Library Sustainable Collections Project Continues this Summer

This summer the library will continue a large-scale deselection project for monographs at the Van Wylen Library.  We will be making evidence-based decisions to carefully manage the deselection of low-use print monographs and also identify monograph titles for preservation.  This effort is part of a larger state-wide effort to cooperatively preserve low-use titles.

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Purpose of the Project:

The Hope College Van Wylen Library is now 25 years old.  It was built to accommodate 20 years of collection growth.  While the acquisition of e-books has slowed growth somewhat, our shelves are full.  In addition, we want to create new spaces for student collaboration, technology, and other support services, and make the remaining collections more attractive and usable for students.  The Sustainable Collections Project is a large-scale “weeding” project that will identify low or no use print monographs that could be removed from the collection.  The project will also identify monographs that need to be preserved because they are rare or not widely held by other academic libraries.

Monographs are candidates for withdrawal if they were published before 2000 and had 0 or 1 circulations in the past 23 years and are held by more than 50 academic libraries nationwide and more than 3 peer libraries in Michigan.  Peer libraries include 14 academic libraries (both state public and small liberal arts) that are MeL participants and have expressed an interest in cooperative preservation of low-use titles.

Preservation candidates are those titles that are held by fewer than 5 academic libraries nationwide, or we are the only library in Michigan holding that title.  Many of these titles will be moved to the rare book collection.

Some collections will be preserved automatically.  Anything that is marked Banninga Collection, Hope Collection, or Muste Collection will be preserved for historical reasons.  The Hope Collection is a collection of books written by Hope alumni.  These three collections are not a part of the withdrawal candidate lists and will be handled separately.

Collections that will be affected this summer:

The library will be working this summer on the 3rd floor of Van Wylen Library.  We are beginning with the E call number range and working upward (E, F, G, H, J, K).  All of these ranges are now ready to be reviewed by faculty. Green flags have been placed in all withdrawal candidates. Faculty have until May 30 to indicate which of these titles should be kept. To do that, simply swap the green flag with a red one. Red flags are available at the Circulation Desk.

For more information about the project, see the Hope Sustainable Collections Page.

If you have questions about the project, please contact Kelly Jacobsma, David O’Brien or Brian Yost.

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