Main Collection Weeding Criteria
Adopted from CREW guidelines established by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Poor Content - Does the material or collection contain:
- Outdated and obsolete information (especially on subjects that change quickly or require absolute currency, such as computers, law, science, space, health and medicine, technology, travel).
- Trivial subject matter, including topics that are no longer of interest or that were dealt with superficially due to their popularity at a specific point in time, as well as titles related to outdated popular culture.
- Mediocre writing style, especially material that was written quickly to meet popular interest that has passed.
- Inaccurate or false information, including outdated information and sources that have been superseded by new titles or editions.
- Unused sets of books (although you may keep specific volumes if they meet local needs and are used).
- Repetitious series, especially series that are no longer popular or that were published to meet a popular demand that no longer exists.
- Superseded editions (in general, it is unnecessary to keep more than one previous edition, discarding as new editions are added).
- Resources that are not on standard lists or that were never reviewed in standard review sources.
- Material that contains biased, racist, or sexist terminology or views.
- Unneeded duplicates, especially if they are worn or tattered.
Poor Appearance - Does the material or collection contain:
- Worn out, ragged items.
- Poorly bound or poorly printed editions.
- Rebound editions that are worn and shabby or have torn pages.
- Items that are dirty, shabby, warped, bug infested, or otherwise marked up, mutilated, or 'edited' by patrons.
- Books with yellowed, brittle, torn, taped, or missing pages.
- Books with dust jackets or cover art that is dated, especially on children's and young adult books.
Unused Materials - Does the material or collection contain:
- Items that have not circulated within the past 3-5 years and not actually used for reference or in-house research.
- Duplicate copies that are no longer needed, regardless of condition.
- Periodicals that are available in full-text databases.
- Unused volumes in sets or series.
- Unneeded titles in subject areas that are less frequently used.
- Materials on the 'hot topics' that were popular more than five years ago.
- More books than are needed on any single subject.
- Formats that are no longer popular in your community, especially if the technology needed to use the format is no longer owned by people in the community.
- Material that is no longer important to the collection because of changes in local demographics, school curricula, or other factors.
Checklist of Weeding Factors - For all materials, consider:
- Date—when was the item published? When was it added to the collection?
- Author—is the author still read or likely to be read in the future? Is the book a lesser work?
- Physical condition—are there any factors that make the item unattractive?
- Additional copies—are more copies available that may be in better condition?
- Other books on the same subject in the collection—if this book is discarded, what else is available?
- Expense of replacement—can the item be replaced? Was this an expensive item that might benefit from rebinding or refurbishing rather than replacement?
- Shelf-time—how long has the item sat on the shelf without circulating?
- Relevance of the subject to the community—is the material of interest to anyone in the community?
Fiction, young adult, and childrens materials are not a priority for Golemon Library.
