Collection Development Policies: Weeding/Deselection

In order to keep its collection alive, useful, and accessible, the Library will maintain an active and continuing program of weeding. Weeding, or the removal of obsolete, damaged, and inappropriate materials for the purposes of discarding, is an integral part of the total process of collection development.

In general, candidates for weeding include:

• Worn, damaged materials.
• Ephemeral materials no longer timely.
• Obsolete, inaccurate materials.
• Superseded editions.
• Unused, unneeded items.
• Duplicate copies of seldom used materials.

Items that should not be weeded:

• Materials of research potential (as determined by librarians or faculty).
• Local history.
• Rare materials.

Responsibility for selecting items for possible withdrawal from the collection lies with the entire college community. Faculty in academic departments are expected to actively participate in the decision-making process regarding removal of materials. All librarians participate in the weeding process in consultation with appropriate members of the classroom faculty.

Lists of items being considered for removal: