Connie, I hear you when you say that you don't want to purge until you need the space. However since the committee is in the mode now, it might be good to evaluate items that have already been digitized or are available at a nearby library or archive and remove those. This also means that when you do want to take in a collection the committee doesn't have to go into "panic mode" to purge at that time to make space. Haste is how things do get pitched without thought. Bravo on trying to get the thoughts down on paper as to the limits and conditions of the comings and goings of the collection. Best wishes, Elissa Elissa Scalise Powell, CG , CGL www.PowellGenealogy.com www.GRIPitt.org 28 June-3 July 2015 and 19-24 July 2015 in Pittsburgh, PA CG, Certified Genealogist, CGL, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluations. The board name is a trademark registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Connie Sheets via Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2015 1:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [TGF] Projecting Library Shelf Space Needs I am a relatively new board member for a non-profit organization that has developed a large, private genealogical library operated entirely by volunteers. Most of the volunteers are not librarians or archivists, and the genealogical expertise of the Board and library volunteers varies. For many years, the person primarily responsible for the library made every effort to make space for most materials that came her way. She has retired and we have come to the point where available space does not allow us to continue on that course. On that we all agree. Where we disagree is in the specifics of what constitutes a valuable genealogical resource that needs to continue to be made available, and what we need to find another home for. I may be posting later about one or two specific types of resources, but this is a more basic question. I am being told it is impossible to project, even in a general "guesstimate" way, the amount of linear shelf space we will need each year for new acquisitions because we cannot project the books, etc. that will be donated. We also have a limited purchasing program. We are in the process of developing written criteria for what we will accept as donations, what we will deaccession, etc. but I'm feeling like a voice in the wilderness advocating that those criteria need to be developed before the "decluttering" proceeds further. To my untrained eye, we have sufficient shelf space for a year or two at least. Surely, others deal with this issue all the time and have developed some method for figuring it out mathematically? Am I being unreasonable to suggest that it does not make sense to eliminate all school yearbooks and a significant portion of our periodical collection, how-to books, etc. without first having some objective idea of when we will actually need the shelf space? Connie Sheets Phoenix ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message