Weeding Tips
Definition of Weeding: a decision-making process by which judgments are made to retain, store, or remove items in the library collection.It is important to have a selection and collection development policy in place that includes weeding (to defend your decisions). School Media Center Guidelines from the American Library Association states that "All schools must have a collection development plan that addresses their collection needs and includes such specific steps as school and community analysis, policy development, selection, acquisition, weeding, and evaluation."
Weeding Tips
- Students, teachers, administrators/board members, and the taxpaying public are all stakeholders in weeding. Consider the potential harm to student learning by allowing access to outdated, inaccurate materials.
- General criteria for weeding:
- Appearance or condition (worn out, falling apart, scummy, moldy, smelly, etc.)
- Duplicate volumes
- Poor content
- Language
- Age (most of your materials should have a publication date of 1990 and above)
- Use (rarely/never used)
- Triviality
- Stereotypical Materials (illustrations, maps, etc.)
- Periodicals
- Consider using the CREW Method (Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding).
- Remember that patient encouragement of your assistants and/or volunteers empowers them.
- Make friends with your custodial staff - bring them a coffee cake every now and then.
- Consider giving some still usable materials to students for their 'home libraries' (again making sure to use good judgment regarding the appropriateness of materials you give them!).
- Remember to properly cancel materials so they don't wind up back in your collection. Stamp materials as 'CANCELLED' or 'DISCARDED' in several places. You may also consider tearing out some pages of the book (don't do this publicly, though!).
- If you need to replace materials, remember to tear out the title/verso pages so that you have all of the publication information handy.
- Don't be afraid of empty shelves! Keep in mind the ultimate goal - to provide your students and teachers with accurate, correct, and up-to-date information. If you are left with empty shelves it broadcasts your need for more money for collection development! Think about ESEA funding!
- Keep examples of 'shameful' books (ie: Man on the Moon, pre-1990's World Atlas, etc.).
See also: http://www.infohio.org/uc/weeding.html
"Weeding: Reassessment Of Library / Media Collections"
by Carl Carter
Maintenance of any viable school library media center collection should be a regular, continuous process. Each school library media collection should reflect changes in the student body, new curriculum and changes of emphasis in ongoing curriculum, new issues and concerns, and current interests of faculty and students. Those questions and needs that were used to establish the collection continue to be of value.
Reassessment of the collection adds a dimension to the overall assessment process. Whereas the primary consideration in initial selection and purchase focuses on additions, reassessment includes examination of present holdings to determine the need to repair, replace, or remove. These three "R's" of "weeding" require the unique training of school library media personnel and the cooperation of school staff members to determine what is valuable for the school program. Decisions concerning the collection may be made based on the following general criteria:
Condition:
Antiquated appearance can discourage use. Materials with unattractive covers or containers; books with small print and faded, brittle, yellow pages; and materials with missing components, pages, or sections deter use. Likewise, warped sound recordings or video and audio recordings with deletions will frustrate users. If materials should remain in the collection, replacements are warranted. Otherwise, materials may be considered for discard.
Duplication:
Often a collection includes duplicate titles that may no longer be of interest to the students. These materials may be removed and transferred to library media centers where such items could be used.
Age:
Materials that are dated are subject for review and removal. For example, reference sources in geography that are over ten years old, almanacs and yearbooks that have been superseded, science materials in categories where facts change drastically in a five-year period, and encyclopedias that have not been updated for over five years should be considered for replacement. Often such items as films, videos, and filmstrip kits include photographs that may be dated or biased.
Use:
During a regular inventory, materials should be examined for the amount of use they receive. If an item hasn't circulated for over five years after highlighting it, perhaps it should be considered for removal so that it could be sent to some site where it could be used. Periodicals not indexed or used after being promoted, or reference sources not used might also be considered for removal.
The suggestions made are (of course) general in nature. Each library media center has a unique population. It is only through regular ongoing inventory that careful and thoughtful decisions can be made and balance maintained. The criteria suggested should be considered as a guide only. While duplicate titles might not be used on year, the course might be taught again later. Certain fiction titles fluctuate in popularity.
Usually, inventory allows the library media specialist to examine each section of the collection using the shelf list. Not only can each section be examined, but judgments about the entire collection can be made.There are certain considerations for each section of the library media center collection for those who organize the materials by the Dewey Decimal Classification System. The following guidelines are offered:
General Reference:
Encyclopedias should be considered for updating after five years. Much of the information will be outdated. Bibliographical sources will need to be considered within this same time frame. Yearbooks and almanacs should be updated as superseded. (In some cases, yearbooks and almanacs are kept for use in history classes or for instruction in use of the source. If so, current documents should be retained and older versions kept in other more appropriate areas.)
000s:
Computer materials will change rapidly with the technology. Replacement may be required more often. Consideration might be given to paperback versions.
100s:
Self-help psychology and guidance materials may need to be reviewed for dated pictures and concepts.
200s:
Philosophical and religious materials should be reviewed individually and as a collection to ensure that as many points of view as possible are presented.
300s:
Certain subject areas will need constant revision while others should be very carefully and seldom weeded. Basic sources on customs and volumes on folklore will probably be removed only because of poor physical condition. On the other hand, sources on local, state, and national government should be current. Depending on the curriculum, historical coverage of economics, communication, transportation, politics, and education will be maintained. Review of audio-visual sources for dated dress and mannerisms, is especially important.
400s:
Depending on the size and use of the collection, old grammar materials and foreign language sources should be examined for dated examples and illustrations. Dictionaries differ in words included, especially slang words that have come into common usage.
500s:
Unless general science works have become classics, obsolete materials should be discarded. Each scientific area differs in the rate of change. Astronomy materials may become dated before botany sources. New discoveries in energy may require updating works in this field more often than materials in subjects such as natural history. Certain materials present ideas in unique ways and should be carefully considered before discarding. Many materials related to the environment are still appropriate after fifteen years while an item about atoms could be inaccurate after two years.
600s:
Many of the concerns identified for the 500s apply to the 600s as well. Certain materials on medicine, radio, television, industry, space exploration, and automobiles will become dated rapidly. Other areas such as pets, crafts, and cookbooks may be used often and need to be replaced because of their condition.
700s:
This section often includes collection of handsomely illustrated sources on art, music, and other fine arts. These materials may be irreplaceable. Sources that are heavily used should be considered for replacement or, as is often the case, rebinding. Materials on certain hobbies may need updating. Use patterns should play a role in determining what needs updating. Sources on various sports should be current with duplicate copies available.
800s:
Literacy history should seldom be discarded unless drastic curriculum changes are made. Collections versus individual works of major and minor poets, novelists, and playwrights may be weighed against curriculum needs and use patterns.
900s:
Many geography and travel materials tend to become dated quickly. Except for items that have become classics, geography and travel materials that are over ten years old should be considered for removal and replacement. Historical materials should be examined for use patterns as well as bias. The collection should contain a range of materials on all historical periods and examined for coverage. Those materials once purchased for coverage may be replaced with items of better quality.
Fiction and Easy:
Use patterns greatly influence the review of fiction collections. Materials popular one year will sit on the shelves at other times. Duplicates once needed may no longer be appropriate. Replacement of popular worn items must be considered. Rebinding of materials for out of print items may be an option for materials that fill a specific curriculum need or reading interest.
It has been mentioned that reassessment of the collection should be a regular activity. It is not recommended that the library media center be closed while an inventory is completed. Rather, a routine for reviewing each section may be established.
The judicious reassessment of library media collections allows for continuous support of curriculum in a school.