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. 

Collection Development in Public Libraries; Collection Development Plans

Citation:

Buck, T. H., Headley, S., and Schor, A. (2008). Collection development 
in public libraries.  The Serials Librarian, 50(3-4), 253-257. Retrieved 
from https://doi.org/10.1300/J123v50n03_08

Summary: 

This article focuses on the periodical collection in the Public Library 
of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCHC). The periodical collection 
attracts many students and business people, and it includes magazines and 
newspapers, but the scope of the paper focuses on multiple groups that 
would benefit from the collection. The article also covers budgets and 
weeding projects, which served as a great frame of reference when studying 
the children's collection at my public library. I like that this article shared its 
budget for this collection and explained the plans they undertook when there 
were budget cuts and a lack of budget statistics. It was difficult to understand 
the budget for my library since reports focus on the county system, but an article 
like this puts things in perspective.

Citation: 

Abercrombie, S. (2018). Why do you need a collection development plan? [Blog Post].  

Journal of the American Association of School Librarians. Retrieved from 

https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/why-do-you-need-a-collection-development-plan/

Summary:

This blog post describes why it is necessary for school librarians to draft a collection 
development plan while covering essential topics such as budgets, weeding projects, 
and reconsideration policies. This article serves as a template to get teacher librarians 
or any librarian to start thinking about their collection. Are materials relevant to current 
generations? How do you select unwanted materials? And how do you respond to 
censorship? This article has great tips that can guide librarians into selecting the right 
materials for their patrons and transforming their collection to attract larger audiences.

The Evolution of Library Collections and Collecting

LoBasso-Spencer, Jasmin

Dempsey, L., Malpas, C., & Lavoie, B. (2014). The evolution of library collections and collecting. Portal: Libraries and the Academy 14(3), 393-423.

Summary:
This article is focused on the broad overview of practices concerning collection development. The article asserts that as the world changes, there will be changes in the management of library collections, specifically changes in focus, boundaries, and values. Specific models are highlighted including the network context, the evolving scholarly record, the collections grid, the inside-out collection, managed share print, and sourcing and scaling. In reference to "the network context," there are three major trends highlighted for this aspect of the article: transaction costs and system-wide reorganization, data-driven environment, and the change of researching and learning behaviors. In reference to "the changing scholarly record," conscious stewardship is highlighted and that different libraries will have different goals. In reference to "the collection grid," which focuses on resources that are applied to two values, uniqueness and scarcity, within a grid system (upper left of published materials, purchased and licensed; bottom left of special collections; bottom right of institutional research, learning, and profile materials; and upper right of the open web). In reference to "the inside-out collection," which highlights materials unique to an institution. In reference to "managed share print," which highlights shared resources as print collections are pared down. In reference to "sourcing and scaling," which also extrapolates on the concept of sharing through for example, consortiums. The overall point of the article was to highlight the trends in collection development, brought forth by the changing of academic libraries in general.

Evaluation:
Overall, I found the article to be confusing. Much of the terms and the way they were used was very odd; it also felt like the authors were throwing out a lot of random terms to extrapolate on each element of the article. It was clear to me that you had to have some knowledge of the topic to interpret the article. Therefore, it's possible that my confusion more had to do with me still being introduced to the concept of collection development. The article came from an academic viewpoint, which I know, as compared to a public library, has often taken on the role of archiving and saving a vast majority of knowledge. Therefore, I did find it interesting that some of the highlighted trends in the article are similar to the same trends being seen in public libraries (for instance, locally curated content and shared resources). Clearly, the nature of libraries are changing, since digital archives and websites have allowed a lot of the knowledge that was held sacred in a library, to be available instantly to all.

Various Articles!

Citation:

Chase, A., & Barnes, E. (2014). The Road Oft Traveled: Collection Analysis and Development in a Modern Academic Law Library. Collection Management, 39(2-3), 196-210.

Sinder, J. (2016). The effects of demand-driven acquisitions on law library collection development. Law Library Journal,108(2), 155-180.

Street, Leslie A., & Runyon, Amanda M. (2010). Finding the middle ground in collection development: How academic law libraries can shape their collections in response to the call for more practice-oriented legal education. Law Library Journal, 102(3), 399-439.

