Starting the week of February 24, multiple book carts filled with library books were seen outside of the library, with signs that read “free,” for students and staff to take.

Each year, the Loudoun County School Board provides the Lightridge library with $10 per student to spend on books.

“That means we’re buying a lot of books, based on our school’s size, which is awesome,” said librarian Amy Ivory. “But we only have so much space to store them, so we have to do some weeding.”

Weeding is a process where librarians go through their collection and remove books that are no longer needed. This includes getting rid of books that aren’t popular, as well as duplicate copies of books that used to be popular but are now checked out less frequently. These books are given on a first come, first served basis to students.

This year, the librarians found themselves removing more books from the non-fiction collection (specifically biographies), since fiction was targeted last year.

“A lot of schools offer these books to other schools in Loudoun County,” Ivory said. “But we always offer our staff and students the books first, and whatever they don’t take, we then give to other schools.”

The books will remain available throughout the week of March 10.