Abstract
The weeding project of the George F. Smith Library Reference Collection was undertaken due to anticipated space reconfiguration. With no place to relocate the reference books, the librarians eliminated the reference books from the area selected for redesign by discarding material or interfiling it with the circulating collection. Only a small portion of the 'last copy monographs' collection was selected for preservation. This case study presents an analysis of a one-time comprehensive project to free up space, dispose of obsolete material, and demonstrate what went behind the decisions to discard, interfile, or preserve the "last institutional copies " of monographs.