Gracia Imperial brings her 16-month-old daughter Amira to the Winnipeg Public Library every week. They always find something new.
"There's a wide range to the collection here,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd every week we find new books that are really interesting.鈥�
The library always seems fresh thanks to librarians who go through the shelves and do a process called 鈥渨eeding.鈥�
They examine each book and throw out the tomes that no longer meet patrons鈥� needs, making room for the new titles.
Barbara Bourrier-Lacroix showed CTV Winnipeg the 鈥渨eeding process,鈥� also known as collections management.
鈥淭hey have a fun little acronym to help you remember as you鈥檙e going through your collection,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t's MUSTIE.鈥�
M stands for misleading, which includes books that seem factually inaccurate or out of date.
U stands for ugly, which includes worn or damaged copies.
S stands for superseded, referring to titles that can be replaced by newer editions.
T stands for trivial, which includes books that are poorly written or were only popular for a short period of time.
I is for irrelevant to the community.
E stands for elsewhere, meaning the information is available in another format or at another branch.
During a recent round of weeding, Bourrier-Lacroix found a book with a stain on it and marked it as 鈥淯gly.鈥�
鈥淭his one鈥檚 got water spilled on it,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e hope it鈥檚 water.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 constant upkeep,鈥� she added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we do.鈥�
