Background Essay on Collection Development, Evaluation, and Management for Public Libraries

Huynh, A. (2004). Background Essay on Collection Development, Evaluation, and Management for Public Libraries. Current Studies in Librarianship, 28(1/2), 19–37.

Timothy Wager

Summary:
    The author surveys the history of the philosophy of collection development from the early 20th century to the beginning of the 21st, focusing on public libraries and examining seven influential monographs. Huynh points to the general shift over this 100 year period away from selecting “great” literature in an effort to educate the public to acquiring books that circulate more frequently, meeting public demand. Furthermore, she outlines the transition of library acquisition philosophy from book selection in the early 20th century (selection policies and processes derived from community assessment), through collection development in the 1960s (which includes activities like budget management, community outreach, and collection analysis), and eventually from the 1980s onward, broadening to collection management (which includes acquisition, weeding, storage, preservation, marketing, and organization). The article points out that the librarian’s role, then, has evolved from selector and keeper of books to a manager of items, information, and systems, including electronic resources.
    Huynh provides a brief history of public libraries in the US, pointing out that the Boston Public Library (the very first major public library in this country) was founded with the goal of providing an education for those people who could not afford it. Most libraries that were founded in its wake held the same principle as central to their mission, and book selection was consequently focused on choosing “great” books that would provide some form of educational uplift. As a secondary education became more readily available to the American populace, several influential mid-20th century librarians argued that a library’s purpose was not to educate, but to meet the demand of its patrons, making itself useful to the public at large. Later, by the 1970s, the philosophy of the “great” books was rejected as elitist, and so a librarian’s service to the public shifted to meeting its demands.
    Huynh broadly and briefly summarizes how libraries have traditionally worked up their collection development policies, beginning with a needs assessment of patrons; continuing with identifying resources and constraints; and developing written policies based on these factors and the driving philosophy behind the library (educating the public with “quality” resources or responding to public demand, or perhaps a combination of the two). Early collection development policies, based on selecting the best books, were time consuming and demanded that librarians know literature broadly and deeply. As policies shifted to meet public demand (and more and more books and materials were published), librarians began to rely on market-driven data provided to them by contracted services or gathered from periodicals and newspapers to make buying decisions. Earlier librarians needed to know books to fulfill selection policies; current librarians need to know their readers.
    The author then runs through each of the seven monographs’ stance on acquisition, de-selection, and evaluation, illustrating how the purported purpose of a library has always been a strong guiding principle in decision making about collection development. She concludes by noting just how much competition there is in the information marketplace, and that libraries need to define and advocate for their relevance, and collection development has a large role to play in accomplishing this goal.

Evaluation/Review:
    This is an excellent summary article, written when the author was a graduate student in a collection development course. While it may seem basic to veteran librarians, as a primer for students or new librarians, it provides a valuable introduction to the history of and philosophies behind collection development. To a degree, Huynh drives the central point — the shift from education to entertainment as the main purpose of library collections — into the ground. This point is repeated multiple times, but it is, while perhaps simplistic, interesting and applicable. Overall, she does a very good job of summarizing the publications she covers, each of which she treats as representative of an era in library history. Whether these monographs actually are representative I leave to others more versed in collection development history. While it is isn’t really an entertaining read, it is informative and well structured. This would make a great article to assign in a collection development or collection management course.