“Collection Development” is a broad term that covers anything a librarian does in regards to the books and other materials owned by the library. This can mean choosing new materials (selection), getting rid of old materials (weeding), fixing damaged materials (maintenance), and promoting materials (through displays, booktalks, programming, etc.).
So I have a lot of options as far as what I can do for my Collection Development learning objective. Here are some of things Pamela and I are thinking about:
- Weeding old/damaged books from the children’s collection. This is a constant task for any librarian and since Ballard has a lot more items than the shelves were meant to hold, it’s important right now. Weeding can be difficult even if you’re systematic about it, though, because at any given time roughly 30% of the collection is checked out. It can also be difficult for emotional book lovers who can’t help but think, “Oh I love this book! I can’t weed it!” Pamela suggested that the weeder should ask themselves, “Would I want to offer this book to a child to take home?” If the answer is no, then it should probably be let go. I was taught in LIS 522 that every library should have a clear weeding policy (as part of a Collection Development Policy). SPL’s policies are pretty general, so when weeding librarians rely on their professional judgment (as opposed to, say, a list of criteria).
- Sprucing up the Holiday collection. Ballard’s collection of holiday books is in mild disarray–nothing terrible, but with a little work we could make it easier for shelvers to reshelve the books in the right places and make it easier to patrons to find what they’re looking for. Pamela has some identifying stickers to work with, and I’ve already done some work on this.
- Outreach to local elementary schools. This is part of promoting the collection. The idea is to go out to the public school during the spring to encourage kids to take part in the library’s Summer Reading Program. Hopefully, this will lead to more kids coming to check out books at the library over the summer (and raising general library awareness, too).
