Watson Library

Thank you for taking the time to visit this very important page of our website. 

At some point in the process of building a collection, all libraries are faced with the question of how to "deacquisition" books from their shelves.  Over the last 20 years, the use of digital resources has changed the way libraries work in many ways and one of the most profound has been the general idea that libraries are now more service oriented, and less collection driven.  The Watson Library has also seen this change in orientation, and this page is here to assist in communicating with our students, staff, and faculty the lists of books that are proposed for removal from our library. 

As of July 2022, the Watson Library has a collection of approximately 106,000 print volumes.  We currently have no defined goal for an overall collection reduction, but we can safely say that we seek to maintain a collection size that will range from 85,000 to 95,000 volumes.  Collection maintenance will continue to be an ongoing project for the foreseeable future, with an overall goal of improving the vitality of our collection, while preserving works that help define our institution. 

Below we will provide links to spreadsheets listing titles by subject areas that are candidates for removal from the library.  Each spreadsheet will have an associated deadline that indicates when the material will be removed from the library collection after being identified.  Please contact Michael Wells, if you have any questions or concerns about any books that are being removed from the library.