Purdue e-Pubs

Let Go and Haul! A Square‐Rigger’s Guide to Weeding “Age of Sail” Collections in the 21st Century

This nautically tinged talk explores what happens when two academic libraries begin reshaping their approach to collection evaluation and management by designing programs for large‐scale, systematic collection review. At both libraries, methodical and comprehensive weeding had not taken place for decades, if ever. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga restructured its collection practices by implementing a subject liaison program and creating a carefully phased review process in which discipline faculty were an integral part. Northern Michigan University set out to halve the size of its circulating collection within five years, as part of the library’s response to a campus‐wide strategic plan. Librarians, technical‐services and systems staff, and student workers in circulation and technical services collaborated on workflows for large‐scale review, withdrawal, and disposal of books, using patron input and careful analysis of acquisitions and circulation data. Both libraries developed new online avenues for soliciting active communicating with stakeholders and found common‐ground solutions to the inevitable conflicts. This program presents each library’s methods and early results, discusses the projects in the context of each respective library’s development and growth, and explores some of the logistical, philosophical, and political lessons learned.