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Keywords

weeding, deselection

Abstract

Leonard H. Axe Library at Pittsburg State University (PSU) is undergoing a 5-year building renovation focused on creating new services and spaces, including technology rich spaces, media recording rooms, group study spaces, and more. As part of the renovation project, Library Services was tasked with reducing the circulating collection footprint by approximately fifty percent. One part of the challenge was to face the traditional campus and librarian perceptions of reducing the collection. If mishandled, perceptions of the process can turn into negative emotions or public outcry that can delay or shut down a project. Librarians at Axe Library set out to engage our campus during the de-selection process and make everyone an active participant. The de-selection process, documents, and guidelines were accessible and transparent to campus faculty. Campus stakeholders were invited to share their concerns and opinions with the library throughout the process. As a result, faculty are discovering materials the library has in its collection and helping request newer updated content. In addition, new and surprising partnerships emerged from the conversations and interactions.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

References

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Metz, P., & Gray, C. (2005). Public relations and library weeding. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(3), 273-279.

Murphy, J. (2014, March 8). Book purging on hold for ESU library. The Emporia Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.emporiagazette.com/education/esu/article_3d5e92e0-a629-11e3-a404-0017a43b2370.html

O'Neill, J. L. (2016). Weeding with ADDIE: Developing training for deselection at an academic library. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 56(2), 108-115. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1860278442?accountid=13211

Soma, A. K., & Sjoberg, L. M. (2010). More than just low-hanging fruit: A collaborative approach to weeding in academic libraries. Collection Management, 36(1), 17-28. doi:10.1080/01462679.2011.529241

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