How public librarians actually build collections

 Maklynn St. Clare, INFO 266

Gooding-Call, A. (2020, February 24). Public library collection development secrets, revealed: Behold the mystery of public library collection development. Book Riot. https://bookriot.com/public-library-collection-development/

Summary: Anna Gooding-Call explains how public librarians actually build collections. She shows that librarians can’t just follow their personal tastes or ideas of “quality,” because that would set dangerous precedents and exclude viewpoints when staff changes. Instead, they balance demand, circulation data, space limits, and community needs, often relying on professional review sources. Gooding-Call argues that public libraries must prioritize relevance, diversity, and use over stocking every “classic,” and that donations are usually handled according to policy rather than simply added to shelves.

Evaluation: The author made some good points about unknown considerations that librarians should keep in mind, rather than making random choices in collection development. The article was easy to understand and thought-provoking.

Tags: collection development, librarians, libraries, circulation data, community, diversity, donations, funding 

 

Alternative Funding for Public Libraries: Trends, Sources, and the Heated Arguments that Surround It

Macchio, Erica

Citation:

Agosto, D. (2008). Alternative Funding for Public Libraries: Trends, Sources, and the Heated Arguments that Surround It Academic Librarianship 31, 115-140.

Summary:

This article is about how libraries should consider alternative funding to help fund their programs and supplement their budgets.  Both sides of the argument are provided and I think that this is a good topic that most libraries are guaranteed to cross.  Budgets are no longer funding all the materials that a library needs to survive.  The price of books and databases have gone up and this will force librarians and their boards to consider what they can do without.  When they go without, the whole community suffers. 

Evaluation:

I think that this is a good article and that the topic is important to the library world.  It provides us with a topic that all libraries are facing or will be facing at some point in its existence.