1NAPUBLIB
This question is for those of you involved with Public Libraries. I would like to know how others decide when the shelves get full (today we have 7,654 items in our catalog) and you need to remove books to make room for new ones, how do you decide which books to remove? In the fiction sections we have been removing books by oldest publication dates figuring if they haven't read them by now, they aren't going to (some of our books were from the 1980s so they were here a while. Some non-fiction books are removed because the information is no longer up to date or the book is in bad shape. But other than that I have no idea how to make decisions regarding removal of books from our catalog (We are volunteer run and not educated in library science, obviously). Our space is limited so something has to go. Before you say anything about sharing with other libraries in our system, let me say we are not in ANY system (long story) - operating alone - so we don't have that option. Just curious as to how others make these decisions. Thanks.
2gilroy
I think you might get more answers for what you seek from the group dedicated to librarians:
https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/78/Librarians-who-LibraryThing
https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/78/Librarians-who-LibraryThing
3paradoxosalpha
You might enjoy this site, which is focused on public library de-accessioning:
https://awfullibrarybooks.net
https://awfullibrarybooks.net
4AnnieMod
>1 NAPUBLIB: "In the fiction sections we have been removing books by oldest publication dates"
Which is why a lot of public libraries end up missing the early volumes of series (or worse - random volumes in the middle of series when the oldest ones had been reissued later)...
I know that every library needs some weeding but going solely by date sounds like a weird choice. :)
Which is why a lot of public libraries end up missing the early volumes of series (or worse - random volumes in the middle of series when the oldest ones had been reissued later)...
I know that every library needs some weeding but going solely by date sounds like a weird choice. :)
5Taliesien
>1 NAPUBLIB: By circulation. The titles that have gone longest without being borrowed as well as lowest number of borrows.
6MarthaJeanne
I do remember once telling a librarian, "I was the first person to borrow this in a long time. Please don't count that when deciding whether to throw this away. It's not worth keeping."
Same librarian came to me and said, "Do you want these books? Two people have borrowed these multiple times in the past few years, nobody else, and the two are you and your son." (Yes please, they are in the series I have just been rereading.)
Same librarian came to me and said, "Do you want these books? Two people have borrowed these multiple times in the past few years, nobody else, and the two are you and your son." (Yes please, they are in the series I have just been rereading.)
8anglemark
>5 Taliesien: Yeah, that's what I thought all public libraries did. I cannot think of another strategy that makes sense. Of course, it sounds as if this volunteer-run, non-system library might not even track circulation, and then they have a problem I have no idea how to deal with. I guess I would cull the books in worst condition then, perhaps.
9LolaWalser
>8 anglemark:
May not those often be the most used books? In which case they might need replacing rather than culling.
May not those often be the most used books? In which case they might need replacing rather than culling.
10Keeline
Limited space and funds is a problem for all libraries. "Weeding" and "deaccessioning" is a subject for books and self-help librarian communities as already mentioned.
I can see a rationale of using check-out date for fiction. But publication date is much riskier. Would you deaccession a copy of Little Women because it was first published in the late 1860s? Probably not because it remains of interest to readers and patrons.
For nonfiction books, many will be used in the library and not checked out, even if they can be.
I have said for decades that the reason that I collect books and seldom borrow from libraries is that I cannot rely on them getting or keeping the kinds of books that interest me.
Libraries have to play the game with the limited funds and space and play to the least common denominator audience. Fortunately as libraries get rid of things, some of those become available on the Internet Archive. So what I could not hope to find locally can be found there or HathiTrust.
James
I can see a rationale of using check-out date for fiction. But publication date is much riskier. Would you deaccession a copy of Little Women because it was first published in the late 1860s? Probably not because it remains of interest to readers and patrons.
For nonfiction books, many will be used in the library and not checked out, even if they can be.
I have said for decades that the reason that I collect books and seldom borrow from libraries is that I cannot rely on them getting or keeping the kinds of books that interest me.
Libraries have to play the game with the limited funds and space and play to the least common denominator audience. Fortunately as libraries get rid of things, some of those become available on the Internet Archive. So what I could not hope to find locally can be found there or HathiTrust.
James
11margaretbartley
You sound like you might be in a private library? is there are public library around? Do your patrons have a public library they can also go to?
If so, you might want to get rid of the books your patrons can get elsewhere, and stick to the unusual and rate books that are not available elsewhere.
If you are the only library your patrons have access to, then I like the idea of asking them.
I agree that going by publication date is a bad idea, and getting rid of a well-circlatged book is probably not a good idea, either.
As a last resort, you will have to decide who is the curator, and have that person (or those people) make a decision about each book individually - is this book better than any book we could get in?
If so, you might want to get rid of the books your patrons can get elsewhere, and stick to the unusual and rate books that are not available elsewhere.
If you are the only library your patrons have access to, then I like the idea of asking them.
I agree that going by publication date is a bad idea, and getting rid of a well-circlatged book is probably not a good idea, either.
