Rightsizing the Academic Library Collection

by Mary E. Miller, Suzanne M. Ward

Honored with many accolades, including a starred review in Library Journal, the first edition of this book demonstrated the power and flexibility of “rightsizing,” an approach that applies a scalable, rule-based strategy to help academic libraries balance stewardship of spaces and the collection. In the five years since Ward’s first edition, the shared print infrastructure has grown in leaps and bounds, as has coordination among programs. With this revision, Miller addresses new options as well as the increasing urgency to protect at-risk titles as you reduce your physical collection. Readers will feel confident rightsizing their institution’s own collections with this book’s expert guidance on


the concept of rightsizing, a strategic and largely automated approach that uses continuous assessment to identify the no- and low-use materials in the collection, and its five core elements;
crafting a rightsizing plan, from developing withdrawal criteria and creating discard lists to managing workflow and disposing of withdrawn materials, using a project-management focus; 
moving toward a “facilitated collection” with a mix of local, external, and collaborative services;
six discussion areas for decisions on participating in a shared print program;
factors in choosing a collection decision support tool;
relationships with stakeholders;
how to handle print resources after your library licenses perpetual access rights to the electronic equivalent; and
future directions for rightsizing 

Genres: Nonfiction, Library Science

166 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2014

Reviews

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just finished a master's degree full of library textbooks, I can confidently say that this book was better than the majority of textbooks I was assigned.

A great blend of theory and practice--would recommend to any academic library considering a weed/space initiative.

[Toastkat · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Impressions: The first chapter of this book is titled "Background", and reading through it, the chapter feels like it can't decide if it's giving a history lesson on the term "Rightsizing" or if it's the author justifying why they chose the term. On the one hand, yes "rightsizing" does have positive connotations, but I feel like there is no other librarian in the world ready to give up the term "weeding" out of tradition and the fact that it's simply easier to say. If I told a patron I was "weeding" a section, they'd know what I'm doing and leave me to it. If I told a patron I was "rightsizing" a section, they'd ask further questions such as "well what does that mean?" and "if it's the same thing as weeding, why not just say that?" Though the focus of the book is on academic libraries (with a bias towards college-level, university-level, and research libraries, forgetting that elementary school and higher could be considered "academic" in their own "rightsizing" terminology sort of way), there are principles and ideas here that can carry over to my public library. There are repeated ideas also presented, universal truths that No One (tm) likes the idea of weeding, there will be public backlash if not addressed properly, etc. It almost feels as if the book assumes that its reader has never read a book on the topic already, and that it isn't a supplementary text to previous lessons or texts already consulted. If you are coming to this book looking for different formulas and methods of weeding, I recommend skipping the first chapter as you have most likely already heard the song and dance it sings and displays.

Thoughts Concluded: Oh boy... On the one hand, this is a good first book for someone new to the idea of weeding or who has never been trained on the process. It goes through step-by-step decision making as well as workflow stages. However. The book also assumes that the reader is in a large library, specifically a large academic library, forgetting that a) small college libraries do exist, and b) not ever reader is going to be high enough on the librarian ladder to be able to make many of these decisions. The book was written with good intentions, but there's a certain naivete to it, a certain sparkle-eyedness that makes the book read like someone's pet project rather than a technical manual on the hows and whys of major weeding or "rightsizing". If you haven't read a book about weeding, it would be safe to start here, so long as you took it's advice with a grain of salt. If you are like me and have read other volumes on the topic of weeding, you may find this book more annoying than helpful, and I would recommend passing on it.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text introduces the concept of "rightsizing" academic library collections, as a method for reducing outdated physical collections in the face of reduced shelf space, reduced funding, and increased demand and availability of electronic formats for most materials. The authors explicitly define "rightsizing" as much more ambitious, thoroughgoing, and ongoing than "a massive weeding effort." Rather than a slow, intermittent, title-by-title process, they argue for data-driven, batch-processing methods designed to identify and eliminate large portions of non-core print collections, so that only a "smaller local core of more frequently consulted material" remains. Another key aspect of rightsizing that differentiates it from weeding is the emphasis on collaboration with consortium partners to de-duplicate rarely used physical materials available at multiple institutions in a service area. As the authors point out, while many academic stakeholders (especially faculty) balk at reducing physical collections, most materials are not unique--they are easily available via interlibrary loan and consortium loan agreements, making it unnecessary for every institution to hold every title.

The book includes an insightful overview of current issues in academic libraries, particularly the problem of oversized print collections, inherited from the era of "just-in-case" librarianship, a stirring multi-point refutation of anti-weeding arguments, and step-by-step practical advice for academic librarians leading rightsizing projects.

One of the most important takeaways from this book is the importance of regional collaboration with consortium partners or nearby institutions. Another important point the authors make repeatedly is that, before deselecting physical materials that have electronic equivalents, to make sure that the library has perpetual access to that material. Additionally, the persuasive anti-weeding arguments presented in the text provide great advice for how to communicate the value of rightsizing to academic stakeholders (i.e. by framing outdated books as being no different, effectively, than other kinds of outdated university equipment).

[Aleshia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good introduction to weeding in an academic library. It uses the term "rightsizing" because those that work at large research intuitions like myself don't like weeding. My personal opinion going in is that weeding is a good thing because it helps makes needed items in a collection easier to find in the catalog. If it's full of old stuff that no one is going to read ever, then people will get frustrated and leave. My own opinions aside, this book is better for those brand new to weeding, those very hesitant to weed, and library school students. I didn't find it too useful for myself.

I also work at a large institutional library-- if you work at a smaller library you may not be able to follow this advice as well. It has a slight administrative tone to it that may just be out of your control. In the end, if you're out of space, you're out of space and you can't keep everything.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written more for large academic libraries, this book describes how to use rule-based weeding to quickly free up space without culling too many titles that patrons may use. Ward contrasts this with traditional weeding methods (and the ultimate postponement of weeding--moving books to storage). She provides extensive instruction in project management.

As a solo librarian in a small academic library, I found that much of the book did not apply. However, I have used some rule-based weeding, particularly for journals in my library's JSTOR collections. My disposal methods came up, as well. At least I got some confirmation that I am on the right track.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, very well thought out processes on how to weed materials, and keep collections current in academic libraries.

[Mills College Library]

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