May 2024

Quick Facts

All staff can identify irrelevant, inaccurate, and obsolete content during materials movement or catalog searches. Materials are evaluated by IS staff according to the procedures at each location.

• Information services staff determine whether to discard or retain using an equity lens and considering intellectual freedom.
• If you have concerns or feel uncertain, talk with your regional librarian, your youth librarian, cultural or language KSA staff at your location, or check with the appropriate selector. 

We address inequity by prioritizing shelf space and promoting works by creators from non-dominant groups, focusing in particular on race. 

• We recognize that there has been a longstanding bias in library collections for works by members of dominant groups (including white, male, straight, cis-gender).
• We make a deliberate effort to be sure that collections representing historically marginalized groups are up-to-date and relevant.

Procedure

Staff at each location are assigned different collection areas to maintain, which includes weeding and making recommendations for replacement.

• Reflective questions to consider when weeding library material:
  • Whose perspective is centered in the material?
  • Who is the creator? Who is the audience?
  • How are people represented?
  • How is the community represented centered in the story?
  • Does this book engage in cultural appropriation or show people as exotic or shown through a deficit lens?
  • Will the community enjoy this book? Is it relevant to their lived experiences? Does it teach other lived experiences authentically?
• Staff should periodically review the shelves for items that are out-of-date. These materials are no longer of broad use to our patrons because the information in them is no longer current or no longer relevant. After being evaluated, these materials can generally be withdrawn without replacement. Out-of-date materials include:
  • Irrelevant or trivial
    • Examples: fad diets/food trends that are no longer popular
    • Example: biographies of pop culture stars
  • Inaccurate
    • Example: inaccurate portrayals of people, cultures, or events. Use the reflective questions above to help guide decision making
    • Example: outdated financial, scientific, or medical information
  • Obsolete
    • Example: Guides for computers and devices that are no longer being used by the community. Look at circulation to determine if the guides are still needed. If shelf space is needed consider sending older guides that are still of interest to Storage.