Ms. Joseph,
As you may have noticed, I have been spending a lot of time removing books for shelves and deleting them from the system. Many books, as you may already know, are extremely outdated, and therefore, this task is especially crucial for our library. It is a disservice to students to keep books that contain inaccurate or dated information. Unweeded collections often contain unacceptable stereotypes frequently found in collections that haven’t been weeded. With rapidly changing information, it is necessary to keep the collection current and reliable; getting rid of the old is just as important as acquiring the new.
An unused book is not even good. The library should be a practical thing to be used, not an ideal to be admired. People don't have the time or patience to look for books on shelves crammed with outdated shabby books. The overflowing shelves, carts filled with books, and desks piled high with mending simply give an overall impression of chaos.
The way library materials look is important. Most library users want attractive, clean books that are in good condition. They don't want to handle or to give their children books that look grubby and unappealing.
For libraries that have very limited budgets, it doesn't work to have the library filled with unusable books---having a lot of books that people don't want isn't the answer to the demand for more books. This scenario also makes it difficult to present the case for an increase in funding when there are shelves full of old, worn books, and multiple copies of things that aren't circulating.
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