Process

There are seven parts to this task: 1) read weeding best practices, 2) identify items from your collection to be weeded, 3) explain why these items need to be weeded, 4) examine sample weeding policies, 5) draft your own weeding policy, 6) examine a real-life weeding conflict, and 7) review your work against an evaluation rubric.

1. Read weeding best practices

Read through the weeding best practices, CREW manual, and a few other sources. Further information can be gleaned by accessing other articles linked in Delicious (linked below).

• CREW Manual (aka the Weeding Bible)
• Weeding FAQs (from the State Library of Iowa)
• Weeding Library Collections Overview (includes suggestion of what to do with gifts and memorials)
• Weed It! For An Attractive and Useful Collection
• What do you do with deselected books?
• Doing a spot of gardening (weeding in a library discussion)
• Skim some of the sources on the ALA Fact Sheet on Weeding Library Collections: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for Library Collection Evaluation
• Weeding Grows the Garden (American Libraries Column)
• Collection Development Training: Weeding Section (From Arizona State Library)

2. Identify items from your collection to be weeded

1. Using what you learned above, identify and develop a list of at least twenty 20 items in your library to be weeded. Submit this list to the online class area for the weeding list. On your list, please include some adult fiction, adult non-fiction, childrens' fiction, childrens' non-fiction, and media items.
2. See the rubric on the evaluation page for more information on how your work will be evaluated.
3. Please post constructive comments and feedback on classmates' work, as you see fit.

3. Explain why these items need to be weeded

1. In a written statement, explain to your board how these materials were selected, why these 20 items should be weeded, and how any potential community conflicts will be addressed. Submit your statement to the online class area for the board explanation.
2. See the rubric on the evaluation page for more information on how your work will be evaluated.
3. Please post constructive comments and feedback on classmates' work, as you see fit.

4. Examine sample weeding policies

1. Examine sample weeding policies (that are sometimes included in collection development policies) listed below. Why are these good policies? Why are they not good policies? Post your answers to the online class area for example weeding policies.
   
   
   • Academic Library Weeding Policy
   • Public Library Weeding Policy
   • Another Public Library Weeding Policy
2. See the rubric on the evaluation page for more information on how your work will be evaluated.
3. Please post constructive comments and feedback on classmates' work, as you see fit.

5. Draft your own weeding policy

1. Draft your own library weeding policy based on what you're learned. Share it with the class in the online class area for drafted weeding policies. Comment and provide feedback to classmates' policies.
2. See the rubric on the evaluation page for more information on how your work will be evaluated.
3. Please post constructive comments and feedback on classmates' work, as you see fit.

6. Respond to a real-life weeding conflict

1. Examine the Fairfax County Library weeding situation from 2007 using the below resources.
   
   
   • Original Story: Hello Grisham -- So Long, Hemingway? (Washington Post)
   • Reaction pieces
     
     
     • Should Libraries' Target Audience Be Cheapskates With Mass-Market Tastes?(Wall Street-Journal opinion)
     • Shelf Life (Pittsburgh-Post Gazette editorial)
     • Checked Out A Washington-area library tosses out the classics. (Wall-Street Journal opinion archived at Wayback Machine)
     • A Front-Page Article on Weeding Puts the Fairfax Library Under Fire (Library Journal)
   • Fairfax County Library's Response
     
     
     • Classic Literature at the Fairfax County Public Library (Library blog memo)
     • The Classics Thrive at Fairfax Libraries (Library Director's letter to the editor)
     • Fairfax libraries clarify mischaracterizations of ‘weeding’ (National Association of Counties)
     • Into the Fray: Media, the Web, and a Virginia Library (Library Director's blog post)
   • Apology from Washington Post
     • Accurate, but not whole story
2. Please respond to the critical commentary about the library's portrayed weeding approaches. In your response, please summarize the conflict, discuss the published criticism, discuss the Fairfax County Library's response and comments, and discuss Fairfax County Library's response and comments compared to what you have learned in this WebQuest. Could they have reacted differently? Compile your response to the situation into a memo to your board about why your library needs to pass its weeding policy immediately. Include your draft weeding policy with your memo. Submit the memo and attached draft policy to the online class area for why weeding policies are necessary.
3. See the rubric on the evaluation page for more information on how your work will be evaluated.
4. Please post constructive comments and feedback on classmates' work, as you see fit.

7. Review your work against an evaluation rubric

1. Use the evaluation rubric on the next page to self-assess your work.

About this WebQuest

This project was designed for librarians, library school students, or library boards learning about the practice and policy behind weeding the library collection, a critical part of any library's collection development strategies. It mainly focuses on public library collections, especially at small- medium-sized libraries, but could be easily be customized for school or academic libraries. The exercise format is based on the WebQuest inquiry learning model, developed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March.

The content can be re-used, as long as it follows the terms of the Creative Commons License. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me.

© Heather Braum, 2011, under a Creative Commons license.
Credits: Images. Original template design by Russ Weakley.