Unconventional Collection Development

KLA 2010Mickey Coalwell

Northeast Kansas Library SystemApril 7, 2010

What’s wrong with “conventional” CD?

It’s haphazardIt’s subject to librarian biasIt’s based on outmoded assumptionsIt’s not patron-centeredIt’s not cost-effective

1. Let ILL be your beacon

Buying instead of borrowing aka On Demand Collection Development

The goals with a “buy, don’t borrow” CD policy are

(1) filling a patron’s need for high-demand material quickly

(2) adding a potentially high-use title to the collection

2. Supercharge donations

Put up a specific “want list” on your library web site

Put up WANTED posters in our library describing your specific CD need, e.g., WANTED: CHILDREN’S BOARD BOOKS IN GREAT CONDITION

Give regular donors a “shopping list” of desirable materials

3. Buy multiple copies

Funnel your collection budget dollars into things your patrons want

Instead of one copy of a bestseller, DVD or other high-demand item, buy 2 or 3 copies, even if it means foregoing a new poetry collection, a new cookbook, or a dictionary

3. Buy multiple copies

Baker & Taylor’s Booking AheadLibrary Journal reviewsBWI TitleTalesMidwest Tape

4. Eliminate non-fiction and reference

It’s NOT better to have “something” on a topic than it is to have nothing.

For reference and many non-fiction topics, online resources are almost always more current, accessible and appropriate than printed text materials

5. Go digital

Digital content doesn’t take up space, it doesn’t get damaged or ruined by use, and it is often cost-effective.

Overdrive is a model for digital content access that all Kansas libraries are familiar with. Computers are the best way to employ digital content, but e-readers, MP3 players and iphones are fast-growing interfaces for digital content.

5. Go digital

E-books are available from library vendors like Ingram

6. Streamline processing

All library vendors like Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and Brodart offer a processing option that saves you staff time and money. It speeds up access to your most popular items, and it frees up time for you to do other things

7. Invite Suggestions

CD by purchase suggestion is the most democratic and fair way to allocate your dollars. If you are doing nothing but filling your patrons’ purchase suggestions, you are improving your collection immensely by targeting items of interest to at least one user, and finding holes in your current collection. Whether you use a paper form, or let your library catalog or web site keep track of purchase suggestions, this is one of the very best ways to improve your Collection Development practices because it leads to immediate and highly personalized customer satisfaction.

7. Invite Suggestions

Managing suggestions in the Koha ILS

Start small, think BIG

Implement one or two of these techniques right away

Set some goals for improved circulation, higher turnover, lower cost, more patron satisfaction

Track and measure results Try a few more “unconventional”

approaches