The ultimate responsibility for the de-selection of all materials lies with the City Librarian acting according to the general policies established by the Library Board. In practice, this authority is delegated to professional staff. The Library maintains a policy of on-going discarding based upon the elimination of unnecessary items, outdated materials, materials no longer of interest or in demand, duplicates, worn or mutilated copies. Materials withdrawn from the collection are disposed of at the annual book sale or discarded. The core collection is the collection that will satisfy most demands for information.
Past usage is a valid reliable prediction of future use.
Items with heavy past usage and current active usage are core collection materials and not candidates for weeding. If an item has not been used for two years at Central and one year at the Branches, the likelihood of future use is small and it is not a candidate for the core collection. Some items, although not core collection material, may be retained in the collection without seriously impairing the collection. Works related to local history. Works that are unique to the collection in that there is little or no information available on that topic elsewhere.