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Aug 5, 2025 38 min

Weeding is Fundamental Revisited

from 99% Invisible Hosted by Avery Trufelman, Martín Gonzalez

Libraries get rid of books all the time. There are so many new books coming in every day and only a finite amount of library space. The practice of freeing up library space is called weeding. When the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library was damaged by an earthquake 1989, the argument over which books need to be weeded, and how they were chosen for removal, reached fever pitch. This episode originally aired on May 14, 2019. Weeding is Fundamental Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

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