Interesting Question

A CUSTOMER WRITES:

Please, the practice of stamping book on the sale cart – DISCARD – is self defeating – loses value all around. Could you explain the reason for this?

Thank you.

OUR RESPONSE:

Library materials withdrawn from the collection and withdrawn from the catalog is an important part of collection management in making space for new materials. Librarians refer to it as “weeding”. Just as you weed your garden we weed the collection of items out-of-date or unpopular.

If the library does not prominently mark them as DISCARD they tend to keep coming back to us. This can result in all sorts of confusion. It is also for the customer’s protection in knowing that it is not an overdue book or one that may have been an unauthorized loan (stolen).