Ethics of Weeding
A program for Everyday Ethics, May 2010
CKLS Administrator
Harry Willems
Chris Rippel
CKLS Consultant
If you print this presentation, print the notes as well. See http://tinyurl.com/24b99aj for instructions.
This presentation covers:
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Ethical theories
Librarians learn to weed
Weeding as part of collection development
Ethical weeding
Some recommendations
Ethical theories
• Goodness = ethics - the goodness of the outcome makes it ethical (Kant)
o Ridding the library of outdated, misleading, ugly materials is good
o Room to shelve/re-shelve is good
• Happiness and serenity = ethics - ridding one of superstition and fear
(Epicurus)
o Discarding is so beneficial it rids us of superstition and fear
o Superstitions about “sacred” items disappear
• Moral individuals live according to the dictates of reason (Epictetus)
o Understanding who we serve and the purpose of our library
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Source: “The Ethics of Library Discard Practices” by Rosann Bazirjian,
The Acquisitions Librarians, Vol. 2, # 3, September 1990, pp. 136-146.
Librarians learn to weed
1893: Weeding to save space
Thomas Crane Public Library
Quincy, Massachusetts, 1882
Built with supposedly enough room for 100
years of growth. Library filled up in 10 years.
Source of pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Crane_Public_Library
Librarians learn to weed
Quincy Plan debate at national convention in 1893
Melvil Dewey
When a librarian goes through his collection and
selects the books that he thinks will be no longer
useful it will happen that the very next week perhaps
some man will come in and want that very book that
has been thrown away. Perhaps this man's
grandmother placed that book there. Packing the
books in close stacks, it seems to me, would be
more economical than [weeding]. In carrying it out I
am afraid you will not only fail to save money but will
cause an amount of criticism that will make it very
undesirable. It is bad enough to stand the critics who
complain that a book … has not been bought. You
can always fall back on lack of funds. But it is a rash
librarian who would like to tell one of these gentry
that he had recently thrown that very book away. It is
a nice question to determine what to add. To decide
what to reject after it is^ received, paid for, and
cataloged is infinitely more difficult.
Librarians learn to weed
1902: Circulation as criteria for weeding
Use circulation statistics to identify “living” and “dead” books.
Store “dead” books in another location.
Stanley J. Slote studies of eight public libraries
discovered that past circulation is the best predictor of
future circulation. - Source: Weeding Library Collections by Stanley J.
Slote, 1989, p. 64.
In 1985, Loriene Roy weeded 10% of three Illinois
public libraries. One-percent of weeded books were
requested during the next eight months. - Source: “Weeding
without tears” by Loriene Roy, Collection Management Vol. 12, #1 and 2, 1990, pp.
83-93, p. 91.
Harvard President
Charles William Eliot
Librarians learn to weed
1911: Weeding to aid patrons
“Huge cemeteries of dead books” depress me.
In 1973, when Stanley J. Slote weeded 20% of fiction, six
months later circulation increased 106.2%, 20 months later
the increase was 121.2%. - Source: Weeding Library Collections by Stanley
J. Slote, 1989, p. 65.
Fifth Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose
“We have learned that the more books we eliminate, the higher our circulation
goes…. [I] could provide statistics to prove that 10 percent weeding job would
automatically result in upward circulation of 5 to 10 percent. … There must be a
point of diminishing return, but we haven’t found it yet.” - Eliot Shelkrot,
Baltimore County Public Library, 1980s. - Source: “Does weeding increase circulation?” Loriene Roy
Collection Management. Vol. 10, #1 and 2, 1988, pp. 141-156, p. 146 and 1952.
Librarians learn to weed
Benefits of weeding
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Saving space
Saving patrons’ and staffs’ time
Increasing library appeal
Enhancing collection’s reputation for being up to date
Providing feedback on care of items
Providing feedback of collection’s strengths and
weaknesses
Increasing use of other materials
Making room for more valuable materials
Encouraging patrons to be more careful handling
materials
Broadcasting need for more materials
Reducing duplicate copies
Withdrawing sexist materials
Eliminating items no longer fitting library’s mission
Eliminating items outside patrons’ reading level
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Instilling greater sensitivity in selection
Eliminating items no longer of interest to patrons
Saving overhead costs of retaining books
Reducing binding costs
Encumbering catalog and saving time in its use
Protecting readers from inaccurate information
Withdrawing irreplaceable books
Reducing expenses for fire insurance
Saving time inventorying
Encouraging browsing
Forcing librarians to write logical and meaningful
collection development policies
12. Forcing more communication with faculty
13. Improving library safety
- Source “Weeding” article in Encyclopedia of Library and
Information Science, Vol. 54, 1994, page 367 - 368.
Librarians learn to weed
Development of weeding criteria
CREW Method by Segal, 1980
Musty
Ugly
Superseded
Trivial
Irrelevant to your collection
Elsewhere availability, e.g., interlibrary loan
CREW: A Weeding manual for modern libraries, 2008, pp. 46-7.
Available online at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew/
Librarians learn to weed
Weeding as part of collection development
The CREW Manual teaches that CREW is part of a great cycle of creation
and destruction for maintaining the vitality of library collections.
Weeding’s place in the cosmos.
Source: CREW: A Weeding manual for modern libraries, 2008, page 11.
