HIT: Weeded Library Materials Policy

[Diane Ward <fpges_dw@YAHOO.COM>]

Thank you to all who answered my "weeded library
materials policy" question. The HIT list follows this
paragraph. Many of you have similar procedures. I am a
relative "greenhorn" as an LMS. We have a SMALL
district with 4 buildings and 3 certified librarians.
However, we are all new to the position. Our policy
and procedure manual was rewritten over the summer.
Upon investigating, the old policy did not require
board approval for disposal. Somehow, it does now. We
want to see that changed.

RESPONSES:

We withdraw weeded items from our computer, than put
any decent-looking materials on carts and invite
teachers to take what they want.  Any leftovers are
placed in the television studio for background decor.
We do not ask for BOE approval.

I weed the book, label it as a discard in the computer
and dispose of it. The Board of Ed. comment intrigued
me. Is that the School comittee or the State Board? I
cannot imagine how they would be qualified to comment.
Some books are discarded for condition only and so a
title would be no way of judging. I am curious? Is
that required in some places? We have a five building
high school complex, four junior high school and 15
elementary schools. I think checking books would be a
full-time job.

We delete it from the computer after pulling off the
barcode (for possible reuse) and writing WITHDRAWN on
the inside front cover and title page over our school
stamp and either put it out for  teachers for use in
their classrooms (mostly fiction that's a little too
tattered for the Media Center) or, more likely, throw
it in the trash.

After deleting the copy from record, weeded items are
offered to faculty to help them develop their
classroom libraries.  All items not selected are boxed
and sent to a book depository for the school district.
 Teachers and media specialists from other schools may
choose any items for their collections.  Any badly
damaged book, beyond repair and sometimes recognition,
is discarded.

I delete the catalog record & put the book on a "free
book" cart outside the library for students & their
families to take.


Depends upon the item:

Books beyond repair end up in the dumpster wrapped in
newspaper inside of a box to conceal from prying
taxpayers' eyes.  I delete from the computer record
and ask no one for permission.

Out-of-date, but otherwise serviceable books are
donated to our public library for their annual book
sale.

Obsolete hardware (eg old computers/printers etc.) is
recorded as removed from inventory and sent to a
central storage area for possible resale at a later
date (although it's getting more difficult each year
to find a market for these types of items).


When I weed, the item is removed from the computer
system.  I log in our record book where I sent the
book e.g. I sometimes send a book to one of our middle
schools if it hasn't moved on the shelf and is age
appropriate; or if it was damaged; or in poor
condition.  I then "deep six" the item. When we did
our giant weed earlier this year, we greased the palms
of our custodians (with girl guide cookies!!!) to
discreetly dispose of them.  I didn't want the
classroom teachers to get into them and put them on
the shelves in their classrooms.  Whether the kids use
them in the library or the classroom, they are still
out of date.


In my school system weeding is the responsibility of
the media specialist in a school.  Out of date
information is the top priority for weeding, followed
by items which have not circulated in five years.

We weed, remove it fomr the computer records, write
discard in the front and back covers, and get rid of
it. No one questions it at all (so far!)


I have never heard of submitting the list to the
board, but if this is a widespread practice I would be
interested in knowing this.  Our procedure is as
follows:
1} As items are deemed by the media specialist ready
to be deselected, they are pulled from shelves.
2) They are kept in a central location until there is
enough to warrant a block of time.
3) Each record is located in the inventory software
and its status changed to withdrawn. This is done by
trained clerics.
4} A withdrawal report is run to file for the annual
report.
5) Each title is again located in the software and
deleted.
6) Each title then has its barcode and school stamp
over-stamped with a red discard stamp.
7) Materials are put out in the hall or commons to be
taken by students. The rest are recycled or sent to
the landfill.



I usually check books out to a patron I set up named
"Discards."  Then if no one comes looking for the book
after a while (and they rarely do), I go in and delete
the record from the computer, mark
out identifying marks that show that the book belongs
to the library, and give the books to the teachers
first, then the students. I do not have to have
approval to weed.


The librarians in this district weed materials,
marking them discarded, mark out the school stamped
info, and choose "discarded" as the location. Just as
the Librarians are the professionals who select the
materials, they are the professionals who decide what
to weed.  Then they send the material to this central
office. I encourage the librarians to offer the
material to their staff before sending to this office.
 I separate materials that might be of interest to
other librarians and give them first chance at those.
The material left from both processes is placed in
shelves in our hall for the public to access.


In our district, books weeded have no value.  WE may
give them to students or teachers, sell as used items
at a school fair or open house for a few cents, or
throw them out if in bad shape.  Our district has also
made arrangements with a charitable organization who
picks up weeded books, sorts them and sends them to
third world countries in need.

When I get on a weeding binge, I often have dozens of
boxes of obsoletes, so I feel guilty just throwing
them in the dumpster.  So I presort and throw out
those in which the information is so horribly outdated
and inaccurate that they just should NOT be used.
Then I let the char. org. come and get the rest.  As
far as old fiction, sports, careers, college guides,
etc., those I save up and give away during Teen Read
Week,  National Library week, etc.  The kids will pick
those up, but they leave everything else.


