Brown School Library Deaccessioning Policy
Librarians review the library collection on an ongoing basis to ensure the collection is meeting the current curriculum, research, and informational needs of students, staff, and students. Materials that no longer meet the needs of the Brown School may be deaccessioned from the collection.
Reasons for review and potential deaccessioning criteria…
Briefly
M= Misleading--factually inaccurate
U= Ugly--worn beyond mending or rebinding
S= Superseded--by a new edition or by a much better book on the subject
T= Trivial--of no discernible literary or scientific merit
I= Irrelevant to the needs and interests of the library's community
E= Elsewhere--the material is easily obtainable from another WUSTL library
Misleading/Age
Candidates for Deaccessioning:
Nonfiction
General topics older than 8 years and not considered foundational within the field of public health, social policy, or social work
Technical manuals, ex: obsolete computer hardware and software – 2 years
Job advice, general – 3 years
Job advice, social work – 10 years
Medicine – 3 years
Law – 10 years
*Has not circulated or gone on course reserve in the past five years
*exception of any text in the Test and Measurements Database (https://libguides.wustl.edu/c.php?g=46890&p=301092#s-lg-box-889944)
* exception of items published by the NASW, CSWE, or APHA or are the only remaining copy of a Brown School faculty author.
Note: Government documents should be returned to the government documents collection rather than deaccessioned.
Fiction
Has not circulated or gone on course reserve in the past five years
Condition
Candidates for Deaccessioning:
Any volume that has sustained significant damage due to water, mold, bugs, misuse, etc.
Note: Government documents should be returned to the government documents collection rather than deaccessioned.
Candidates for Replacement:
Nonfiction volume that meets the above criteria and has circulated in the past three
years
Fiction volume that meets the above criteria and has circulated or gone on course reserve in the past five years
Items published by the NASW, CSWE, or APHA or are the only remaining copy of a Brown School faculty author.
Superseded
When a new edition supersedes a book, older editions will be reviewed.
Candidates for Deaccessioning:
*Has not circulated or gone on course reserve in the past five years
Multiple copies – all but one will be deaccessioned if none have circulated or gone on course reserve in the past five years
The remaining title will be reviewed again and may be deaccessioned if it has not circulated or gone on course reserve in the past five years
*Exception: Books that have not circulated in the past five years but contain data necessary for longitudinal studies, ex: book containing statistics on poverty in the 1970s
Exception: Always read retention notes in catalog before deaccessioning
Exception: Items published by NASW, CSWE, or APHA or are the only remaining copy of a Brown School faculty author.
Note: Government documents should be returned to the government documents collection rather than deaccessioned.
