Managing a mass collections review from assessment to deselection

Abstract

Starting in 2017, Falvey Memorial Library at Villanova University initiated a long-overdue review of the monograph collection. This was partly to ensure a healthy collection with room for growth, but also to prepare for a renovation of the building—ideally completing the collection review by the summer of 2019. This presentation explores the ongoing process of organizing and enacting the weeding project. This includes using OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC)’s GreenGlass software to assist liaison librarians with selection, developing criteria for deselection, and incorporating faculty participation in the project without undermining it. The talk highlights the ongoing challenges related to this project, which hopefully encourages some discussion of the issues academic libraries encounter when reviewing and withdrawing volumes from their print collections.