While all libraries seek to preserve knowledge, this collection exists primarily to serve students, faculty, and researchers who need the most accurate and up-to-date information possible to be successful in their work. The subject areas of this collection are constantly evolving and being updated Resources are reviewed three times a year, in alignment with the university’s semester system, to remove outdated and/or inaccurate information.

• Materials containing information older than 10 years are subject to weeding. Collection materials are also reviewed as new acquisitions arrive to ensure older editions of works are removed in a timely fashion. Revised and updated editions of resources will replace earlier editions and edits.
• Research and information that has been deemed incorrect and outdated by the academic and professional community will be replaced with newer findings.
• Physical resources showing obvious signs of wear and damage will be removed from the collection as needed. If the information contained within these resources is deemed relevant, current, accurate, and still aligned with mission and selection criteria of the collection then the resource will be replaced as soon as possible if it remains available for purchase at a reasonable cost.
• Deselection candidates are removed from circulation and hidden in the library catalog. All librarians participate in the deselection process but designated subject librarians review materials before final decisions are made.
• Materials deemed relevant, current, and accurate or considered to have enduring value to the collection will be returned to the shelves.
• Physical issues of serials older than ten years but part of a continuing series will be moved to library storage and will remain in the catalog for use on special request.

Items that need further consideration will be placed on lists distributed to faculty with expertise in that area for further review and guidance. Any works still under review at the end of a weeding cycle will be returned to the stacks and catalog until a final decision is made.

Any items deemed outdated or no longer of value to the collection will be permanently removed from the stacks and the library catalog. Physical items will either be offered as donations to the local public library and/or community college library or sold in the annual book sale to raise funds for future collection development. Digital and electronic items purged from the catalog will be discontinued with their respective vendor.

Exempt from deselection

• Dissertations published through the university will not be subject to deselection and will be maintained based on their historical importance to the university and the collection.
• Government documents are not subject to deselection as they provide a basis for the history of climate justice and agricultural movements at large.
• Seminal works and monographs such as Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore will be maintained to establish the history of the current global situation and research.