Collection Management for Libraries

A major factor of weeding a collection is what to do with books after they are removed from circulation. This website is dedicated to keeping books out of landfills. To do this they reuse, resell, or recycle books. Libraries can discard books through this company and they will find a place for the books. Collection bins can be placed near a library to routinely dropped off books for collection or can be collected at no cost to the library. This is a great resource for libraries to use to help manage discarded material. The website is easy to use and has information about their program and company readily available. Books can also be purchased directly from the website, if you are looking to buy books. The “How This Works” page has a great infographic describing the process that the company uses to reuse, resell or recycle to keep books out of landfills and help the environment. Overall this is a good website to pass along discarded material. https://www.discoverbooks.com

The Central Washington University deselection page provides a clearly identified strategy for deselecting books in the collection. The beginning section is called Collection Life Cycle here they list what happens to books from being chosen for the library, placed in the collection, and finally deselection or weeding of a title. This information is helpful to demonstrate that all books will go through this process eventually even if they are reshelved in the end. The process that is described, although for an academic library, works for any library. The concise language and numbered points make this page a good go to site for reference. There is a ten-point General Deselection Criteria section followed by a six-point Deselection Guidelines. These sixteen points are clearly defined for what and how items are deselected. Among the topics covered in the General Deselection Criteria section are relevance, usage, value, condition among others. Number eight deals with lost and paid

This website is by the State Library of Iowa and gives a short explanation of collection management, and why it is important to both libraries and library patrons. It outlines the conditions that a book should be weeded, such as age, condition, or how long it has been since the book has been checked out. It also outlines the CREW method of weeding, giving an outside link to a more in-depth explanation of the CREW method. The last part of the page focuses on the disposal method that the State Library of Iowa uses, this part is written with slightly more jargon that the first part of the page, though is still fairly readable to an average person. It notes places where the library is or is not allowed to donate their books, for example, the library cannot donate public library books to private organizations even if they are non-profits, and that all discarded books must be sold even if "for a nominal fee". This is an interesting resource and would be more helpful for libr

This website is specifically geared to school libraries, with a few different tabs about the weeding process, with basic explanations of what weeding is, and why it needs to be done. The "What is Weeding" section gives a short explanation of what weeding is, along with two documents full explaining the process along with a short video about weeding. I found this helpful as it allows a few different resources to make sure it is fully explained. The "why" section is a bit shorter, offering just a few bullet points on why weeding is important.  Along with this the "Who" and "When" sections are also short, with a few bullet points explaining the bare bones of these areas of weeding. The "How" section is very detailed, with several links going off with further detail about different aspects of weeding. There is a handy flowchart explaining how one would go about weeding, and two different collection policies to show how other libraries d

This website is done by the American Libraries Magazine and talks on the importance of weeding for libraries. It starts by speaking on different "weeding horror stories" of patrons seeing library staff throwing books into a dumpster and being outraged, or rare books being thrown out accidentally. Instances like this can give weeding a bad name, and make it harder for both library staff to weed, and patrons to accept the weeding of materials. The website goes on to explain how to avoid these pitfalls, such as making sure to communicate clearly with library patrons about weeding, and exactly what it is, and why it is needed in libraries, and how it helps the library continue to run well and continue serving the community well. One example they give is from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where they have a page on their website dedicated to weeding, explaining why it is needed, and encouraging patrons to email or speak to a library staff member in person if they have co

New England Libraries Interview questions for weeding: Interview with Sally 1. Who is responsible for weeding the collection and how is the collection divided? Adult collection, Non-Fiction and Reference – Head of Reference and Technical Services Adult collection, Fiction and Audio Visual – Assistant Director/Head of Circulation YA collection – Assistant Director/Head of Circulation Children’s collection – Assistant Director/Head of Circulation Follow up: Is there anyone who assists in bring books to your attention for consideration? The collection is divided to assign staff to bring to items their supervisor’s attention for consideration. 2. Is there a set schedule for weeding? One afternoon a week is dedicated to look at material pulled for consideration. This works well and is a continual process.   3. Do you have a method that you use, like CREW? No, we do not use a specific method. 4. What is your criteria for weeding? Material is weeded b

