Weeding to Grow: Deaccessioning to Make Space for a Growing Collection

Abstract

As part of my field study at UMD's Art Library, I have been working on a long-term project to address a crisis of lack of space. The Art Library has a vast physical collection that has outgrown the available space in our stacks. In order to address this, I have worked with the Art and Architecture Librarian, Cindy Frank, to create a plan to weed the collection in order to make space for titles that reflect more diverse topics in Art and Art History. My poster will include our findings, methods, and recommendations for physical collections that can contribute to the scholarly conversation around weeding, deaccessioning, and collections development.