The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-By-Shelf Guide

Weeding should be high on the agenda of every library; however, often the attitude of librarians to this important collection management process is ambiguous. In The Weeding Handbook, Rebecca Vnuk offers a simple, yet well-planned and rational, approach to weeding for public and school libraries. The book is intended to motivate and provide general advice and knowledge about the process. It is written in an attractive and convincing manner and is supplemented with the author’s authentic weeding experience and stories. Those readers who would like to get more thorough information are referred to relevant weeding guides and literature.

The book consists of 12 chapters and may be divided into three parts – an introduction to weeding, advice for weeding specific parts of the collection and the organisation of weeding. The first chapter called The Basics provides a general overview of such vital issues as motivation, preparation, general hints for the implementation of weeding, as well as answers to frequently asked questions. This chapter sets the stage for more comprehensive advice and discussion further into the book.

Advice for weeding of specific parts of a collection is provided in Chapters 2-10 and is generally structured according to Dewey classes. In individual chapters, each Dewey class is subdivided into parts and supplied with comments on recommended weeding schedules and important weeding criteria to consider. In Chapters 9 and 10, advice for youth collections and other special collections is summarised.

Two chapters, Chapter 11 and Chapter 12, are dedicated to communication and planning for weeding. According to the author, weeding always involves an emotional attitude; therefore, communication about weeding to staff and patrons is vital. The author provides tips for organising communication and illustrates her tips with examples and personal stories. Similarly, the book offers advice on incorporating weeding into collection development plans. A comprehensive appendix containing library collection development plans provides an idea of how to formulate policies and procedures that would integrate selection, acquisition and weeding into a general library approach to collection management.

To summarise, the book provides an easy-to-understand and practical introduction to weeding for beginners and guides them to further reading materials. Personal stories, multiple examples and tips enrich and complement the general discussion. If necessary, each chapter can be consulted individually.