As a last resort, you will have to decide who is the curator, and have that person (or those people) make a decision about each book individually - is this book better than any book we could get in?
12Keeline
>11 margaretbartley: This is how the member describes the library in question:
So this provides some context for the decisions.
James
Real Name: New Augusta Public Library
About My Library: New Augusta Public Library is a small Municipal library run exclusively by volunteers. We are open 4 days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) from 11 am to 4 pm. The town has a population of a little over 600 people in rural Mississippi.
Location: 510 1st Street E., New Augusta, MS 39462
So this provides some context for the decisions.
James
13paradoxosalpha
With that small of a patron base, there should be a good way to get some input from the core borrowers!
14melannen
I would agree - if you have any circulation records, you should go by that (if you don't have circulation records, you should keep some - I don't know if Tinycat does, but even just going back to stamping a date when an item is checked out will let you know if an item is in demand.) Then condition; if something is in truly bad condition it should go (though with a small library, probably via offering it to the customers, so the person who wore it out can have a chance to keep it!)
With a collection that small, you can probably also go through one book at a time, especially for nonfiction, and use internet resources to find out if the book has bad reviews/is out of date, and remove on that basis.
Removing solely on date published and condition, without any data on what is being read, is a bad idea - you'll remove beloved favorites to make space for new stuff that nobody will ever care about it.
And also you can ask patrons for input. One thing some small libraries do is put books they're considering removing but not sure about on a special display to give patrons a chance to save them.
Also, I second the blog Awful Library Books for any of your volunteers who are doing this; it has a lot of good advice about how to weed your collection, and while I don't always agree with them, it'll give your volunteers some context and confidence for making their own choices (and also a lot of very funny posts about truly awful library books.)
With a collection that small, you can probably also go through one book at a time, especially for nonfiction, and use internet resources to find out if the book has bad reviews/is out of date, and remove on that basis.
Removing solely on date published and condition, without any data on what is being read, is a bad idea - you'll remove beloved favorites to make space for new stuff that nobody will ever care about it.
And also you can ask patrons for input. One thing some small libraries do is put books they're considering removing but not sure about on a special display to give patrons a chance to save them.
Also, I second the blog Awful Library Books for any of your volunteers who are doing this; it has a lot of good advice about how to weed your collection, and while I don't always agree with them, it'll give your volunteers some context and confidence for making their own choices (and also a lot of very funny posts about truly awful library books.)
15MarthaJeanne
My parent's library pastes paper in the front of books for patrons to write comments on the books. That might eventually help tell which books your patrons like.
While other books usually age more slowly, this year's travel guide book is helpful. Last year's guide book less so, and most information in older guidebooks is likely to be out of date. Prices, certainly. Hotels and restaurants come and go. Public transportation changes. Opening times for museums. Which attractions are closed for renovations. ...
While other books usually age more slowly, this year's travel guide book is helpful. Last year's guide book less so, and most information in older guidebooks is likely to be out of date. Prices, certainly. Hotels and restaurants come and go. Public transportation changes. Opening times for museums. Which attractions are closed for renovations. ...
16Keeline
Most public libraries have sections for oversized books. If you find that the occasional oversized book in a shelf of ordinary-sized books is causing a problem with how many shelves and books will fit in a case, consider putting a placeholder in the normal space that directs patrons to the oversized shelf. This can be a book-sized block of wood with a label.
Thomas Jefferson had to maximize his shelving and since 18th Century books came in many sizes from tiny to folio, grouping some books by size was a necessity.
Home libraries run into this as well. My books on books ("booklore") sections are grouped more by size than by specific topic or authors because I need to maximize the space for that large collection. Of course with a home collection (over 9,000 items), I can make arbitrary decisions and don't have to worry too much about whether I or my wife can find the books. But when you have public library visitors, they need to be able to find most books on their own by following the shelfmark in use.
It might be well to discover which of your items are also available in online repositories like HathiTrust.org and Archive.org. There's a great benefit in having a book but there are different benefits from having something that can be searched. I think the Internet Archive will let you put books in a collection that parallels your physical holdings so that their contents can be searched and perhaps read online. Perhaps this is more work than you can do but keep it in mind.
James
Thomas Jefferson had to maximize his shelving and since 18th Century books came in many sizes from tiny to folio, grouping some books by size was a necessity.
Home libraries run into this as well. My books on books ("booklore") sections are grouped more by size than by specific topic or authors because I need to maximize the space for that large collection. Of course with a home collection (over 9,000 items), I can make arbitrary decisions and don't have to worry too much about whether I or my wife can find the books. But when you have public library visitors, they need to be able to find most books on their own by following the shelfmark in use.
It might be well to discover which of your items are also available in online repositories like HathiTrust.org and Archive.org. There's a great benefit in having a book but there are different benefits from having something that can be searched. I think the Internet Archive will let you put books in a collection that parallels your physical holdings so that their contents can be searched and perhaps read online. Perhaps this is more work than you can do but keep it in mind.
James
