Here’s a question – does one need to worry about weeding the Occult, Paranormal, and Divination materials in one’s library? Answer: of course! While this section tends to do most of the work itself, it is still good to go through it occasionally to see what you still have and what (if anything) hasn’t been checked out.
What do I mean when I say this section tends to do most of the work? I’m sure you can figure it out. This section tends to be a high traffic collection in most libraries. Things get checked out, lost, damaged, and used so much they might be falling apart. Then it’s time to replace and maybe find some newer books on whatever specific topic the item might be about.
This also tends to be one of those areas that people steal, either because they don’t want people to know what they are reading, or because they don’t think these items should be on the shelves to begin with. Whatever the reason, we hope they will show up again eventually, but that doesn’t always happen.
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| The circled area in the picture is where our books on the occult and paranormal live. Compared to the rest of the shelves, these are pretty empty! |
So the best way to “weed” this section is to go through periodically and see what you have and what is missing. Check the condition of what you do have and see if it needs to be replaced. If a book in this section looks brand new, check the circulation statistics. Maybe it is not a good fit for your collection, and you could find something your patrons like more about the topic.
Whatever you do, happy weeding!
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