What to Think About When Managing a Collection

 Kami Whitlock

Preschel Kalan, A. (2014). The practical librarian's guide to collection development. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2014/05/20/the-practical-librarians-guide-to-collection-development/

 

Preschel shares her thought process while weeding and purchasing books. She first talks about the importance of knowing the library’s user population. She then shares her thought process while weeding. She suggests establishing priorities, checking statistics, examining the physical condition of books, and keeping guides current. She also shares tips for materials on different subjects. One take away from the article is to think of this process as ongoing. She is weeding and purchasing books as much as she can throughout the whole year. This gives her a chance to add additional copies of books that are in high demand and adapt frequently to users needs. To be successful in this, she must be very aware of her budget.

 

This article is meaningful for librarians who are new to collection development. Although the information in this article is brief, the points she suggests to think about are meaningful and useful. She gives practical examples and explainations of what to look for while making weeding and purchasing decisions.