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In 2008, the University of Louisville’s (UofL) Ekstrom Library printed reference collection numbered almost 30,000 volumes. Copious collecting and sparse weeding built up the collection during the era before the Internet. There had been considerable reluctance to address its more outdated sections due to competing priorities and inertia. A change of leadership as well as the recognition of changing use patterns had lessened the need for such a large collection. In 2011, three librarians began a title-by-title review process that resulted in an 86% reduction of the reference collection by 2014. This article describes that process, summarizes the results, and discusses the benefits and disadvantages of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe the process that is used for selecting reference books and managing the reference budget at one academic library reference unit. While there have been articles written on reference collection development, none have explained the process in detail.Design/methodology/approach This paper describes the process used to select reference books via a voting system and how the budget is managed over ordering periods.Findings Using the system described, librarians can effectively manage a reference budget that fairly distributes resources across different subjects and gives selectors greater control of the resources they purchase.Originality/value This is a unique book selection and ordering system that has not been described in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]