New England Libraries Interview questions for weeding: Interview with Sylvie 1. Who is responsible for weeding the collection and how is the collection divided?   Adult collection – Adult Services/reference librarian YA collection – YA Librarian Children’s collection – Children’s librarian Video games – YA Librarian These are the major divisions. There are a few smaller collections that certain staff members who have an interest or expertise in that help the development and weeding. Follow up: Is there anyone who assists in bring books to your attention for consideration? Anyone on staff can recommend a book or item for weeding based on condition, content or other reasons. 2. Is there a set schedule for weeding? We have just developed a weeding schedule and have started implementation. The entire collection is covered over a 12-month period. 3. Do you have a method that you use, like CREW? We have adapted CREW to our collection. So, this is loosely

Rix, W. (2009). Reference Collections and Staff: Retaining Relevance. Reference Librarian , 50(3), 302–305. https://doi-org.proxy-clarion.klnpa.org/10.1080/02763870902947109 Wright Rix, a Reference Librarian for Santa Monica Public Library, describes the advantages and reasoning for downsizing a print Reference collection. As information is sought online more and more changing a library’s focus to digitized media not only helps to provide quick online answers for patrons, a reduction in the print collection allows for expansion from other more popular sections such as audio visual and other print selections. Summary Rix provides an overview of what reducing a print collection means. Over time patrons are more likely to seek information online and are less likely to seek information in the reference area or even spend much time sitting down for research. By selecting electronic resources and digitizing historical records and other such material the floor space in the libra

Jacob, Merle (2001) Weeding the fiction collection: or Should I dump Peyton Place?, Reference & User Services Quarterly, 40(3), 234-239. Choosing which books to weed can be difficult especially in the fiction section as there is no set guidelines or criteria. Merle Jacob, in a speech first given at an ALA conference, presents the challenges and steps most useful for weeding a fiction collection. This article provides a shorten version of the speech outline methods and reasoning for how to make the best choices for your library collection. Summary When choosing books for weeding in the fiction area the most important thing to know is your community. Who they are and what they want to read. Jacob suggests using circulation information and interlibrary loan requests. These two areas will tell how often an item is circulated and what patrons are requesting to read. Another important point is that a book sitting on a shelf is taking up valuable space that could be used for

Calvert, Philip (2018) No more late night dumpster runs – recycle and upcycle unwanted library books, Public Library Quarterly , 37(2), 222-228. DOI:10.1080/01616846.2018.1465789 Philip Calvert, a recent recipient of a Fellowship from the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA), presents a discussion on what libraries do with unwanted books. He specifies unwanted verses weeded to include unwanted donated material in addition to discarded material. Calvert discusses various libraries and programs that include selling and upcycling books rather than simply throwing out books. Summary After deciding what books to remove from circulation librarians then must figure out where to discard those books. Rather than throwing books into a dumpster or recycling bin. A major alternative avenue is to sell books. There are many ways to do this there are companies that will resell books like TradeMe or Better World Books. TradeMe is an online auction site t

My interview was with Librarian A, a librarian in a very small town. They do not have an official collections policy-online or in person, so I thought it would be interesting to interview a librarian in such a unique position would be interesting. For full disclosure, I have volunteered at the library before and assisted with weeding in their library. This interview was conducted over the phone, as the library itself is located three hours away from where I live currently. I chose Librarian A to speak to due to the unique library that she runs. She is the librarian for a town of about 600 people. The library itself is just a singular room in an already small building that has the courthouse, police station, and DVM, truly a one-stop shop. Once on the phone we chatted about the town and the new things that were happening, a coffee shop had just opened up- the first new business in town in a few years, and there was a new pastor for one of the four churches. Once we got down to busine

Cully, J. (2015). I Feel the Need, the Need to Weed! : Maintaining an E-book Collection.   Southeaster Librarian ,  63 (1), 2-5. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-clarion.klnpa.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=b6ae90a0-6831-483b-ad9a-0d90b30cb180%40sessionmgr4009&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=102913000&db=lls Weeding is a fundamental part of maintaining a library collection, though it is often thought to be a task for the physical collection only, and the electronic collection can be overlooked in the weeding process. However, it is just as important to weed the electronic collection as well as the physical collection. Electronic collections can be easier to maintain, as there are systems that are patron-driven, that is the library only purchases the books after they have been requested by a patron, helping the collection to stay relevant to the community needs. This also helps keep the patrons active in the process of developing the

Arbeeny, P., & Chittenden, L. (2018). An Ugly Weed: Innovative Deselection to Address a Shelf Space Crisis.   Journal Of Library Innovation ,  5 (1). Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-clarion.klnpa.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=f9804ddd-f21b-47d7-a2c4-431993097c2a%40sdc-v-sessmgr04 In 2012 Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado was faced with an interesting problem- one month to weed out 3,000 to 4,000 items from their collection, to make room for more study spaces in their library, as well as freeing much-needed shelf space.  This problem was made harder due to the departure of two staff members right before this project was to begin. The library was now down to four total staff members, making the already daunting prospect even harder. The staff created a fast weeding process, with the whole collection in a spreadsheet, making use of keyword filtering, as well as filtering out books that had not been checked out since 2003, the only exception