Be careful who you tell! Weeding is as close to a
nefarious practice as we can get. Weeded items often
come back to the library of origin with great fanfare.
We delete the item from our database and dispose of
them
as quietly as possible.


When it's gone, it's gone - no need to designate it
anything.  If I  want to replace/update it, I write it
down for future ordering.  My board has nothing to do
with my purchases/deletions (knock wood) - at least
until someone complains.  I put discarded books out
for teachers for one week, then they go to the dump.
I only wish we could recycle!

Just wrote you (woefully outdated policy) and thought
you might like to see the policy:

Goal:  The North Polk Library will have a changing and
updated collection of materials.

Objective:  The media specialist will weed the
collection on a regular  basis.
Objective:  Weeding is currently taking place in the
700s.
Strategy:  The media specialist will print a long form
list (which includes dates) of all materials
classified in the 700s.  This will include reference,
paperback and hardback books.
Strategy:  Those books with copyright dates 20 years
and older will be highlighted for further evaluation.
Strategy:  The physical condition of the materials
will be considered and a decision made on whether to
weed the item or not.
Strategy:  The usage record of the material will be
considered and a decision made on whether to weed the
item or not.
Strategy:  If the book’s physical condition AND
usage record warrant retaining the book, a message
will be placed on the book’s record to the effect
that the book must be reconsidered on a yearly basis.
Strategy:  Yearly, the materials records are printed
and those books needed reconsideration will be
evaluated again.
Strategy:  Delete messages on materials before
deleting their records (Winnebago system carries
messages to next material using that barcode).
Strategy:  Delete the record from the Comcat
inter-library loan system.
Strategy:  Evaluate whether the removal of a
particular item jeopardizes the holdings in that
classification area and place that particular subject
on the request list.


I weed according to a weeding policy (that is woefully
outdated since 1996); when the books are discarded, I
remove them from the computer.  No one approves what I
weed.  Hope this helps.

If I do a large weeding, I submit the list to the
Board for approval.   The books on this list are
assigned a different type number (21 = Dumpster)
.
When I get approval, the records are deleted  and the
books go to the dumpster.

If I run across only one or two books that need to go,
I don't bother the Board.


erase and discard... fortunately the board doesn't get
involved in quite that much detail


After getting flack about disposing of books via any
official method, I take the book out of the computer
and take it home with me to "evaluate".Somehow things
forget to come back to school . . . . . .


I scan the weeded barcodes into the computer and then
change the material type to Weeded (set up prior to
the weeding process so that the books would not show
up in the results window). When the County actually
comes to pick them up and remove them from the
building I do a batch process and delete all materials
in the Weeded material type. To make this go quickly,
I sit down with a notebook and peel the barcode labels
off the books and stick them into the notebook. I take
the notebook to the computer and scan away. If they
won't peel off, I blacken them with a Sharpie and
write the number in my notebook. This not only saves
time in the scanning process but I keep the notebook
on file so I know what got weeded when I'm ready to do
a book order and update my collection with new
materials. HTH


We submit the total number of weeded materials and
their value to the Business Manager at the end of the
year.  Actual titles do not have to be listed.

Equipment that has been marked for discarding is
listed by item and submitted.
--


I discard the item form the catalog. All books are
boxed and picked up by the warehouse at the end of the
school year.  Only when you discard the last item in
the system do you send the bib # to the county media
processing supervisor.  She is the only person who can
delete an entry permanently from the catalog.


I remove it from the shelf, delete it from the
computer, strip off the spine label, mark out our
school name and any other identifying information,
stamp it withdrawn, and put it in a box. When the box
is full I offer the books to anyone who wants them,
and then toss them.


I keep an excel database of weeded books with a
notation as to reason - mildewed, bad condition,
outdated, etc.  I also list call number, price, and
whether or not there are more copies in the library
and whether I
plan to replace the title.  The outdated n.f. books
are, for the most part, discretely discarded a few at
a time in the trash. The fiction is left in a box for
the kids to take - I ususally do this in June when I
also give away all of the leisure reading magazines
such as Teen, Dirt Bike, etc.  I advertise it as a
summer reading bonanza!  There are never very many
left, but those that are left are thrown in the trash.
 The books and magazines are clearly marked discarded,
and, in the case of paperback fiction, often held
together with rubber bands.  I don't think anyone
would be outraged seeing one of those discards.

As for encyclopedias, I know we probably should not,
but we offer them to teachers and they are always
snapped up.


I type up a list of weeded materials and give it to
the principal. The secretary types up another list (of
the same thing! ¯ I don't know why, she just does)
which is signed by the principal, and then goes to the
board.

Once the board has approved the list, the items are
either donated or discarded.


I remove the title (s) from the database - rip them up
and toss them in the basket.

 I've tried selling them in charitable sales but it
brought considerable bad PR. We begin to get comments
such as, "If the library has so many books they can
throw away these good ones - then they don't need any
more money."






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