Weeding the Reference Collection

The library is currently in the middle of a huge weeding project. This weeding project has been complicated by the loss and gain and then loss again of a Collection Management Librarian. Both the reference and main collections are targets of this weeding. Since I am in the reference department, (though technically I am an Instruction Librarian) I will be taking part in the weeding of the reference collection. We spent the past few weeks discussing the best way to approach weeding the reference collection. A plan was implemented during last week's reference department meeting. We decided that each librarian would weed the section they are liaison to and then the remaining sections would be divided up. I am in charge of weeding the Accounting, Finance and Business Law (I am liaison to this department), Dance and Theater, Philosophy and Religion, Nursing and Information Technology. It adds up to approximately 1,000 titles, and we have until August 1 to get these reviewed.

I started working on this on Friday, and I am currently working on the AFBL section. I have made decisions on approximately 80 titles. It is painfully obvious that this section has NEVER been weeded. I am finding books from the 1920s and 1930s. I am weeding based on how important currency is for the subject, (with AFBL very) and if we have an alternate source for the information somewhere in the collection. I've decided to remove approximately half of the titles I've reviewed thus far.