Collections Management in a Public Library

Collection Development Policy
Overview
The Jericho Library is a small branch within the Okie County Public Library, a fictional library system in the mid-West. Its organizational structure consists of the following: The library employs a branch manager, three library assistants, and four shelver/pages. The branch manager is tasked with supervising the library’s operations. The library assistants oversee the reference desk and schedule programs and events at the library. The shelver/pages retrieve materials, shelve materials, and assist in daily cleanup and maintenance of the outdoor road sign, which carries weekly announcements for the public.
The Jericho Library serves a modest community of 17,000. Its clientele consists of members of its middle-class community. Because the library is also near a tourist destination (a large lake where visitors come to ski, sail, hike, and camp during the summer months), it also caters to tourists by providing them services, access to genealogical records, computers, Internet and other materials, which they can check out with a guest library card.
Mission Statement
The mission of Jericho Library is to tend to the informational and developmental needs of the community and seasonal visitors by offering community services, specialized programming, quality materials for in-house use and for check-out, and educational support. The library’s goal is to maintain a positive relationship with the community and the seasonal guests. Through excellent staff assistance, a cultivated collection, and digital technology that many patrons require in today’s digital information age, the library is a top destination for one and all.
Community Profile
The community consists of mainly Caucasian, middle-class mid-Westerners who use the library both for informational and entertainment needs. There are several schools within the area—from primary to college—and many students come to the library for extra help with school work. There is a small minority population of Mexican-Americans who patronize the library for materials too. There is also a strong elderly population in the community.
The members of the community work for one of the major corporations in the nearby city or for one of the other organizations: there is an insurance corporation, a hospital, a plastics company, an Amazon warehouse, and a college. The unemployment rate is very low at under 2%. Still, there has been a rise in drug abuse in recent years, with an influx of heroin usage in the community. There are several church groups that are working with community advisory groups, the local police and the library to promote sobriety and accountability within the community to help stem the tide of the recent drug scourge.
Patrons Needs Assessment
Patrons’ needs have been assessed through community surveys, record keeping of what materials are circulated, comments left by patrons using comment cards available at the front desk, social media, and staff communications with patrons.
Surveys are conducted twice a year to help give the library a sense of what is in demand by patrons. Seasonal guests are also invited to make recommendations during their summer visits so that the library can be better prepared to administer to their needs while they are in town for the summer weeks and months.
Social media is a particularly effective tool that the library staff uses to gauge community interest in programs, events, and materials added to circulation. The circulation statistics themselves are also helpful tools for assessing the needs of patrons and evaluating what materials receive the most and least interest.
Digital materials are what have been assessed as being most in-demand among patrons. These include DVDs, games for Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo; music CDs, e-Books, audio books, and Internet access. The community’s elderly population has a genealogical group that frequently requests genealogical materials from the library and there is a growing need among this population to house more such materials as the group itself is growing in number and more researchers are interested in establishing their families’ genealogies. Seasonal guests have shown that they are interested in regional information—books, guides, maps, history, and tourist info regarding the county and the state. Students have requested more access to computer technology, software, digital materials and Internet usage.
Goals
The goals for the Jericho Library’s collection are to maintain a high-standard level of materials that are both useful and in-demand among members of the community and the seasonal guests who frequent the library during the summer months.
By subject area
· Entertainment – The library’s entertainment area is already quite robust with a very healthy selection of DVDs, CDs, video games, audio books, e-Books, and Internet access. However, during the summer months there is an even greater need for these materials and it is necessary to add to the collection to ensure patrons are content.
· Regional History/Tourism – The library’s goal is to add more updated maps, current guides and history on the region to its collection.
· Genealogy – The goal for this subject is to increase its collection of genealogical materials by 2x its current size to accommodate the needs of the genealogical group in the community. This collection will utilize microfilm and microfiche to accomplish this goal.
· Education – There is a need among students for more access to computers and digital information, so the library will increase its computer space by 1.5x to meet the growing need for access to educational materials used via digital technology.
By format
· Online databases – These will be offered via an expansionary program to grant users access to more collections not available in print or in-house at the library. This will accommodate the needs of students and researchers.
· Digital materials – Movies, games and audio discs are in high demand throughout the year and the library recognizes the need to expand its collection of these materials. It will grow the collection by 2x over the coming two years.
Selection Process
Who selects?
A selection committee is utilized in Jericho Library and is headed by the library’s manager, who has final say in all selections. However, the manager receives substantial input from the library assistants who are tasked with making recommendations for materials based on circulation, requests, surveys and comments. The manager is also in touch with the Main Library in the city to expand online database access.
How are materials selected?
Material is selected to be part of the collection based on date of publication, popularity of the author/producer, utility of the material and whether it meets the demand among patrons (i.e., tour guides for the region are in demand and a variety of them should be made available). New content is continuously sought for digital materials collections and for students. Library assistants are tasked with cultivating a list of items to be selected and the reason for the item’s selection. This list is then given to the manager, who makes the final decision based on budgetary concerns, what other libraries are holding in the county, whether the item will have a large circulation, or whether the item should be obtained in digital as opposed to hard copy format. The manager works with the library assistants in cultivating this list and gives the assistants budgetary criteria to follow.
Miscellaneous Issues
Gifts
Donations to the library are welcomed but are not always kept with the library’s collection. Based on the age of the materials donated and their relevancy within the library’s overall purpose towards the community, they may be kept or sold at the ongoing library book sale which is always open in the library’s lobby, where books for sale are shelved.
