How the Collection is Managed and Maintained

Having purchased new items for the Library, librarians do not then rest with their feet up on their desks, content with a job well done.  The collection of the Poudre River Public Library holds 405,000 items District-wide.  And each year, 48,000 to 50,000 items are both added to and withdrawn from the collection.  Librarians call this a zero growth collection, made necessary largely by limitations of both budget and space.

However, the 405,000 collection must be managed and maintained.  With over 133,000 borrowers and with 48,000 to 50,000 new items coming in and out, the collection has to be continually analyzed and evaluated.  One approach is to look at circulation figures to see whether the collection devoted to a particular area of interest (e.g., gardening or a certain popular author) needs to be expanded or reduced.  Another way is to analyze the collection in terms of such criteria as whether the item is out of date and/or superseded by a new edition, is no longer relevant or is available from another source, like the Prospector inter-library loan system.

Weeding, which is essential in keeping the collection up-to-date (as well as making space available for new materials), is an on-going process, keeping librarians in the Collections Department occupied much of the time.  A collection cannot remain static and continue to be useful and relevant to the needs of its users.

Of the materials that are weeded out, the Friends of the Library gets a first look to choose what they feel are appropriate for their three giant used book sales a year.  The rest is then recycled.  The library pays a recycling firm $35 per pick up, but this cost  is offset by book sales conducted by the recycling company.  Finally, there is just simply trash; not everything can be recycled and badly damaged materials end up in the trash recycling.

Floating Collection

The management of the collection also means that newly purchased items are distributed equitably across the three facilities, with some exceptions in meeting particular demands.  But, you might say, why is it that when I want a particular book, I see that all copies of that book are at Council Tree Library, for example.  Contrary to what you may think, it is not because librarians decided to favor Council Tree over the other two branches with a popular title.

When a patron takes out a book (or other materials) at the Old Town branch and returns it at Council Tree, that book stays at Council Tree until someone borrows it and returns it to Old Town. In other words, sometimes several copies of a book may actually be either “resting” at Council Tree or circulating through another branch.  Soon it makes its way back to Old Town or Harmony, usually by a patron’s use of “Hold.”

The floating collection model is a decision based on budgetary concerns that also makes it easier for patrons to return books and other library items to a branch or dropbox most convenient for them. Particularly in times of tightening budgets the reason for the “floating collection” is simple: the Library has saved over $30,000 annually by reducing couriers to transfer materials from branch to branch. In cost-benefit terms, it is a reasonable decision.

Library books and other materials may look as though they are just sitting on the shelves waiting for someone to come by and borrow them, but actually the collection is very dynamic, constantly being looked at and evaluated by the staff, added to or withdrawn as needs come and go.  The staff not only helps patrons face-to-face out front but works behind the scenes to make Poudre River Public Library District what it is – a collection responsive to user needs, current and future.

The staff welcomes suggestions and comments from users of the Library – feedback is an important part of how librarians successfully manage and maintain a useful and relevant library collection.

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And here’s a quote from an early supporter of the public library:

“I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county, to consist of a few well-chosen books, to be lent to the people of the county under regulations as would secure their safe return in due time.”

Thomas Jefferson, 1809

Happy Reading!

Have you ever wondered how the Poudre River Public Library selects books and other materials for purchase?  How do the librarians know what the public wants or needs?  How do they keep the collection up-to-date and relevant to current interests of the community?  Clearly, the collection, which includes not only books but periodicals, reference materials, electronic databases, DVDs and audio books, among many other items, is the foundation of any public library.  What role do the librarians play in all this?

We see librarians out front answering questions and being helpful in finding materials we need, but much of the work of maintaining a good collection goes on behind the scenes.

Librarians are faced with making choices for their library collection out of an almost unlimited number of items.  How do they do it?  Tova Aragon, Collections Manager for Poudre River Public Library District, says, “Our job is to anticipate demand, add depth to the collection by reading reviews in professional journals and responding to suggestions from patrons.”

Aragon has two full-time staff to help with the selection process:  Marian Sawyer, who is in charge of Children’s Collection Development, and Becky Sheller, who is responsible for Adult Collection Development.  In addition, other librarians on the staff, with specialized interests, select books in their area of expertise on a part-time basis. These areas include: Spanish, Juvenile and Adult books and movies, Teen materials, Business/job materials, Romance paperbacks and Music CDs.

Selection of Library Materials

Basically, librarians follow three basic steps in choosing materials for the library collection:

• Anticipate demand:  if we take books as an example, the goal is to have a particular book on order by the time it is reviewed in the New York Times or an author is interviewed on TV.  The librarian gets pre-publication alerts from professional journals like Publishers Weekly or the Library Journal and from the library’s vendors.
• Read professional reviews:  All librarians involved in the selection process rely on reviews from professional journals.  Forty percent of Adult fiction is selected based on reviews; 65-70% of Children’s books is review-based.  Teen and Business selection is also driven by reviews. The librarians believe this adds depth and flavor to the collection.
• Suggestions from patrons:  The Library receives about 70 to 80 suggestions from patrons each week.  Each suggestion is reviewed and forwarded to the appropriate librarian selector, who then decides whether or not to purchase, based on the collection development policy and collection needs. On average, 60% of suggestions from patrons are selected.

Aragon emphasized that librarians do not rigidly follow these steps in selecting library items.  The selection process relies not only on professional reviews and knowledge about a variety of other resources but also on the librarian’s own judgment, based on her/his professional training, breadth of personal familiarity with books and other materials and an awareness of the diverse needs and interests of the community.

Next post will be about how the collection is managed and maintained…

Happy Reading!