Laurel (NJ) Library.    (The webinar is archived and available for viewing - you do need to register.  Sponsored by Collection HQ.)

We had a lively time answering some Q&A at the end, and I’d like to post some of those here on ShelfRenewal.

 

Question:  Do you have an advice on how to weed a reference collection down to fit in a smaller space?  We can’t use circulation records since we don’t keep track of reference uses.  Staff does not want to get rid of ANYTHING.
Answer from Rebecca:  Would you feel comfortable micromanaging, and making staff justify keeping items?  For example, in the biography case, if staff insist they need several different sets, I would pull a couple of them, put them in storage or the staff workroom, and then make staff tell me when they actually used them and why (could they have used something else?)  Sounds silly and as I said, micromanaging, but with some people that’s what you have to do.   Are you able to shift some materials to circulating?  I did that at a library where we decided to drop our reference shelving down about 80%.  We moved the bulk of the “good” leftovers, after weeding for condition and age, into the circulating collection.  This freed up our space and then puts those items either into the hands of our patrons… or on the next weeding report.

 

Question: There are still 100 + dedicated users of our  cassette collection for people not able to read print. Extensive weeding is taking place – but we are dragging our feet about some titles knowing we will probably not get them again in a physical audio format. Do you have any suggestions for us?
Answer from Holly and Mary: That’s hard, isn’t it?  You’ve probably built up series over time that are either too expensive to replace in a different format in their entirety, or which are just out of print.  How about looking at the circulation statistics of those titles very closely?  Not just number of circulations, but WHEN they circulated.  How many times per month/quarter/year have they really gone out?  If that number meets or exceeds the benchmark you’ve set for that collection, it might be worth purchasing the title in another format.  If not…well, it’s tough, but just weed them.  Unless, of course, you have lots of space and can keep just those titles you can’t bare to part with.  It all comes back to use.  Are the titles being used or aren’t they?

Question:  How to I weed a collection such as the automotive repair books?
Answer from Rebecca: I’ve worked at several libraries where they’ve completely done away with the books (I am assuming you’re talking about the Chilton manuals and the like?).  They just were not circulating, they take up a LOT of room on the shelves, and they can be easily replaced with online database materials (if I’m not mistaken, Ebsco has a wonderful online product, people can print out pages they need).  It depends on your usage, of course, but I feel that many libraries hang on to those books simply because it’s what they’ve always done.  But if your patrons are not using them anymore, it’s time to be ruthless and let them all go.

 

Question: Can you learn to love weeding?
Answered live:  There are born weeders, and there are hoarders. If need to learn to love weeding, you can help yourself by attending conference programs, webinars, read articles, and really, see the results from your weeding.  Also, weed slowly and small, weed as you go along – then it won’t seem so destructive or overwhelming.

 

Question: If a book is 10 years old and hasn’t circed recently, is giving them one last chance (on an endcap or display) justified?
Answered live:  If you have the display space, and it’s not outdated information, go ahead and give it one last chance.  You never know what might catch someone’s eye.  If it doesn’t go out, then you know you were right to pull it.

 

Question:  How do you maintain fiction series or complete collection of an author’s work?
Answered live: If the author is still popular or still writing, it is important to keep series intact.  It should be all or none – keep it all, or get rid of it all (don’t weed book #5 just because that’s the one with the least circs).  Local used bookstores can be a great source for old harcdovers in good condition, also AbeBooks.com.  Don’t discount mass market paperbacks as replacements – you aren’t going to find a nice hardcover of A is for Alibi, but it’s OK to just keep purchasing mass markets to replace it.

 

Question: How do you justify weeding to a patron when they complain your budget is going up?
Answered live:  Transparency is key – a “Cart of Shame” works well to illustrate why you’re getting rid of materials.  Show them the badly outdated books, the moldy books, the damaged books.