Monetary donations are accepted and placed in the library’s fund for purchasing of new materials. Accounting records are kept and donors are apprised of how their donations were spent accordingly, which conforms with sound librarianship as described by Evans and Saporano (2012). By promoting transparency and trust, the library builds effective relationships with the public in this manner.
De-selection and Discards
The method of weeding described by Johnson (2014) is the one used by Jericho Library: it uses objective and subjective criteria for its weeding process. This method is described in more detail in the “Evaluation” section of this report.
Discards are sold in the library’s used book section. If the public does not purchase the books within a month’s time, the books are sent to the county library’s main used book collection warehouse. Discards are kept there for open hour sales throughout the week and a large bi-annual sale. If they are not sold, they are destroyed after 6 months time.
Evaluation
Evaluation of the collection is conducted every quarter and is performed by the library assistants as well as the branch manager who oversees evaluation. Shelver/pages pull de-selected material and re-stock material that is selected for keeping. The assistants and the branch manager adhere to the following criteria when de-selecting:
The objective method used for evaluating materials for de-selection is based on the age and circulation of the material and is called the CREW method. CREW stands for “Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding” (Johnson, 2014, p. 156). Johnson (2014) states that “the CREW method applies objective and subjective criteria in the evaluation of materials. The two main objective factors are the age of the materials and circulation or use. The CREW method uses another acronym, MUSTIE, to describe the subjective criteria” (p. 156). As Larson (2008) adds, a library must also take both a broad and long-range view when attempting to evaluate materials. Questions that might be asked include: What is best for the long-range plan of the library and the ultimate needs of the community in the coming years?
The subjective method that the library employs for evaluating materials is MUSTIE. This acronym stands for: Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, Irrelevant, and Elsewhere. These qualities can be used to determine whether a book should be kept or weeded. The qualities are defined as:
· Misleading = the book contains incorrect information about a subject.
· Ugly = the book itself is physically unattractive, whether because of binding issues, tears, markings or wear
· Superseded = the book is out of date and can be replaced by a newer edition or by a book that is more popular
· Trivial = the book has no scientific or literary merit and the public has no or little interest in it
· Irrelevant = the book has nothing to do with the needs or wants of the library’s community
· Elsewhere = the book can easily be gotten elsewhere (another library) and need not be kept at the library
Resources to guide selection will also be used so that assistants and the manager are aware of how to effectively evaluate materials. An annotated bibliography is appended to this report and provides a brief examination of sources that are helpful for the evaluation process.
The resource sharing plan of the library will be formulated in conjunction with Okie County Main Library which oversees all resource sharing procedures and policies. This arrangement is set so as to facilitate effective management of resources due to limited storage space of all branch libraries. Coordination efforts are conducted monthly at the Main Library among all branch managers during a two-hour meeting.
Censorship Issues
Censorship issues are addressed by the branch manager who oversees all issues regarding books that might be viewed as scandalous to the public. Books that are deemed improper according to politically correct standards accepted by academic communities across the nation are not kept in the in-house collection, though they may be acquired through online digital databases for patrons who wish to gain access to them or through ordering the book from the Main Library’s collection. In this manner, controversial titles are not kept in-house in the library but the library does enable patrons to obtain them through online databases if desired. This helps free up space in the library for more digitally-formatted materials but it also enables the library to adhere to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights—particularly to numbers I, II, III, and IV:
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
(Library Bill of Rights, 1996).
The library is also committed to housing as many of the classics as possible, given the community’s needs and the circulation of these materials. However, as Alabaster (2010) notes, “The dispute concerning the necessity of stocking classics in today’s libraries is only a prelude to heated discussions about what constitutes a classic” (p. 11). There is an obvious point at which it is necessary to decide whether a “classic” is still considered as such or whether society has changed its view on it; there is also the realization that many classics can be stored digitally and accessed via an online database, which is a very helpful method of providing access while freeing up in-house space.
Complaints
Complaints are handled by having patrons fill out a “Request for Reconsideration” form that is available at the front desk. This form is provided to patrons who feel that a certain material does not meet the standards or values of the community. The form allows the patron to make a case for why the material should be removed from the library. It enables the library patron to have voice in how the library attends to the needs of the community while also giving the collections manager an understanding of what those needs are and how they can best be met. While the library adheres to the Library Bill of Rights in its entirety, it also strives to recognize the needs of the community and to support the values of that community. Thus, if a form is completed that makes a compelling case for why a material should be removed from the library, it will be considered by the management. The material may still be provided via access to an online database.
Patrons are also informed by a sign at the front desk that the library supports the principle of Intellectual Freedom as defined by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Intellectual Freedom, 2013).
Copyright
Jericho Library supports and follows U.S. Copyright Law. It also adheres to the guidelines of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and is a “fair use” provider.
Conclusion
Jericho Library is dedicated to serving the members of Okie County and its immediate community in Jericho. It continuously assesses the needs of the community and listens to all recommendations, both from year-round patrons as well as seasonal patrons who come to enjoy the holiday weeks and months at the nearby tourist attraction, Okie Lake.
The collections of Jericho Library are cultivated in response to the needs of the community. The library focuses on providing the community with sufficient educational materials in a variety of formats, entertainment materials, the latest in digital reading, playing, watching and listening; it offers access to computer technology, software, the Internet and online databases. It hosts programs and events for members of the community, such as genealogical sessions and educational seminars as well as tour guide groups during the summer months.
The library also listens to the recommendations of its patrons and while it strives to be a progressive branch and one committed to learning and combating censorship, it also appreciates the desires of the community to provide wholesome material in-house so that the library is a “family-oriented” place where people of all ages are welcome and invited all year long.

