Having worked in libraries for many years, weeding is a very contentious issue. Many patrons (and librarians!) have an emotional attachment to books, so to recycle them just feels wrong. Some libraries have resorted to putting their weeded books into locked dumpsters - there have been instances of patrons coming across a dumpster full of weeded books then going on a tirade against the library for "throwing away knowledge."
A lot of people don't realize the detailed process that goes into deciding to weed a book. When was it last checked out? How does it compare to other materials in the collection? How many copies of this book are available regionally, nationally? What's the monetary value of the book? Is the subject matter outdated, and if so, does it still have value? It's a very complicated process and unfortunately libraries simply aren't able to keep every book, nor should they!
As a compromise I've seen some libraries offer weeded books for very cheap or even give them away for free, which seems like a good way to please both sides.
A lot of people don't realize the detailed process that goes into deciding to weed a book. When was it last checked out? How does it compare to other materials in the collection? How many copies of this book are available regionally, nationally? What's the monetary value of the book? Is the subject matter outdated, and if so, does it still have value? It's a very complicated process and unfortunately libraries simply aren't able to keep every book, nor should they!
As a compromise I've seen some libraries offer weeded books for very cheap or even give them away for free, which seems like a good way to please both sides.