Thanks to a follower for suggesting this topic!

Let’s talk about one of the most misunderstood, avoided, and absolutely essential parts of librarianship: weeding.

For many librarians, weeding can feel daunting—especially when it’s long overdue. I’ve been there. It can be physically exhausting, time-consuming, and full of judgment calls.

And let me say this up front: weeding is not running an ILS report, pulling everything that hasn’t circulated in five years, and calling it a day.

If I had done that in Children’s, most of the nonfiction collection would have disappeared. Classics would vanish. Series would have major gaps. Titles that quietly support curriculum, niche interests, and written in other languages would be lost.

That’s not collection development.

That’s damage.

Weeding is skilled professional work. It’s strategy. It’s stewardship. And it should never be rushed.

Weeding Is More Than Deselection—It’s Knowing Your Collection

One of the biggest misconceptions about weeding is that it’s just removing old books.

It’s not.

It’s evaluating:

• Accuracy
• Relevance
• Condition
• Usage
• Representation
• Format viability
• Community need
• Long-term collection value

That takes skill.

As someone with MLIS training in collection development, I’ve always seen selection and weeding as the same conversation. What you remove shapes a collection just as much as what you add.

Circulation Statistics Are a Tool—Not the Decision

Low circulation does not automatically equal low value.

That’s where professional judgment comes in.

Yes, reports matter.

But so do questions like:

• Is this title still authoritative?
• Does it fill a gap?
• Is it part of a classic or foundational body of work?
• Is it out of print or difficult to replace?
• Does it serve occasional but important use?
• Is it locally significant?

And let’s talk about rare or out-of-print materials for a moment.

Please don’t weed those casually.

Once they’re gone, they may be gone for good.

That’s where weeding becomes specialized work. Knowing what can be replaced, what should be repaired, and what has long-term research or historical value takes experience.

Sometimes the right decision is to keep something precisely because it isn’t easy to replace.

Sometimes You Weed Titles. Sometimes You Rethink Entire Collections.

This is another piece of weeding we don’t discuss enough.

Sometimes it makes sense to evaluate not just titles—but formats and entire collections.

For example, maybe your books-on-CD collection has steadily declined because CD players have become obsolete in your community.

That may be an opportunity to reduce or sunset a format and promote digital services like Libby or Hoopla instead.

That isn’t just weeding.

That’s collection evolution.

But—and this is a big but—

Read your community first.

In one library, audiobooks on CD may sit untouched.

In another, they may be flying off the shelves.

There is no universal formula.

Which is why community assessment matters so much.

Usage data, patron requests, demographic shifts, informal feedback, strategic planning—these all inform good weeding decisions.

How you weed should reflect who you serve.

Always.

Weeding Has to Be Community-Centered

This is why rigid rules can be dangerous.

Every collection is local.

What’s irrelevant in one community may be essential in another.

What looks dated may still be heavily used.

What seems replaceable may meet a specific community need.

Community assessment is not separate from weeding.

It should guide it.

That includes:

• Local history priorities
• Educational needs
• Language access
• Format preferences
• Accessibility considerations
• Recreational reading interests
• Gaps in representation

Your community should shape what stays, what goes, and what gets strengthened.

Use Tools Like MUSTIE—But Use Judgment Too

I still find the MUSTIE framework useful:

• Misleading
• Ugly
• Superseded
• Trivial
• Irrelevant
• Elsewhere available

It gives structure.

But no acronym replaces professional discernment.

Because collections aren’t spreadsheets.

They’re ecosystems.

Collection Maintenance Is Ongoing, Not Crisis Response

Honestly? The best weeding advice I can give is don’t let it become a monster project.

Do it continuously.

The CREW method gets this right—Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding.

A little, regularly, beats emergency weeding every time.

And your back will thank you.

Full Shelves Are Not the Goal

This may be unpopular, but overcrowded shelves do not signal a strong collection.

They often signal neglect.

A healthy collection is current, discoverable, browsable, balanced, and responsive.

Sometimes the most patron-centered thing you can do is remove what no longer serves.

That takes courage.

And skill.

Let’s Share Strategies

I’d love to hear from fellow public librarians:

What are your weeding guidelines, tips, and tricks?

How do you handle obsolete formats? Out-of-print titles? Low-circulating nonfiction? Rare materials? Community assessment? Do you use CREW, MUSTIE, or something else?

What have you learned the hard way?

Drop your thoughts in the comments—because weeding deserves way more professional conversation than it gets.

Because weeding isn’t just pulling books.

It’s collection strategy.

And that’s core librarianship.

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