Summary:

The first article I read “The Road Oft Traveled: Collection Analysis and Development in a Modern Academic Law Library” talked about the current shift in print materials to digital. They talk about the lack of demand in their law library of print materials. In law library they have not notices a significant shift in patrons not demanding print materials they are still heavily requested. At their library they used the input of non-librarian staff which I agree because we also work closely with the public and can offer valuable input.

The second article I read was titled “The effects of demand-driven acquisitions on law library collection development” in this article the author talks about patron driven acquisitions which is a new term to me but I found it very interesting and useful. In this model of collection development, instead of purchasing materials and then adding records for them to the online catalog, a library adds records for certain items without purchasing them. Payment occurs only if and when the item is used. (Sinder, 2016) For my last presentation I suggested my library cut the foreign law gazettes because for years no patron has ever asked to use these and they are expensive and time consuming to process.

 The following article was also on academic law libraries “Finding the Middle Ground in Collection Development: How Academic Law Libraries Can Shape Their Collections in Response to the Call for More Practice-Oriented Legal Education.” In this article the author talks about the struggles with budget and the new trends in technologies for law library materials. She mentions the growing reliance on electronic materials. She talks about the importance of secondary sources of law as they are practice oriented and useful for students in their future practice.

Ditching Dewey: Genrefying Your ibrary

Citation: 
Whitehead, T., & Robusek, D. (2016, June 23). Ditching Dewey: Genrefication in your ibrary. Retrieved from https://www.follettlearning.com/about-us/find-an-event/ditching-dewey-genrefication-in-your-library

Summary:
This is an hour and fifteen minute webinar put out by Follett. You have to register for it, but it is free to watch and it loads immediately. The video is moderated by the Follett Community Manager, but features Tiffany Whitehead (sort of the guru of genrefying) and Don Robusek who is the Director of Library Solutions at Follett. The video starts with Whitehead talking about the process that she has gone through to genrefy two libraries. She first completed this at a middle school several years and ago and just recently moved to a private high school and is in the middle of going through the same process. She outlines her process from weeding to categorizing to updating records in Destiny. She includes a number of images and visuals that make it easy to follow and seem far less overwhelming than I had initially anticipated. Robusek does the latter half of the webinar and explains ways that Follett is currently supporting genrefication as well as changes that are coming in hopes of further supporting this process. The webinar ends with a number of questions from the Follett community--these are answered by both Whitehead and Robusek.

Evaluation:
This was definitely enlightening. During one of the classes, my group began talking about this idea of genrefication. I had heard of it and thought about it, but listening to one of my classmates who had done it was really helpful. She directed me to Tiffany Whitehead and this webinar did not disappoint. Whitehead not only gives a lot of information on how to go through this process, but she supports doing it with data and statistics. Her "why?" was completely student and staff focused. She talked about how circulation has gone up significantly (more than doubled) and how it has impacted her interaction with both students and staff. Students and staff both love it and it has made the relationship with both better and freed her up to spend more time cultivating relationships and teaching rather than just helping people find books. It was also interesting to hear how Follett is currently (2016) supporting genrefication and the changes that they hope to make. I need to do more research about what has actually been implemented, but as of two years ago, Follett was trying to set up Destiny so that schools could more easily make this transition. In addition, they were willing to send out teams of trained professionals to work with teacher librarians to implement this in their own libraries. If you've ever thought about genrefying, this is definitely something to watch.

eBooks and Digital Collections for the High School Library.

Sanborn, L. (2014). eBooks and digital collections for the high school library. School Library Monthly, 30(6), 14–18. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=97266167&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Sanborn wrote an update to the 2011 eBooks and Digital Collections guide that was published in School Library Monthly. Her suggestions reflect the shift from eBooks to eContent, including distinctions between scholarly eContent, eReference and eFiction. She gives recommendations and estimated price ranges (from 2014) for each suggestion.

I found many of her suggestions very useful, especially suggestions for streaming of video content. Managing our movie collection has become a challenge as we have DVDs, but none of our teachers have CD drives in their computers anymore.

2.5 Million Teens

Rickman, W. (2015). 2.5 Million Teens. Knowledge Quest, 43(5), 22–27. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=102556292&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Rickman surveyed Arkansas school librarians about LGBTQQ issues in collection development. Although her response level was very low (37 out of 700), Rickman concluded that there is a "lack of resources available for the LGBTQQ student population in the state and an acknowledgment of the need for resources."

Although there are a few major limitations to the study, I agree with Rickman's assessment and also appreciated the list of resources for finding quality material for LGBTQQ students.