Golemon Library Policies

 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• Outdated and obsolete information (especially on subjects that change quickly or require absolute currency, such as computers, law, science, space, health and medicine,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or that were dealt with superficially due to their popularity at a specific point in time, as well as titles related to outdated popular culture.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• Inaccurate or false information, including outdated information and sources that have been superseded by new titles or editions.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• Superseded editions (in general, it is unnecessary to keep more than one previous edition, discarding as new editions are added).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 and young adult materials are not a priority for Golemon Library.