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Collection Development: Weeding/Deselection

A guide to building quality library collections that serve the entire community.

Weeding, Deselection, Withdrawal, Discarding

"....Weeding out requires more knowledge,forethought and power of discrimination than is ordinarily brought to bear in the selection of books."  Thomas Aldred, Book Selection and Rejection (March 1901)"

"Next to emptying the outdoor bookdrop on cold and snowy days, weed is the most undesirable job in the library.  It is also one of the most important."  Will Manley, "The Manley Arts," Booklist, (March 1, 1996)

Weeding is the process of removing materials from the library's collection.  Weeding is as important as acquistions is to the library to provide the community with the most current and vital collection. 

The CREW method has provided weeding guidance to librarians in small and medium size libraries for over 30 years.   The newest edition, 2008, takes into consideration the modern library with expanded online resources.     

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