Weed to achieve: a fundamental part of the public library mission?

Abstract

Weeding or deselection of materials has become an integral part of library management. Based on a nineteen-question survey about weeding practices in public libraries, this article discusses the personal perspectives of public librarians on weeding as well as the weeding practices of their institutions. The three most common criteria for weeding are circulation, physical condition, and accuracy of information. Librarians overwhelmingly believe that weeding increases use of books and patron satisfaction. In addition, the public library was framed as a venue that offers safe, clean, and fresh "product lines" with various natural life cycles and expiry dates. This discursive formation raises questions about the extent to which public libraries and their collections are becoming commodified, homogenized, and ephemeral, and whether such ephemeralness and homogenization serve the interests of all community members.

Automated Classification to Improve the Efficiency of Weeding Library Collections

“…There is a general belief among librarians that weeding can increase circulation rates (Dilevko & Gottlieb, 2003). However, the few experimental studies that have been done to assess the effect of weeding on circulation produced mixed results.…”

“…Dilevko and Gottlieb (2003) conducted a survey of 294 public librarians in the U.S. and Canada about their weeding practices. They found that 33% of public libraries weeded irregularly (e.g., to make space for new acquisitions), 24% conducted weeding in an ongoing (continuous) fashion, and 39%…”

“…Further, it can impose a psychological strain on those tasked to implement it; many librarians find it stressful to make the decision to discard an item (Dilevko & Gottlieb, 2003).…”

“…A key component of this process is weeding, the selective removal of items that are outdated, physically worn, no longer relevant to patron interests and needs, and/or available in electronic form. There is widespread agreement among librarians that weeding benefits both the library, by reducing the number of unneeded or unwanted items that are maintained, and the user population, by making desired items easier to find (Dilevko & Gottlieb, 2003).…”

Weeding with ADDIE: Developing Training For Deselection At An Academic Library

“…13 There is little literature on how often libraries weed, but a wide-ranging 2003 deselection-focused survey of public librarians found that only about 32.7 percent of public libraries weed on an ongoing basis-the rest weed irregularly or every few years. 14 Many, if not most, libraries avoid weeding their collections due to "lack of time, procrastination, fear of making a mistake, concern of being called a 'book burner,' and concern about dealing with opposition to such a project." 15 A subset of respondents to the 2003 survey cited above reported that they would improve the weeding process, if they could, by implementing training "so as to make staff better understand the concepts behind weeding and the need for continuous evaluation and review of materials."…”