Books about Black history and culture, including some published as recently as 2023, have been turning up on giveaway carts at Hennepin County Library branches in recent months. The titles look a little too shiny and new for comfort, and some residents say it does not feel like the usual slow, behind-the-scenes pruning. The sightings have stirred fresh questions about how fast books on local Black life and culture are moving out of circulation.
Doug Bjostad, a longtime Hennepin County resident, told a local paper he first noticed an unusual cluster of African American-focused titles on withdrawal carts last fall. One was the 2023 children’s book The Night Before Freedom: A Juneteenth Story, still sporting a library withdrawal sticker. Bjostad said he and other patrons also spotted pictorial and local-history volumes linked to the 2020 uprisings on those same carts. These details were reported by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
Library Says Withdrawals Are Routine “Weeding”
Hennepin County Library told reporters the removals are part of routine collection maintenance known as weeding and said staff follow established selection and withdrawal criteria. The library’s Collection Development and Management Policy from Hennepin County Library lists reasons items are pulled, including condition, obsolescence, low circulation, space limits and similar factors. The policy also notes that withdrawn materials may be reused within the system, donated to community partners, sold, or recycled.
Community Concerns And Scale
Authors and advocates say the picture looks different when the process sweeps up books about Black life and local history. “Book removal is a major concern for historically marginalized communities,” organizer Shannon Gibney told the paper. The reporting also noted that library communications said Hennepin does not publish lists of withdrawn titles and that the system adds more than 350,000 new items each year. Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
Why “Weeding” Can Set Off Alarms
In the library world, weeding is a standard professional practice meant to keep collections current, useful, and not completely overflowing. Still, when removals feel large or fast, especially for topical or community-history material, public pushback tends to follow, particularly if communication is thin. Coverage and library-industry analysis indicate that clear criteria and transparent reconsideration steps can ease conflict and confusion around what stays and what goes. Library Journal.
Where Local History Is Preserved And What Patrons Can Do
Hennepin County Library also maintains special collections that focus on preserving local Black history. One example is the John F. Glanton Collection, which holds more than 800 photographs of African American life in the Twin Cities and has been digitized for public access. Hennepin County highlights that work and the library’s broader role as a steward of community records. Patrons who want a title reconsidered or who want to request new purchases can use the formal reconsideration process described in library policy and submit a request through the library’s Suggest a purchase page…