[Publib] Re: The Old Debate

[Andy Barnett]

Weeding or thinning, a critical question is - how long would it take you to 
obtain a copy of these titles if a local patron wanted it?

If you are in a shared system, the answer is 2-3 days, or about as long as 
it takes for Amazon to deliver a book. In that case, smaller libraries 
should rely on the collections of larger libraries to supply their rarely 
needed titles. We weed/thin pretty ruthlessly, secure in the knowledge that 
most of what we discard is still available in our system. We make an effort 
to hold onto items where we own the last (or second last) copy unless it is 
excruciatingly unused. That said, we keep our classic titles in a separate 
collection and replaced those with ugly copies.

If you are operating as a small stand alone library, then you are out of 
luck. No room to keep rarely used titles and no connections to obtain them 
quickly. Hope your automation involves a shared system.