Daily Archives: June 18, 2013

2 posts

Because those ideas are out of date? #bookgate

  Note: This post has been updated with Carol’s updated percentages!     Please follow LIS professor Carol Tilley for more on what’s been weeded at The Urbana Free Library! https://twitter.com/CarolGSLIS Follow #bookgate too! Barbara Fister writes about the kerfuffle at Insider Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com//blogs/library-babel-fish/throwing-books-each-other

Weeding Kerfuffle at Urbana Free Library

This blows my mind! http://www.smilepolitely.com/culture/do_you_ever_read_any_of_the_books_you_weed/ Both UFL staff and the public (who were alarmed at the rapidly emptying shelves) spoke out, but the weeding continued until a library board meeting (and Mayor Laurel Prussing) was called. JP Goguen, a university library employee, was at the meeting, recorded it, and sent the recording to me (the board normally does not record meetings). The conversation at this meeting is alarming. Urbana Free Library’s director, Deb Lissak, made a unilateral decision to weed books in the print collection by date alone. It seems that the Adult Services staff’s expertise and knowledge of the […]