Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library and YSS board member, is back with her monthly column and has some great advice on making sure your collections are updated.
I had an interesting question a couple of weeks ago. A colleague asked
for some advice on weeding YA nonfiction. I know there are a lot of libraries
that tend to weed their YA sections by last circulation dates of two years or
sometimes less. Most often this is due to high circulation of the collection
and not enough shelf space. My colleague was worried about weeding items that
hadn’t circulated but are still relatively new (with a copyright date within
the last few years).
If you struggle with how to weed a collection with newer items that have
not circulated, I have this idea to offer you: before you start weeding,
consider your space. Do you have a lot of free shelf space for your YA
nonfiction? How many nonfiction books do you usually add every year? If you are
low on space, clean them out and make room for new materials. If you have the
room to keep some of them, consider their usefulness.
Take it on a case-by-case
basis. If you have a book that hasn't circulated in 2 years that is new within
the last 5 years, look at your collection. Do you have more items on that
subject? Is the topic relevant to your patrons? Can they easily find the
information elsewhere? Chances are if it hasn't been checked out in the past
two years, and the total circulation count is low, it will not be used and you
can feel free to Throw-It with a clear conscience. If you truly believe that
the items still have value for your patrons, hang onto them for another year or
two.
There are a number of criteria you could use if you want or need to make
space:
- Circulation date (all of my nonfiction is considered for weeding at 5
years of no circulation or longer)
- Publication date (some sections, such as computer manuals and medical
books also get weeded against publication date because they become outdated
very quickly-10 years or older, probably time to Throw-It.)
- Creation date (not common, but you could see when you added it to your
system and see how many times it has been checked out during the time you owned
it)
- Physical condition (is it falling apart, non-reparable, horrible water
damaged, or moldy? Throw-It! Buy a replacement if you really need to but who
wants a crusty book?!)
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These are just a few ideas for weeding. I also have a great idea for
some of those books that don’t circulate but you think could be helpful for
some people. There are some topics that people may not feel comfortable
checking out from the library. The Waupaca Public Library took some of these
books and created an Honor Books Box.This is a small collection of books on sensitive topics that are not
barcoded. The teens can take them out and bring them back as they need them.
Books include information about eating disorders, self-harm, LGBTQ+ and other
things they might not feel comfortable checking out. If some of the books on
your weeding list are on similar topics, maybe you want to think about
discarding them, removing the barcodes and creating your own Honor Books
section. Sometimes thinking outside the box and doing something different with
some of your discards is a great way to breathe new life into them.
Happy weeding!
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