Collection Development

Challenged Resources

This page contains guidelines and resources for campuses to use when presented with a challenge to a district-purchased resource. These documents help the campus take appropriate steps to acknowledge the individual, check the entire resource, and make sure all parties are heard. 

Related Board Policies

Policy	Policy Title
KEC	Public Complaints about the Curriculum or Instructional Resources
KEC-R	Public Complaints about the Curriculum or Instructional Resources
KEC-E	Public Complaint about Instructional Materials (Citizen's Request for Review of Instructional Materials)
IJ	Instructional Resources and Materials
IJL	Library Media Materials Selection and Adoption

De-selection of Materials

The de-selection of materials (weeding) is as important for collection development as selection. A smaller collection of attractive, relevant, and up-to-date materials is more valuable to students and staff than a larger collection containing outdated or damaged items. The number of items counted as a library’s holdings should represent useful resources. De-selection is a challenging professional responsibility. Community members also often misunderstand it. These guidelines include information intended to support the efforts of those involved in de-selection in both accomplishing the task and in justifying this professional activity.

De-selection should not be attempted during your first year at a site. At schools where there is no certified library staff, the classified staff should request assistance from the Digital Media Literacies Coordinator and District Cataloger.

See also: Library Media Materials Selection and Adoption Policy

CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding)

For more than 30 years, the CREW Method from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission has provided guidance to librarians and staff in libraries about how to cull outdated and no longer useful materials from their collections.

Things to consider when evaluating items using the CREW method include:

1. Age of the material in the book (copyright date)
2. Number of times of circulated, date of last use
3. Presence of “MUSTIE” factors:
   1. M - Misleading and/or factually inaccurate
   2. U - Ugly (worn and beyond mending or rebinding)
   3. S - Superseded by a new edition or better version
   4. T - Trivial (of no discernible literary or scientific merit)
   5. I - Irrelevant to the needs or interests of the community
   6. E - can be obtained Elsewhere

What you need to know before de-selection

• interests, attitudes, abilities, reading levels, and learning styles of students
• current curriculum and possible future direction  
• programs operating in the schools
• needs of the staff
• needs of the community
• strengths and weaknesses of current collection (balance)
• the ability of the budget to provide funds to purchase more satisfactory items

What to discard

• worn or damaged materials
• duplicates (when none is circulating, reduce to one copy)  
• materials in which information is not easily accessible (e.g. no index or contents)
• materials that are outdated, inaccurate
• materials in which the reading level, interest level, or format is inappropriate
• materials that are no longer in demand or no longer support the curriculum
• material that is biased, stereotyped, patronizing, or condescending

What not to discard

• classics texts and award winners
  • Remember that guidelines are not intended to act as a substitute for professional judgment calls and common sense. For example, a sixty-year-old National Book Award Prize winner that has not circulated in more than ten years is simply taking up valuable space and should be discarded even though the library policy may encourage the retention of books that have won awards.
• items from standard or core collection bibliographies items that are out of print and still have utility in the collection
• materials of local or regional interest (e.g. Loveland/Colorado History)
• materials that are unique in content, format, technique

Specific Guidelines by Dewey call number

Discarding Outdated or Damaged Materials

Procedure to discard outdated, damaged, or worn-out library-media print/non-print materials.

1. Apply approved "weeding" methods to the selection of materials to be discarded. (for example: The material still relevant to the study of the West or other instructional materials of possible historical value should be carefully reviewed.) Materials of true historical value should be examined in conjunction with the Digital Media Literacies Coordinator and District Cataloger.
2. Withdraw the items selected for discard from Destiny by following the following steps:
   1. Click Catalog > Update Copies 
   2. Check the box next to “Track as weeded” 
   3. Select your Reason and Disposal Method from the drop down menus
   4. Place your computer cursor in the Delete Copy rectangle and scan the barcode of the book you choose to delete from your library collection 
   5. See "Update Copies" in Destiny’s online Help for more information 
3. Generate a Weeding Log in at the end of the year and file it in your records for a year. You can generate this report in Destiny by following the following steps:
   1. Click Reports > Library Reports > Weeding Log
   2. Set the appropriate parameters then click “Run Report”
   3. See "Generate a Weeding Log" in Destiny’s online Help for more information
4. To prepare discarded materials for disposal, strike through library barcode(s) with a black permanent marker. Strike through the school name using a permanent marker or remove pages that include school/district information. Use your DISCARD Stamp to stamp each book or write discard using a permanent marker on the title page of the book.
5. Notify school staff and students of the availability of discarded items.
6. After staff and students have taken what they want, dispose of all remaining items. If there is a large quantity, you may want to request that they be included with discarded textbooks for the school pick-up and disposal.
   1. The campus library staff need to box up their books. Each box can weigh no more than 50 pounds.
   2. Each box needs a completed discard sheet.
      Download discard books sheet
   3. Email Materials & Procurement when the boxes are ready to arrange pick up:
      1. Tracy Pena - tracy.pena@tsd.org
      2. Kyle Lewis - kyle.lewis@tsd.org