LGBTQIA-R: Creating a Diverse and Inclusive Medical Collection at a Public Metropolitan University

Information about the LGBTQIA population is difficult to collect because of the sensitive nature of the topic of sexual preference and gender identity. This paper examines our weeding project and collection development efforts to provide health care information for the LGBTQIA community at a Midwestern metropolitan university. The findings conclude that our collection was not providing sufficient, up-to-date health information for the personal and professional information needs of our patrons in the R-RZ Library of Congress range. The weeding process, strategies for working with department faculty, and the implications for an intersectional medical collection are discussed

Health Sciences Assessment at UNC Charlotte: A Collection Devleopment Fellowship

The J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte serves over 21,000 undergraduates and over 4,000 graduate students. Apart from the sole branch library (Arts & Architecture), all of the resources are housed in the main building. In 2016, a plan was developed for a comprehensive weeding project. Two primary factors made this necessary. One was the adaptive nature of the library’s philosophy; student needs and preferences were constantly assessed, and changes were made to the library’s services and spaces based on them. The creation of a makerspace, a family-friendly study room, and other student workspaces meant less room for shelving, as did additional staff offices. Another factor was the fact that the collection had not previously been systematically weeded. Shelves were overfilled, and parts of the collection were outdated or redundant. The combined needs for physical space and for a decluttered collection meant that a comprehensive rightsizing project was in order