I’m writing up a longish blog post about some controversies related to the “weeding” of books in public libraries and in public school libraries—which is to say, removal of books from library collections—and I’d love to talk to librarians who actually have some experience with this process.
I’ve reviewed Rebecca Vnuk’s The Weeding Handbook and various online resources, such as CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries. and the California Department of Education’s Weeding the School Library: The Counterpart to Selection. I’ve also reached out to the American Library Association and some other groups that have expressed views on the subject.
But I’d also like to talk to people who actually do weeding themselves, or have seen it done, and ask them some questions about the process. If you or a friend of yours would be willing to chat by Zoom, phone, or e-mail, please e-mail me at volokh at law.ucla.edu.
Also, if you have some comments about how the weeding process actually operates—based on your personal knowledge or reliable second-hand knowledge—or recommendations for other publications I can review or groups I can ask, please post them in the comments. But please focus on such information, rather than debating what the process ought to be or criticizing particular kinds of weeding decisions or policies. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to debate these matters when I put up my post, likely within the next week or two. At this point, I’m just trying to gather information that will help make my post as accurate, informative, and balanced as possible. Thanks!
The post Are You a Librarian in a Public or School Library? Or Do You Know One Who Might Be Willing to Talk with Me? appeared first on Reason.com.
