Throw It Thursday - What's Your Personality?

Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library, is back with another weeding tips column.

If you do a large portion of the weeding for your library, I highly recommend checking out the book “Making a Collection Count: A Holistic Approach to Library Collection Management” by Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly (2023). It has some great information about all aspects of collection management, from acquiring items, to policies, to best practices for discards. 

One interesting thing they talk about is weeding personalities. Did you know there are different types of weeders? I never really thought about it, but they point out some characteristics that I found interesting. The four types of weeding personalities Hibner and Kelly talk about are: The Professor, The Snob, The Randomizer, and The Saver. 

• The Professor is all about the statistics and data. If the data supports weeding, out it goes. 

• The Snob wants to preserve all of the classics and important works, even when the patrons don’t want or use them. 

• The Randomizer tosses whatever they feel like, using an approach known only to them. 

• The Saver (or The Hoarder, as I like to think of them) can’t get rid of anything because everything is useful. 

Which of these best describes your weeding style? And how can you work to become a better, more rounded weeder?

I have to admit, I sometimes struggle to be a well-rounded weeder. Some days I can be more of a Professor, going directly by the reports I run. Other days, I can be a Randomizer and see something that just doesn’t look nice and rather than worry about whether or not it should be replaced, I might just throw it in the discard pile. I have to stop myself some days and think about what I’m doing and if I’m doing it in the best way.

On my best days, I find a good balance between using my reports (Professor) and saving something that maybe hasn’t circ’ed much but holds value as literature or in my community (the Snobby Saver). Whichever personality type you lean more towards, try to remember that balance can be helpful and don’t be afraid to try a different approach. Go out of your comfort zone and cross into another personality zone. It could just make you a better weeder.