Available online at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew/
Librarians learn to weed
Collection development cycle
Process and
Catalog books
Read reviews and
purchase books
Leaving out
a step
is unethical
Weed and
discard books
Shelve and
Circulate books
Librarians learn to weed
Ethical weeding
LOOKS
First impressions, space to browse,
clean & bright covers, room for face-out display
Outdated Information
Science, law, medical, child training
Worn out and tattered
MUSTIE, replace, repair
Space - Shelving Room
Adequate library shelving, room to expand, room to re-shelve,
pleasing to the eye, ADA compliant
MISSION of Your Library
Education - Archival - Social gathering - Recreational reading
Is weeding ethical?
What about books?
To book-lovers who believe libraries are about books, …
… weeding may appear to be anti-book and anti-library?
Ethical weeding
Ethical weeding is a balance
“Ethical dilemmas occur when values are in conflict.”
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from “American Library Association Code of Ethics” at http://tinyurl.com/6x3246
Loving, preserving and
promoting good books
Weeding to maintain
useful library collections
Ethical weeding
Library shelving denies “Every book, its reader.”
Shelves 2, 3 and 4 circulate 45%
more books than the lowest three
shelves.
Shelves just inside the door circulate
24% more books than shelves 15 feet
inside the door.
Source: “The Influence of sloping shelves on book circulation” by Ralph R. Shaw, The Library Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 4, October
1938, pp. 480-490.
Ethical weeding
Displaying weeded books restores ethical balance
Year Books weeded # Displayed # Circulated from display
1911 Biographies 205 28 (14%)
1940 Non-fiction 1,959 326 (14%)
1940 Fiction 2,245 1,029 (46%)
Source: “Does weeding increase circulation?: A review of the related literature” by Loriene Roy. Collection Management Vol. 10
(1/2) 1988. pp. 141-156.
Displays should start with 12 books.
Pulled
from
shelves
Week 1
display
Week 2
display
Week 3
display
Week 4
Removed
from
catalog
and library
And for heaven’s sake don’t put up a sign saying, “Check me out or I will be trashed.”
Ethical weeding
Words and actions affect the level of controversy
Protected values = Protecting an ethical position by being unwilling to
compromise for any other value. Example: Against abortion even to save
the life of the mother.
Early psychology experiments exploring this concept described people
with protected values as truly uncompromising. More recent research
shows that people who claim to be against something under all
circumstances actually soften their stance under certain conditions.
• “tragic tradeoffs,” e.g., weeding some books for access to other
books
• directing attention toward the benefits
• slow decision making
Bottom line: the way we explain and do weeding affects its level of
controversy.
Cultivating the collection
Spend 15 to 20 minutes of each day cultivating one shelf.
Staff may think that it is not possible to weed a little bit every day, but in fact with a little practice, that is exactly what we
can do. If staff and volunteers are trained to look for shabby and outdated items, these materials can be pulled for review
by the appropriate person on a weekly basis. … It’s not enough to weed every couple of years or only when space is
getting tight. A vital, viable library collection is reviewed on an on-going basis. - CREW Manual, p. 11-12.
Apply CREW guidelines and MUSTIE to each book.
Please read, CREW Manual, pages 22 to 28 and 46 to 48
Books that have not circulated in 10 years, put on display between
front door and circulation desk.
Please read, CREW Manual, step 10, page 28
After one shelf is completed, stop for the day.
Cultivating the collection
Replanting books
• Library book sales and giveaways
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Your county fairs
List books sales on www.booksalefinder.com
Large print to local nursing homes
Nearby prisons may accept books
Book shelves in local motels with welcome sign and donation box
Handing westerns to truck drivers waiting at grain elevators
Organizations in nearby, larger towns wanting books
Sell books: Better World Books at http://tinyurl.com/ydjwgdp
Sell books: B-logistics at www.blogistics.com/
Swap books: BookMooch at www.bookmooch.com/
Recycle
Cultivating the collection
Talking points explaining cultivating the collection
• One goal of our library is to help readers find books and to ensure that
each book has a reader.
• To help our readers find books, we make the collection as attractive and
useful as possible. We remove out-of-date books. We repair damaged
books. We clean grimy books.
• To help books find readers, we place books that have not circulated in a
long time on a display near the front door to increase the chance readers
will check out those books.
• Since research clearly shows that past circulation is the best predictor of
future circulation, if a book does not circulate after three weeks on display,
then it is a safe bet that this library is no longer the best place for that book
to find a reader. So we give the book to another organization to make
room for other books readers want to read.
• Research shows that this process helps readers find the books they want
and more of our collection circulates.
Cultivating the collection
Of the articles listed on our “Ethics of Weeding” WebJunction page,
Chris recommends this one.
“Weed It! : For an attractive and useful collection”
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Why do we weed?
What happened in San Francisco?
How do we get staff and public on Our side?
Are some materials sacred?
What do we do with weeded materials?
How to convince staff and the public that weeding is necessary?
at www.wmrls.org/services/colldev/weed_it.html
Thank you for participating.
Contact information:
Harry Willems
hwillems@ckls.org
Chris Rippel
crippel@ckls.org
Central Kansas Library System
1409 Williams Street
Great Bend, Kansas 67530
800-362-2642 (Kansas only)
620-792-4865
www.ckls.org