Prior to weeding your collection, it is important to have a clear plan and criteria to guide your decisions. To start, review your collection development policy and library mission and goals. This should include a section on weeding that outlines the frequency, scope, and methods of your weeding project, as well as criteria for selecting and evaluating materials. Additionally, you should communicate your weeding plan with stakeholders such as library staff, administration, users, and community partners. Explain the purpose and benefits of weeding and address any questions or concerns they may have. You may even solicit their feedback or suggestions on which materials to weed or keep. Furthermore, gather data on your collection such as usage statistics, user surveys, collection audits, or peer comparisons to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your collection along with gaps or opportunities for improvement. Finally, select the materials to weed based on your criteria and data using various methods such as CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding), MUSTIE (Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, Irrelevant, Elsewhere), or the Four-Point Scale (1: Essential, 2: Desirable, 3: Optional, 4: Discard). Also consider factors such as age, condition, relevance, accuracy, demand, availability, diversity, and uniqueness of the materials.