Collection Development Workshop available at the RAILS CEU Website (RAILS Reaching Across Illinois Library System)
PW - focus towards book sellers. critical and positive reviews, not afraid to say not good, because they tell book sellers not to overstock on it. weekly reviews can get overwhelming.
Booklist - covers both YS and Adult, Reccommend only - they won't review a negative review
LJ/SLJ - good resources, news articles, big picture. fairly expensive, because LJ only covers adult
Kirkus - "weighty serious literature", less focus on pop fiction. very critical to the point of overly critical - genre books are disdained, more aimed at readers of serious literature
Read cover to cover or go directly to covered section, all have "starred reviews", LJ and Booklist will mark high demand items, read between the lines esp with key phrases "for larger public libraries" - don't spend money on that if you dont have the money. "for special collections" - too specialised for small to medium libraries
Booklist - freelance reviewers, editors decide what gets sent to reviewers - depends on who is publisher, author, publicity push, do I have a reviewer who can handle this. reference esp gets covered differently - ie law books can't be reviewed by just anyone, so editors had to review.
Consider publisher catalogs, booklists from bookstores and publishers, vendors guides and selection lists as starting point, but then read reviews after that (second check after they are on your maybe selection lists).
Be careful with Wilson Core Collections books - you know your patrons, they are a decent springboard, but don't rely on them alone. Booklist does have Core Collection list of 10 items in select categories of books published in the last year, but even that is suggestion only.
Blogs and Websites -" Readers Writers, Books, and Blogs" book related websites and blogs
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNMpPvzl3kA
Budget
avg price of book based on retail price, minus vendor discount plus processing fee
% of circulation should roughly match % of budget that section gets. BUT be flexible, and don't keep it the same year after year. example: every 4 years, the 300s and 900s explode with election cycle - because that is what people are asking for.
Switch money around as needed, and don't try to spend a set amount every month. 1200 total, 100 a month, really reaching at the beginning of the year, then middle and end of year, all of a sudden four new editions of something great comes about, and you only have the money of the month.
Fiction, rush of books out in Nov, Dec (by xmas) and April may june (for summer reading)
Hardcover is preferred format - paperback is popular size and format, even if they don't last as long, they are cheap to replace. Mass Market paperbacks - to catalogue or not - check them out, but aren't in catalog, considered a throwaway. Sometimes you just can't find a book in hardcover, even if you have to replace it every 6 checkouts, on series that are wildly popular, on the shelf where people can find it, instead of not checking out from a spinning carousel. Patrons are more likely to go straight to shelf, bypassing help at the desk and catalogue, going to where they think it "should" be
Audio- let tapes die a natural death, circ records will show if they are checking out. Cars were still being released in 2010 with tape decks. Cds are still in flux (as are blue ray and dvds) - digital download is not for everyone.
Popular authors - auto purchase (hold list to copies bought)
Weeding - You can't keep buying new items without getting rid of old items. Weeding articles on RAILS. or Booklistonline.com "Weeding Tips"(free). Do it as part of your weekly Desk tasks - do you have other items on topic, what condition is it in, when was last circulation date, how many times has it gone out, is there something to replace it if it is needed? No info is better than outdated info.
Community and Collection development and management - surveys (needs assessment) (quick surveys in back of books or checkout), working desk (patron interaction), Circ records and reports (look up who are the most popular areas and authors). Consider your primary demographic on library use - will the item circulate? Creating selections lists for branches when central purchasing is the way it goes. Community buy-in = fewer challenges. Weeding can be thorny topic - removing out of date materials vs preserving collection
Well written plan or policy is the way (policy board votes on and isn't changed very often, plan, is inhouse and for librarians, ebbs and flows, less formal) to handle challenges. Borrow beg or steal - georgetown texas school library procedures manual for school libraries. La Grange Public Library Plan - detailed and covering every base very updated. Doesnt need to be 20 pages long. review and update on a regular basis - every 3 years, revise at least once every 5 years (ex VHS tapes in CDP)
Section by section overview check out Morton Grove library - here is what we are buying and why (don't give $ because that changes every year), this is what we look for, this is how often we weed it and why. MUST INCLUDE: Donations and Materials and how they are handled (budgeting) , Weeding Justifications, process for weeding, dealing with challenges, special collections get special section on procedures.
Challenges - Having a publicly posted collection development plan, use reviews to back up and defend purchases, esp with YS and Teen mats. Language, Sex adult themes, reviews include that info, and despite the controversy, they still recommend the item. Have a neutral tone form for challenging, usually goes to board - move rather than remove (teen to adult collection), look at circulation (if more than one copy, it is because of holds) to help defend.
Video games - multiple formats and manufacturers, price hard to justify, legal issues surrounding circulation of software (which includes video games) - gray area - turbo tax did challenge and pull their product from libraries to prevent circulation. Dead or orphan collection as it becomes outdated in 2 to 3 years. If you have the money, and easy to buy, go for it
e-books : Amazon Kindle working with libraries, Kobe reader company bought overdrive, publishers can be difficult with number of circs for e-books. it needs to go in CDP, but keep it up to date. 3M cloud reader, Access 360 (from Baker and Taylor) are new possible market emergence. Library's purchasing own licensing agreements with Overdrive
Self-published book: in 2014, 40% of new self-published books are available digitally only. They are published digitally only. Differentiate self-published books between physical and eBook - esp since there is a grey area with eBooks that are self-publishing but some are physical books. How are patrons coming to asking for them? cover it in CDP, esp rationale for including in collection or not (reviewed books are easier to include). Local authors too.
