I endeavour to weed regularly. The criteria to deselect is based on what is mouldy, old, damaged, lost and beyond repair. Though I find it hard to let go of material sometime. I would rather cull it only when I know there is certain replacement or an extra copy available. I am always weary of culling a book only to find out that it is totally irreplaceable. I would try my best to repair it first and return it to the shelves.
According to the readings in Module 5 of ETL503, weeding should be done regularly as part of the collection management process. The time to weed should be regularly scheduled as well as the section to focus on. The whole collection should be reviewed annually in a continuous process.
Weeding should be part of the collection management policy. Rules for weeding must be established to make sure the collection is still viable and current. Too much weeding without replacement and the collection would be no longer meet the requirements. Not much weeding would mean irrelevant resources just cluttering the shelves.
Vanuk (2015) in “The Weeding Handbook” states it is a good practice to weed. It gives the TL a chance to evaluate the collection and to find if there are any gaps or outdated materials. Weeding gives you an increased knowledge of the collection and a chance to purge. Though it goes against the grain of the TL to remove information, it must be kept in mind that the information delivered needs to be of good quality. It should be a continuous flow process so that patrons do not see a sudden withdrawal of resources. The whole process also engenders to promote the aesthetic feel of the library.
CREW is a cyclical process of Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding. According to Larson (2012), Crewing Children’s material is important for the following reasons. Children are susceptible to the information presented in books. Without guidance to find the correct source of information, they are very unlikely to check if it is out of date or inaccurate and incomplete. Why would they check it against other sources when the book was found in the library? They do not always have the knowledge base to navigate the information pathway that many adults are still struggling to do so. Imagine a reference section that has not been regularly updated, which the students would use in their research assignments. This is a very compelling argument for weeding unreliable and outdated information on the shelves.
Weeding the collection is a good way to evaluate the gaps and strengths. Whilst going through the shelves, the A book may be found that has been completely ignored for years. If a TL recognises it’s worth and brings it to connect to the right child, it could a make a world of difference. A series of books that are popular but has seen better days need to be assessed for repair or replacement before it falls apart in the hands of users.
Digital collections should not be ignored. Just like the physical collection, weeding is required of e-books because the collection needs to be current and meeting the requirements of the community. The user aspect of what is returning when a database search is done should be considered.
The quality of a library collections and its appearance reflects upon the quality of the library and the TL. Hence the persons who oversee collection development should also be part of the weeding and deselection policy development. A truly effective weeding process strengthens the collection through content relevance and appearance of the shelves. Thus it needs the involvement of all the stakeholders and judgement of the person who understands the collection and the community it targets.
A book should not be judged by its cover. However, the collection could be judged by its ability to serve the community.
Rebecca, V. (2015). The Weeding Handbook : A Shelf-by-Shelf Guide [Book]. ALA Editions.
Larson, J. (2012). CREW: a weeding manual for modern libraries. Austin, TX: Texas State Library and Archives Commission. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod12.pdf