Regular reviews of library stock (both physical and digital) should be carried out to ensure that resources remain relevant and attractive. Culling the resource collection, sometimes referred to as weeding, involves the removal and disposal of materials that are no longer considered suitable for the collection and cancelling of subscriptions. This process is just as important as the initial selection of materials and should be carried out on a regular basis. Systems Support at the State Library of Tasmania have clearly developed criteria for weeding the physical collection.
Guidelines and procedures for culling should be included in the library collection development policy.
Criteria for culling should be established, similar to those used for selection. Schools may find the following suggested criteria useful for physical collections.
Physical condition
- Torn, scratched or worn out
- Damaged beyond repair
- Unattractive
Content and form
- Inaccurate, biased or misleading information
- Dated or obsolete formats
- Stereotyping of race, culture or sex role
- Irrelevance to the curriculum and current teaching and learning methods
- Inappropriate or irrelevant to the needs and interests of users
Use patterns
- Declining because interest has waned
- Declining because materials were acquired to meet specific needs which no longer exist
An interesting and somewhat useful website is the Sunlink Weed of the Month Club based in Florida.
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Culled and damaged library materials, should be removed from the collection and disposed of according to approved procedures. Remove the item from the shelves and remember to remove the catalogue record for the item from the library catalogue. This may involve simply removing the holdings from a union catalogue, such as TALIS, or removing the whole record if your school library is the only school to hold the item. It is also essential to ensure that the item is clearly labelled as having been withdrawn from the collection. A special purpose stamp is often purchased for this purpose.
If the material is found to be offensive, outdated or in poor condition then it should be permanently disposed of. However, if the material has declining use patterns for different reasons, other libraries or collections may find it useful.
Suggested methods of disposal include:
- Pulping
- Waste removal
- Exchange with other schools
- Gift to other school or a more suitable agency such as a charity
- Wiping and reusing video and audio tapes
- School library book/resource sale
If you decide to have a sale, it is essential to ensure that all appropriate procedures for withdrawing the item as previously detailed, have been carried out. It is important to check with other teaching staff and the principal to ensure all are in agreement before the sale goes ahead. This is where a collection development policy that includes criteria for withdrawing items is very important as staff may have a vested interest in some of the material you have decided to withdraw and may challenge your choices. Being able to point to the criteria included in the policy is extremely compelling, especially if the policy has already been approved. Ensure that items are for sale for a nominal fee, thereby ensuring the advantages of the book sale are achieved.
Advantages of holding a book/resource sale include:
- Provides an opportunity for students who may have no books, videos, CDs, etc. at home to acquire some.
- Cost effective as no couriers are required to pick up the resources for exchange/pulping/donation.
- Cost effective as a nominal sum may be charged for the item and that money can go back into the school library budget.
- Promotes the library and may encourage students and staff who rarely use the school library to come into the centre
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Donna M. Shannon in her chapter included in Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.), says that ‘keeping Web links current is an essential part of maintaining digital resources. (p. 228)
Link checking software is available to weed out dead links and save library staff time when checking for changed links. It must be remembered that the software is unable to evaluate content.
The library's collection development policy should contain clear guidelines for the selection of digital resources so that the reverse policy might apply to the de-selection of such resources.
Contracts and licensing agreements must be adhered to when weeding digital resources. Some resources will need to be carefully removed once subscriptions have expired.
When cancelling subscriptions to electronic journals, consideration should be given to the lack of access to back copies of the journal once the subscription ends.
Dillon, K., Henri, J. & McGregor, J. (2001) Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries. 2nd ed. Centre for Information Studies Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.
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