Throw-It Thursday: Book by Book

Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library is back with her monthly column and has some great advice on making sure your collections are updated.

    Do you ever take the time to go through your collections book by book to look for problem items? If you can make the time to do a shelf at a time, I highly encourage going through book by book and doing a visual assessment and weed what is necessary. I cannot tell you how many times this has helped me find books with issues that were missed at check in. I’m talking torn pages, spine damage, gross stains, MOLD! I try to periodically go through our collections shelf by shelf (I do my whole library, but you could split it up by departments or enlist the help of other staff members if that is too overwhelming for you), on the hunt for items that need to go. 

    I pull each book off the shelf, flip through the pages to look for tears and stains. Then I flip the book and check for spine issues. If I find damage that is repairable, I bring it back to the workroom and repair it. If it is beyond repair, I throw them in the discard pile. If it has some kind of damage that is minimal and non-repairable, but the item can still circulate, I put a damaged sticker in it to tell what kind of damage staff have noted and when. This is helpful, especially when we send items to other libraries, so they know the damage was already there and their patrons won’t be charged for it.

    There are so many ways to weed. Many people stick to the basics, but I find that going through the entire once in a while and doing an in depth look at items is a great way to find those items that are past their prime that may get overlooked. It is also a great way to learn your collection and find gaps that you may want to fill.