The dark side of (not) weeding

I know it's hard to get rid of books and that there is a certain romantic attachment to the ideal of libraries as mysterious places full of hidden treasure (my home is a monument to wayward books - old, printed on real rag paper and crumbling tree pulp, interleaved with lavish lithograph illustrations or covered with lurid pop art, deliciously and ironically outdated...)

However, in the real world of libraries, used by people who are touchy about germs, irritated by outdated social mores, require current facts, prefer craft books with color images of the projects, and have stopped wearing frosty blue eye shadow looooong ago - well, some of our collections just don't quite cut it.

For an interesting new angle on the issue, check out my new favorite blog (Ellen Reynolds, resident Weeding Guru, is also a fan): Awful Library Books and get the real scoop on what people think about some of the "treasure" on our library shelves.

I did a quick search of our catalog for one of the titles they posted, Why Your Child is Hyperactive, Feingold, 1975. Two of our libraries still have this in their collections. Why? Read the comments - it's a great discussion of weeding old medical titles.

For more information about weeding non-fiction in particular and collection development, check some of our (internal only - login required) Weeding Recommendations and Non-fiction selection guidelines.