Collection Development

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Collection Development

• Heather Buzzell Karyn Goodwillie
• Consultants, Parkland Regional Library

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Agenda

• Defining Collection Development
• Collection Development Policy
• Collection Development Plan
• Collections and the librarys mission and purpose
• Selection criteria
• Responsibility for selection
• Client initiated collection issues
• Intellectual freedom
• Tools for Collection Development
• Knowing your Community
• Knowing your Needs
• Selection Aids

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Defining Collection Development

• Collection development is the process of
  selecting materials in all formats to meet the
  librarys needs, goals, objectives and
  priorities.
• Christine Lind Hage, The Public Library Start-Up
  Guide. 2004. p. 125

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Collection Development Policy

• A collection development policy should provide an
  overall view of what the library will be
  collecting and the extent of the librarys
  collection.
• A Collection policy needs to be general enough to
  be useable but detailed enough to communicate the
  collections purpose to the public and guide
  purchasing.

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Five Ws and an H

• Who is the library serving who is selecting?
• What materials are selected?
• When are selection decisions made?
• Where will the material come from?
• Why are these materials selected?
• How can patrons be involved?

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Sample Collection Development Policies

• Edmonton Public Libraryhttp//www.epl.ca/EPLSele
  ctionPolicy.cfm
• Niagra Falls Public Libraryhttp//www.nflibrary.
  ca/LibraryInformation/Policies/MaterialsSelectionP
  olicy/tabid/77/Default.aspx
• To search for other sample policies on the web
  use search terms selection policy, materials
  policy, or collections policy

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Collection Development Plan
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Mission and Purpose of the Library

• Developed based on your librarys needs
  assessment, as part of your plan of service
• Whos doing what in your community?
• Are collection needs being taken care of by other
  institutions in you community, is it an
  opportunity for partnership?

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You know your community, but. . .

• What about the people who dont come to the
  library?
• They say that the library is only used by about
  20 of the community. What will you have for the
  other 80? Why arent they using the library? How
  can you get them in?

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Selection Criteria

• Age, scope and format
• Budgetary considerations
• Item price
• Do you really need more than one copy per title?
• Local library collections vs. System collections
• Direct services at PRL exist for you

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Who buys?

• Who buys what, when?
• Shared responsibility
• Library manager/individual
• Useful tools
• Buying plans
• Split budgets Fiction vs. Non-Fiction
• School libraries 30/70

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Things to watch out for

• Personal biases. . . Do you want your community
  to know that much about you?
• Impulse shopping

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Patron initiated collecting

• Item requests
• Your form should include
• Title, Author, Publisher, Year ISBN
• A place for patrons to indicate if they would
  like to request the item once it is in the system
• Sample request forms
• Naperville Public libraryhttp//www.naperville-li
  b.org/onlineform/sug_mat_purchase.asp

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Donations and gifts

• Have a policy and guidelines for donations and
  gifts
• Reserve the right to make all final decisions on
  the approval, use or refusal of all gift material
• Questions of Priority
• Is it a title that would add to your collection
  in a positive way? Would you buy it for the
  collection?
• Are there 30 copies in the System already?

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Donations and gifts

• Even if you dont want to keep a donated item for
  the collection there are other options
• Book sales
• Are you going to give tax receipts for donations?
• Canada Revenue Agency Sample Official Donation
  Receipthttp//www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/pub
  s/receipts-e.html

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Intellectual Freedom

• CLA Intellectual Freedom Statement
• Libraries have a responsibility to provide access
  to all types of information, including that which
  can be considered unconventional, unpopular or
  unacceptable.

