Throw-It Thursday: Oops...I Didn’t Really Want That

Image by GraphicMama-team
 from Pixabay

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

Do you have a place for patrons to put unwanted books after they have been pulled off the shelves? If the answer is no, do you ever think about what books patrons might be looking at but not checking out? 

Oopsy carts (or tables, or whatever space you can create) are beneficial in a few ways. One benefit of having “Oopsy carts” is being able to see what is patrons are using but not checking out. This can help determine how you might want to cultivate your collections-are the things they are looking at old and crusty? Do they need to be updated? Are they sensitive topics that you shouldkeep even though they may not be getting checked out? These are some good questions to ask yourself when you find books left on an oopsy cart or just lying around the library.

“Oopsy carts” also give patrons a place to put items they no longer want, rather than putting them back on the shelves (oftentimes in the wrong place). This can save staff the headache of trying to find something that was shoved back in the wrong spot – sometimes the waaay wrong spot. 

Don’t get me wrong, even with “Oopsy carts,” there are still times things get mis-shelved and end up somewhere we can’t find them right away, but these carts have helped reduce the number of items that get shoved into a random spot on a shelf and end up lost because they are nowhere near where they should be on a shelf. If you don’t already have a designated space for materials patrons no longer want, I recommend at least trying it out in your library.