Basically, two senior staff and the director make the determinations.  We have library board, but aren't overseen by another governmental unit.

We remove books that are low-zero on circ stats, those that are outdated (technology books are outdated FAST) due to new info, etc. or irreparably damaged (blood, mold, water/coffee damaged, animal got to it, etc.).  We check to see how many other libraries have them too. We discard any in such poor shape that they can't go to the book sale shelves, or to a 'books for the world" type donation. We have a used book sale constantly in our Community Room.

But-- I understand that several years ago, individuals actively "shopped" our dumpster and complained about the "perfectly good books we were just throwing away" (Guess they didn't see the missing pages, blood or the mold and mildew). So-- once bitten, twice shy-- we exercised additional cautious measures for several years after that. 

On Mon, Jan 8, 2024 at 5:11 PM Deb Hemmye via Michlib-l <michlib-l@mcls.org> wrote:
Sheesh!  We do not have anything like that.  Furthermore, we find that people are reluctant to purchase discarded library books even if they are in practically brand new condition.  Do you get a lot of sales this way?  We do recycle unusable donations and weeded books.

Good luck!

Deb Hemmye
Library Director
Huntington Woods Public Library
26415 Scotia Road
Huntington Woods, MI 48070
248-543-9720, ext. 686

"But without questions, there can be no knowledge."
From When Women Were Dragons, by Kelly Barnhill

From: "Michlib" <michlib-l@mcls.org>
To: "Michlib" <michlib-l@mcls.org>
Sent: Monday, January 8, 2024 11:39:01 AM
Subject: [Michlib-l] Requirements for disposal of weeded books

Hello,

Does anyone else have to jump through these hoops to remove items from their collection? Could any libraries required to do any of the following (or something similar) please email me the specifics of them? I'd be happy to compile the results and share. Thank you!

  1. Submit a list of weeded items to a governing body (Council, Board, etc.) for approval prior to disposal.
  2. Place weeded/approved items on bid/make them for sale prior to disposal.

I'm trying to find anyone who's process is similar to ours: Items weeded from collection, itemized list sent to City Council monthly to be declared surplus, items placed on bid (like a silent auction), placed for sale, or sent to a company like Sustainable Shelves, remainder recycled/given away.

Thank you!
Jesse



Jesse Shirtz

Library Director
Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library
317 N. Main Street
Ishpeming, MI 49849
906-486-4381

Chair
Michigan Reading Association

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--
Jean Fellows
(she/hers)
Programming Coordinator
Grand Ledge Area District Library
131 E. Jefferson St.,
Grand Ledge, MI 48837
517-627-7014

The Grand Ledge Area District Library is situated on ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi peoples-- land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. For more information, see the article from Central Michigan University Library:https://blogs.cmich.edu/library/2019/11/26/the-1819-treaty-of-saginaw/#:~:text=In%20the%201819%20treaty%2C%20the,living%20on%20the%20ceded%20territory.