Review: State Library of Iowa, Weeding and Maintenance

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 library staff, or citizens of Iowa, rather than the general public at large. I found it interesting that they put the legal explanations on their page, it does give full transparency but it could also be hard to understand for an average person looking at their website.

https://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/k-p/new-lib-dir-man/coll-mgmt/weeding

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Annotated Bibliography- Data Driven Deselection: Using a Decision Support Tool

Ehret Snyder, C. (2013, Dec 20). Data-driven deselection: multiple point data using a decision support tool in an academic library. Collection Management, 39 , 11-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2013.866607 Weeding is a time-consuming and sensitive task for librarians. It is necessary to make space for new material, keep information current and updated, and remove items in poor condition. Librarians have to determine what kind of data is necessary to review in order to justify removing an item from the library’s shelves. Tools exist to help librarians gather multiple points of data to make the process more efficient. The librarians at Olin Library, part of Rollins College in Florida, utilized such a tool (Sustainable Collections Services) to help them update their collection and present the findings in this paper. Summary: Librarians are short on time and weeding is one of the most time-consuming tasks they can take on. Criteria is necessary to make...

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