References
Alabaster, C. (2010). Developing an outstanding core collection: A guide for libraries.
Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
Evans, G.E., & Saponaro, M.Z. (2012). Collection management basics. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Intellectual Freedom. (2013). American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom
Johnson, P. (2014). The fundamentals of collection development and management.
Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
Larson, J. (2008). CREW: A weeding manual for modern libraries. TSL. Retrieved
from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod08.pdf
Library Bill of Rights. (1996). American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

Appendix A
Annotated Bibliography
ALA Library Fact Sheet 15 - Weeding Library Collections: A Selected Annotated
Bibliography for Library Collection Evaluation. (n.d.). American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet15
This list provides librarians with a good reference for how to select and de-select materials in a collection. It focuses on developing the collection and on how to use different evaluation methods.
Alabaster, C. (2010). Developing an outstanding core collection: A guide for libraries.
Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
This source provides useful information for librarians about how to cultivate a core collection. It is comprehensive and insightful and can be used as a good guide for making decisions about the overall aim of the library with respect to its collection.
Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries IG. (n.d.). ALCTS.
Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alcts/mgrps/cms/grps/ats-cmdchi
This site compiles various collection development and management techniques for librarians to use.
Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries IG. (n.d.). ALCTS.
Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alcts/mgrps/cms/grps/ats-cmdcolldev
This site provides information on collection development. It is interactive and enables librarians to confer with one another, share tips, and share information about helpful tools and techniques.
Collection Management and Development in Public Libraries IG. (n.d.). ALCTS.
Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alcts/mgrps/cms/grps/ats-cmddgcodes
This source is helpful in bringing selection, collection development, and collection management in public libraries issues together in one place. 
Collection Development Issues for the Practitioner IG. (n.d.). ALCTS. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/alcts/mgrps/cms/grps/ats-cmdcolldevp
This source is helpful in identifying the ways in which change in the development and management of collections is seen today. It provides information on how to address these forces.  
Helpful Hints for Small Map Collections. (n.d.). ALA. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/rt/magirt/publicationsab/electronicpubs/larsg
This source is helpful for providing information on how to cultivate a small maps collection, which is important for any library with regional interests that visitors would like to find.
RUSA Guidelines for Establishing Local History Collections. (n.d.). RUSA. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/rusa/resources/guidelines/guidelinesestablishing
This guide provides information on how to cultivate a local history collection. It offers links and references and other sources that can be used by a librarian to help guide the process and make effective decisions.

Appendix B
Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form

Jericho Library – a branch of Okie County Public Library

Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form

Title of Material:
Author/Producer:
Format:
Copyright Date:
Call Number:
Requestor:
Address:

Phone: ______________________ May we contact you? Yes
Email: ______________________ No
If yes, preferred method of contact: ___________

Best times that it might be appropriate to contact you: ____________________________

1. What is the reason you would like this material reconsidered?




2. How did you become aware of this material and what was your reason for selecting it?



3. What action would you like the library take with regards to this material?

Signature: Date
This form was accepted by [name of librarian]: