Deselection in university libraries: a lookback at the study afternoon

Freeing up 15 kilometres of bookshelves

In the first presentation, Errol Graf from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) explained how he and his library colleagues are tackling the challenge of freeing up 15 kilometres of books out of a total of 100 kilometres. They do this, on the one hand, by using the available space more efficiently and, on the other hand, by actually deselecting and discarding books and journal volumes. This involves removing duplicate monographs, any copies of dissertations above the required two and finally newspaper volumes. Before throwing out books, the library always checks if other libraries and cultural heritage institutions want them.

What is striking about the UvA's approach is that they first manually determine for a small selection of titles in a collection what can go and what can stay. They then translate the knowledge gained in this small evaluation into decisions that apply to the whole relevant sub-collection.

Digital first approach

Jasper Faasse from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB) was the next presenter. He did not focus on deselection, but on the KB’s general collection policy, in view of the increasingly digital world. The KB is committed to a 'digital first' approach. Deselection is part of its collection policy. In deselection, the KB distinguishes between the conservation collection -- the collection that the KB must preserve as part of its legal obligations -- and the user collection in the reading rooms. Only this last collection is actively deselected.

Getting reliable information

And last but not least, Corrie Snijder and Petra Otten from WUR Library gave a presentation. They talked about the question they received whether it was possible to free up four of 22 kilometres of bookshelves in the stacks. To do this, they focused on serial publications because here, they thought, the most space could be gained. After analysing a sample of 500 titles, the team concluded that four kilometres was feasible, provided the Library kept only titles that were unique to the UKB and titles that UKB retention policy requires the Library to keep.

In creating the selection list, however, the project team found that they could not get the data needed from WorldCat for the deselection decisions. WUR Library then developed a tool to fix this problem, but the tool still requires a lot of manual work. The next phase of the deselection project is to develop a methodology to create reliable deselection lists for the entire collection of serial publications. The deselection should be finished by mid-2026.

Exchanging experiences and sharing tips

After the break, the participants discussed the challenges of putting deselection into practice. They spoke about the role of organisational culture, how to create support within the organisation, how to deal with a lack of information about the collection and how to determine selection criteria. These are big questions for which there are no ready-made answers, especially in the short time frame of the discussions. Participants felt it was helpful to notice that other institutions are facing similar issues.

At the end of the afternoon, chairwoman Claudia Böhme concluded that the lively study afternoon showed a clear need to exchange practical information on this subject and she called on libraries to organize a follow-up to this afternoon.