Boon, B. (2009). Using the CREW Method to Enhance Public and School Library Collections.   Journal Of Access Services ,  6 (3), 324-336. doi: 10.1080/15367960902894179 CREW is a weeding system that was developed by Joseph P Segal in the 1980s. CREW was implemented by different libraries in the 1990s. CREW stands for Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding. It is a process that works to make weeding a continuous and small-scale project in a library rather than a daunting task that is done on occasion. Weeding is a process of removing books and other materials from circulation in the library. There are a few criteria that would make something eligible for weeding, such as being old or damaged, containing incorrect or outdated information, or a material that does not fit the needs of the library patrons. Before a library starts the weeding process the library should have a plan of action for weeding, and a plan to make it a part of the collections policy, as well as part of th

Librarian #2- Librarian J My second interview was with Librarian J, a youth service library in a public library. Librarian J is a brand-new librarian. She graduated last December from a graduate program. She was interning at this library and was hired into the same role she was interning in. She had really enjoyed the intern position, and this was exactly the role she wanted, so it worked out perfectly for her with the timing. It was great having a new librarian’s input since that is what I will be once I find a position. The library Librarian J works at agreed to have her come on as an intern as there was only a children’s librarian, but not a teen/youth librarian and thought she could help enhance their services for that population. She was supervised by the library director and assisted by the children’s services librarian. Therefore, she felt like she had a lot of freedom to not be restricted in her duties. She decided to complete her first major weedi

Librarian #1- C My first interview was with Librarian C, an adult services librarian at a public library. Librarian C has been working in the library for over 13 years and has been in this role for seven years. Librarian C is constantly assessing the adult collection for deselection and replacement. She utilizes the library’s system to find out usage for items, has the check in desk assess for physical damage, and considers the library’s space to help her assess weeding needs. She mentioned that for the adult patrons, the most used items are the e-book collection, but for physical items, the large print collection is checked out most often. While she considers this a year-long project, most of the spring and summer is spent collecting information and the winter is spent doing the actual weeding. This is because she is busier in the summer months with programming and summer reading projects, she struggles to find enough time to consider weeding. Librarian C sa

Pollack Library Pollack Library is part of California State University, Fullerton. This site is different from the others in that it is an internal guide for the processes for librarians working at this facility but can offer a helpful look into a real-world process for any librarian looking for more information or inspiration for their own weeding projects. Pollack uses GreenGlass and Excel to facilitate their collection management techniques. GreenGlass is a web application from Sustainable Collection Services to help libraries with analytics that will affect weeding decisions. The Pollack Training is laid out into a 3-part workflow. The first step works to familiarize librarians with GreenGlass, queries, and possible scenarios. In an excellent move, the site uses brief video tutorials that run users through the information they need with visuals that help describe the work. Step 2 explains how to add information to Excel along with some tips on functi

Idaho Libraries The Idaho Libraries site offers similar information as the Arizona State Library site, but specifically notes that it is directed for librarians that do not have formal training. It’s a good concept and important to remember that not everyone comes into library work with the same background, education, or skill set. It’s also helpful as it’s set up as an online course with “exams” one has to pass to move forward, but sections can be accessed individually from the home page with no problem. IL begins with an overview about why weeding is important and why it is controversial: it makes it easier to use, helps staff know the collection better, gets rid of outdated and damaged material, and find strengths and weaknesses in the collection. Next is criteria with a reference to the CREW method and MUSTIE criteria. Step three is the actual process for weeding. Readers are encouraged to follow a plan, are given an example of a disposal slip, and encou

Arizona State Library The Arizona State Library is a no-frill, but thorough site that breaks weeding down to clear and manageable parts by walking the reader through the necessary steps of a useful weeding project. The site begins with an overview of the importance and necessity of weeding in plain language while offering links to resources that will offer a more in-depth conversation. ASL then delves into helping librarians plan a practical approach using the CREW method; or Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding. One of the best parts of this site is the explanations given to reason why this information is used or presented as helpful. They explain that the CREW method is based on the research of Stanley Slote and details how it has helped other libraries improve their collection. By understanding how and why this method is helpful, librarians will be better able to relate it to their own collections. Next, the site offers up a plan to “get down to business”.   A b