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Balanced Collections

• Different points of view represented
• Non-selection is censorship if based on viewpoint
  alone
• Collection development should be inclusive not
  exclusive to the best of your ability/within your
  collection policy
• Exception Within the bounds of the law, i.e.
  Hate literature

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Challenges

• A challenge to a book or other item is an
  attempt to remove it (or ban it) from the library
  shelves or from the school curriculum.
• Anne M. Turner, It Comes with the Territory.
  2004. p. 74
• Pay attention to the difference between a
  question and a challenge
• People challenge books in an attempt to protect
  others

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Responding to Questions

• Censorship, like charity, should begin at home
  but, unlike charity, it should end there.
• Clare Booth Luce
• LISTEN!!!!!
• Thank them for their involvement in the library
• Know your collection policy
• Keep a record of your interactions
• If it goes further have a request for
  reconsideration form and get support

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Sample Request for Title Reconsideration

• Lethbridge Public Library http//webapps.chinooka
  rch.ca/docs/lpl/reports/request_reconsideration.pd
  f
• Nova Scotia Community College http//www.library.n
  scc.ca/Documents/Policies/reconsideration_library_
  material.pdf
• Yellowhead Regional Library http//www.yrl.ab.ca/p
  df/Collection20Development20Guidelines.pdf

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Tools for Collection Development
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Knowing Your Community

• Needs assessment/plan of service
• Community profiles
• Alberta First http//www.albertafirst.com/profile
  s/community/
• Municipal Affairs Housing http//www.municipala
  ffairs.gov.ab.ca/cfml/profiles/index.cfm
• Statistics Canadas Community Profiles
  (2006)http//www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/da
  ta/profiles/community/Index.cfm?LangE

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Knowing Your Community

• Schools
• Curriculum summaries or Grades at-a-glance
• http//education.alberta.ca/parents/resources/hand
  book.aspx
• http//www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bys
  ubject/
• Educational Support Services Curriculum Support
• English Recommended Resources Elementary and
  Secondary
• French Recommended Resources

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Knowing Your Needs

• Now you know what your community needs your next
  step is to compare that to what you already have.
• Collection Survey
• Horizon Reports

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Collection Survey

• Identifies general issues
• Pinpoints areas of the collection that need
  strengthening
• Gives some title suggestions to start from
• Highlights areas of strength
• BUT
• Based on whats on the shelf that day
• May not include specific community needs

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Horizon Reports

• Collection snapshot
• Has the number of titles in each subject area
• Collection age report
• The average age of materials
• Circulation statistics
• What are people taking out?
• Last checkout
• Especially useful with fiction and for weeding

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Selection Aids Databases

• PRL subscribes to a number of databases that can
  help you with collecting . (Found on PRLs
  database pages)
• Global books in Print
• Novelist
• Fiction and Nonfiction connection
• MaterFILE Premier and Canadian Reference Centre

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Selection Aids Websites

• Lookybook http//www.lookybook.com/index.php
• Book Lust http//booklust.wetpaint.com/
• Genrefluent http//www.genrefluent.com/
• Guys Read http//www.guysread.com/
• Childrens Literature Service http//www.collectio
  nscanada.gc.ca/childrenliterature/index-e.html
• Education Oasis http//www.educationoasis.com/inde
  x.htm
• Mystery Ink http//www.mysteryinkonline.com/index.
  html
• Locus Magazine http//www.locusmag.com/

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Selection Aids Blogs

• Blogs can be very useful current, dynamic and
  fun
• Personal blogs are prevalent but can be
  unreliably updated and vary in quality
• Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
• http//www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/
• Mostly NF http//mostlynf.wordpress.com/
• Pop goes Fiction http//popgoesfiction.blogspot.co
  m/
• Dewey Divas and Dudes http//www.deweydivas.blogsp
  ot.com/

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Selection Aids Bibliographies

• Found in PRLs Professional Development
  collection.
• Whats a bibliography anyway?
• Books about books.
• Subject specific usually.
• One thing to pay attention to is whether or not
  the bibliography is recommending the titles or
  simply saying whats out there in a specific
  genre.

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Selection Tools Journals

• Quill Quire (Canadian)
• Resource Links (Canadian)
• School Library Journal
• Library Journal
• Booklist
• Any library journal really
• Also newspapers, magazines, radio programmes
  etc.

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Conclusion

• Have a policy to guide you
• Make a plan to follow
• Use the resources you have
• Enjoy

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Questions?
hbuzzell_at_prl.ab.ca kgoodwillie_at_prl.ab.ca