Collection Development & Community Expectations: Managing Collections and Balancing Resources in an Era of Budgetary Restraints

On the opening day of the American Library Association
in Chicago, a panel of librarians from public and academic libraries discussed measures they have taken to stay within their budgets for acquiring library materials. Rick Anderson of the University of Utah began by suggesting it helps to understand the internal and external forces constraining collection building, including funds, staff time, library space, library policies, and community expectations. The last is hardest to gauge. Should libraries chose to purchase everything that members in their communities desire or should they try to get only materials that will be popular with a predetermined minimum number of library members? What holds enough value (hard to measure) to justify cost (easier to measure)?

Stephanie Chase of the Seattle Public Library continued, telling about how libraries manage in periods of short budgets. To make up for not having as many new titles as readers would like, she emphasized marketing the available collection, especially titles that were little-read when new. Having strong, effective readers’ advisory service can connect members with these less recent books and relieve pressure for new titles. In lean times, she also suggested limiting the number of holds members can make, which makes them make choices similar to those the library has to make and shortens reserve lists that trigger purchasing of additional copies. She thought it a mistake to buy bestsellers disproportionately in lean times.

Chase also thought weeding must continue in lean times. Shelves in popular reading collections need to look fresh to attract readers; removing worn, battered volumes is especially helpful. At her libraries, circulation statistics have shown borrowing up in weeded areas even without significant new purchasing.

Michael Santangelo of the Brooklyn Public Library compared managing an electronic material collection in lean times to reality TV. If a database does not get the votes (visits or document downloads), it is this week’s cut. And there is always someone sad at the passing of a databases out of the collection. How to count the votes is the challenge, as every vendor reports different measures. The librarian’s task is to determine which databases have really provided the most service (not visits or searches) and which combinations of databases cover topics essential to members’ needs.

Santangelo issued several warnings. 1) Consortium purchases save money but they also introduce instability into the collection as groups may change vendors every year looking for better deals. 2) Ebook subscription plans may highlight highly popular materials but they also drag along materials of little interest. Study costs carefully before taking a package deal. 3) Having multiple platforms to provide ebooks from various vendors confuses readers and librarians. 4) Loyalty to vendors can stabilize an online collection and sometimes win discounts but do not go so far as to sign onto new databases just because a favored vendor recommends them.

Weeding Biographies and Memoirs from the Library to a Tune from the Mikado

As some day it must happen that some books must be withdrawn
I've got a little list - I've got a little list
Of dreary, old, and tattered books that might well cause us to yawn
And that never would be missed - they never would be missed!

There are pestilential memoirs from loud politicos
Their long and suspect narratives will surely make you doze
And tales by business gurus who sail around in yachts
And adolescent rock stars who now have been forgot
And all the friends of friends who say they saw the starlet kissed
Their books would not be missed - they'd none of them be missed

(chorus)
He's got 'em on the list - he's got 'em on the list
And they'll none of 'em be missed - they'll none of 'em be missed

And there are Watergate conspirators who've enjoyed their prison times
And the lawyers who tried O.J. for his assorted crimes
There are television comedians who shows all got the ax
And haute cuisine chefs who now sell frozen snacks
Add long-haired bearded wrestlers to this distinguished list
Their books would not missed - they never would be missed

(chorus)
He's got 'em on the list - he's got 'em on the list
And we don't think they will be missed - we're sure they'll not be missed

And there are unauthorized biographies that now have grown quite stale
Kitty Kelley comes to mind - I've got her on the list
And tales about baseball players who should have gone straight to jail
These books are on the list - and they never will be missed
Annoying people, too - Rosie O'Donnell - Dennis Rodman - Jesse Ventura - and many more
Their times have all flit - now their books just sit - they'll none of 'em be missed

(chorus)
You may put 'em on the list - you may put 'em on the list
And they'll none of 'em be missed - they'll none of 'em be missed!

Advice for the Reluctant Weeder

I have always enjoyed weeding library collections because they always look so much better after the work is done. Tattered volumes disappear and there is room to shelve more books. Even more important, out of date materials are gone. Some librarians (I have known some) really hate to part with books. "Just think how the author would feel to know they were being weeded!" Now that I am an author that sort of resonates, but I still realize that the work has to be done.

Diane J. Young now has an article in Library Journal to help the reluctant weeder. Click here.

Awful Library Books

Ulotrichous twitted. Librarian.net noticed. I am re-blogging.

Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner, two librarians from Michigan, have a crusade to get public libraries in their state to weed. They have a blog Awful Library Books, which shows books that should have been removed from collections long ago. They are kind and do not reveal the libraries at which they find these "gems." Take a look. You may both laugh and cringe.

The Weeding of Compassionate Conservatism

Nancy at my library recently left a couple of dozen books about politics and government on the weeding cart for us to consider. Among the many that it was easy to withdraw from our collection because they were obviously dated and no longer being read was Compassionate Conservatism by Marvin Olasky with a foreward by George W. Bush. I remembered this as a book that was hot during the 2000 presidential campaign. It was reported that it contained the principles that guided Mr. Bush as governor of Texas and that he would use as president if elected. According to Nancy's notes, the book, which we acquired in 2000, was not borrowed from our library until 2003 and had not been borrowed ever again. So, it had just one circ in seven years. It should be easy to withdraw based on local non-performance.

However, I hesitated to dump it. Wasn't it supposed to be an important book in our continuing political debate? Was it a fluke that it did so poorly at my library?

I checked the records on the SWAN database, which is shared by almost eighty libraries. Eleven libraries currently own the book. I have no way of knowing if others have already withdrawn it. Of the eleven copies, two have been borrowed in 2007 and one went out in 2006. Our is next in line as most recently borrowed. The other seven have not been out since 2000, 2001, or 2002. Only one copy, the one held by the largest library of the eleven, has as many as eleven circs. Most have four or fewer circs. Most of the larger libraries in our system do not currently own the book. I suspect these libraries have already tossed it. It seems it would be easy to do likewise.

I love to weed books, but still, I hesitated. I wondered whether I would be throwing out an important bit of history if I weeded the book. On the other hand, I feared I would just be cluttering the shelves with another dead book if I kept it.

I started to actually read the book and my answer became obvious. Compassionate Conservatism is really just a follow up to The Tragedy of American Compassion by Olasky, which was published in 1992. The Tragedy of American Compassion is the book that had the endorsement of conservative politicians. Compassionate Conservatism reports on Olasky's visits to states and cities where the principles were being applied in the late 1990s. It seems incidental and includes what are now old statistics in need of being revised.

There are still ten more copies of this book in the system should we need it.

We are freeing seven eighths of an inch on our shelves.

America in Bloom: Great American Gardens Open to the Public

Maybe I'm slipping into sentimentality. As I find old books that are candidates for weeding, I keep wanting to save them instead of removing them from the collection. Well, not all of them, as I do get satisfaction from weeding out ratty and out-of-date items, but when I find a nice condition book with timeless content, I want to put it into the path of an appreciative reader - who might actually be me.

Today I found America in Bloom: Great American Gardens Open to the Public with photos by Murray Alcosser. Though it was published by Rizzoli in 1991, I suspect the gardens all still exist. I would not rely on the phone numbers in the back of the book, but I look at the gorgeous color photos with longing to take a cross country trip. Thirty-eight gardens are featured, of which four are in the Chicago area. Most of the gardens are on the west or east coasts. With little text, readers mostly learn that the gardens exist and see how glorious they are, but that is the point of this coffee table book. For that purpose, the book still works. I will save it for another weeding day.

America in Bloom: Great American Gardens Open to the Public. New York: Rizzoli, 1991. ISBN 084781326.