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Renovation: Collection Development

This guide will inform the campus about the library renovation.

What is collection development?

U. Grant Miller Library is dedicated to providing access to an active, useful collection that reflects the curricular, research and cultural needs of the Washington & Jefferson College community. Please see our Collection Development Policy for more information on the principles and guidelines we use in selecting, acquiring, providing access to and assessing our materials.

The renovated library will have an open floor plan with space for collaborative learning on the main level.  The bulk of the library's collection will be kept on the lower level.  Moving the print collection to the lower level means that the library will have room for fewer print books in the circulating collection. Librarians are working directly with faculty to reduce the number of print volumes. If you have any questions about this process, please contact Ronalee Ciocco, Director of Library Services at rciocco@washjeff.edu or x3039.

Weeding Process

  1. COMPLETED: Liaison Librarians attend department meetings to determine the criteria
  2. COMPLETED: The librarians pull a list of titles that meet that criteria
  3. COMPLETED: Librarians, library staff, and student workers mark these titles with purple dots on the spine label
  4. COMPLETED: Once the dotting is complete, a librarian will reach out to the department to tell them that they may come to the library to look at the books in their section
  5. COMPLETED: Faculty use the Circulation Collection Review Packet to select items within their discipline that should or should not be removed from the library's collection.  The last day for department review is February 28, 2018.
  6. COMPLETED: After the department review period has ended (February 28, 2018), there will be an open comment period in which all faculty and staff can comment on any section of the library.  The open comment period is March 1-16, 2018.  During this time, librarians will also perform a secondary review of all sections of the library to ensure the collection will remain well-rounded.
  7. COMPLETED: On Monday, March 19, 2018, all library staff will begin the process of removing the selected books from the collection.
  8.  Liaison Librarians and Faculty work to build collection in areas that were identified.