Large scale weeding in a small academic library: Towards achieving an active collection focused on quality over quantity

Librarians at a small, rural academic library participated in a five-year print collection weeding project from 20182025 to remove outdated, damaged, and irrelevant materials. The impetus was to curate a collection more tightly aligned to the university's curriculum and improve browsability. This case study explores the experience of taking on such a large-scale project and the evolving nature of the project tasks and deselection criteria through staffing changes. The case study was informed by Mary E. Miller and Suzanne Ward's Rightsizing the Academic Collection , which encouraged more positive, informative, and productive perspectives on the weeding process. It also facilitated a deeper relationship with faculty and students by including them in the decision-making processes throughout the duration of the project. After the project was completed in 2025, the library successfully developed a more browsable and user-friendly collection, improved volume circulation, and created a more sustainable collection management plan to prevent future library staff from encountering a situation of this scale again.