May 2025

Quick Facts

• The library does routine weeding for condition, content, and circulation as capacity allows.
  • See the Weeding overview in the Collections Manual for details.
  • The Regional Librarian Team coordinates weeding in their regions.
• All staff can discard materials based on condition.  See the Weed for condition page for special circumstances and consult other staff about harder decisions.
• Discarding items and IMMS:
  • The current library location is responsible for dealing with items in bad condition, including missing pieces and discarding worn or damaged items. Kits, such as Pageturners or youth kits, with missing pieces should be sent to their contact person at the Operations Center.
  • Some items such as local history, Black Pacific Northwest Collection or rebound materials, may need more attention unless they are wet, moldy, or too gross to touch. Follow your branch's procedure.
• When items are ready for discard:
  1. Check out items to the Discard user.
  2. Immediately bag up and throw away items that are wet, moldy, have bodily fluids on them, etc. Do not send these to any other work group.
  3. Stamp items as Withdrawn on the inside cover before discarding or sending them to the Sort Center, except for mass weedings.
• Periodicals that are past the retention limit should be sent to OPS/Sort for recycling.  We do not give old issues to patrons per the Retired Materials procedures.

Procedure

Weeding decisions

• If an item needs to be weeded due to condition:
  • All staff are authorized to discard materials based on condition.
  • Use the guidelines on the Weed for condition page.
  • Once the decision has been made, follow the discard procedure.
  • Kits, such as Pageturners or youth kits, with missing pieces should be sent to their contact person at the Operations Center to replace missing items.

Discarding items

1. Remove items from the catalog:
   • Open the Check Out wizard and type Discard into the User ID field.
   • Check out items to the Discard user.
   • Do not withdraw the barcode assigned to periodicals.
2. Stamp discarded items:
   • On the inside cover with a Withdrawn stamp, or the next page where the stamp will show.
   • Put a black line through the barcode on the case or insert of items that can’t be stamped, such as media.
   • Do not stamp items that are gross with liquid, mold, bodily fluids, etc. Bag them up and immediately throw them away. Do not send them to any other work group.
   • Do not stamp items that are removed during mass weeding projects of 100 items or more (approximately three crates).
   • Order Withdrawn stamps as you do other library supplies. Contact supply-back-up@multco.us to get stamps re-inked.
3. If a book has other serious damage, like over 50% of the pages are loose this can be sent to OPS with the other discards where it will get recycled.
4. Periodicals that are past their retention limit are sent to OPS/Sort for recycling. We do not give old issues to patrons.
5. Retired We Speak Your Language (WSYL) materials should be sent to FOL. If WSYL staff need retired materials they can request them from FOL.
6. All other non-WSYL materials discarded or withdrawn from the collection are sent to the Sort Center.
   • Black crates will be used for discards and Friends of the Library donations.
   • Good condition discards go into a black crate with a green FOL streamer. These can be combined with all donated materials.
7. If items are checked out to the Discard user that should not be discarded, check the item in. If items have already been discarded, follow the Not on computer procedure.

Policy

Library materials may be removed from the collection when an item is obsolete, of no historical value, broken, worn, missing an essential piece, missing the book jacket, or does not circulate frequently enough to warrant the shelf space. The library catalog will be adjusted to accurately reflect the materials discarded by library staff.

Items missing an essential piece that cannot be replaced will be recycled or discarded.  Kits, such as Pageturners or youth kits, with missing pieces should be sent to their contact person at the Operations Center to replace missing items. Do not alter the orange "LOOK FOR!" sticker and continue to circulate the item. See the Recycling guidelines for materials that can be recycled.

Materials discarded or withdrawn from the collection are sent to the Sort Center. Discards are used by outreach staff, processed by the Friends of the Library, or recycled. All materials removed from the collection must be disposed of in authorized ways. Unauthorized appropriation of discarded items will result in disciplinary action.

See Administrative library cards and Staff use of personal library cards.

Application

Withdrawn items are purged on a weekly basis.

Technical Services staff will check for items that have holds, but no copies left in the system, and order new copies when possible.

Items checked out to the Discard user are not visible in the public catalog and will not appear on paging lists.

Order Withdrawn stamps as you do other library supplies. Contact supply-back-up@multco.us to get stamps re-inked.