Editor’s note: This article is based on a presentation given at the Midwest Chapter/MLA annual meeting in 2023, a recording for which can be found here. Introduction In the summer of 2022, the nursing collection at Illinois State University’s Milner Library contained approximately 17,000 items. Concerns about the state of the collection had been raised by both the dean of the college of nursing and the dean of Milner Library. In nursing, having current materials is extremely important, as anything out-of-date is at best unhelpful and, at worst, has the potential to be hazardous or life-threatening. From a librarianship perspective, it is important to critically evaluate the state of collections to ensure they meet the research and curricular needs of their community. As a practical matter, materials need to be regularly reviewed to account for shelf space as well as lower circulation statistics…
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