Collection Reflection

I covered some of this ground in Getting Started with Graphic Novels , but I wanted to revisit the topic for a more in-depth look at how I choose what adult graphic novels to purchase. As I mentioned, I use a variety of review sources and websites, including: Library Journal , Booklist , Publishers Weekly The A.V. Club, Graphic Novel Reporter, Paste, NPR, i09, Diamond Eisner nominees and other lists curated by organizations like YALSA New York Times  bestseller lists (and occasionally reviews from NYT or LA Times ) Since I only order graphic novels one or two times a year, I needed a method to keep track of the items that are reviewed or listed over the course of the year. To do this--surprising to no one, I'm sure--I use a spreadsheet. When I encounter a potential purchase, I record the publication year, author, and title, as well as the review source.  The Spreadsheet Approach in Action On the far left, I assign stars based on how much weight I'm giving a ce...

Quick question about "out of print" books:  Do you buy them for your collections?  If you do not, why not?  If you do, do you only buy one copy?  What's the lowest condition you're willing to get?  What's the most you're willing to pay?  Do you only buy under certain conditions?  (part of a series, classic, local interest, etc?)  And, what do you do if it suddenly gets 60 holds on the single copy? Thanks!

Last year, I volunteered to take over ordering the young adult video games for my library. Unlike the rest of my collection development duties, which are focused on materials at the central library (we also have nine branches), the games are a citywide collection. Although they are all located at one branch for security reasons--they kept wandering off when they were stored here--they can be requested by patrons anywhere in the region. 1 I've done a couple of orders over the past year or so since I became responsible for this area, but hadn't really taken a close look at the numbers until recently. I ran a report (of course) and tried to break down what I was seeing in ways that would be useful for my collection decisions going forward. This is also the only non-print collection that I am responsible for, and boy are the numbers different from what I'm used to seeing, especially in comparison with the nonfiction collection! The most prominent statistic was probably the ...

I promised Anna I wouldn't be so heavily ebooks focused. Never trust a lawyer, Anna. Ebooks generally divide people into two camps: Group A: Love them! Will do anything for them! I don't care what you charge me or what usage restrictions you place on me, just give me more more more. Group B: No thank you. I'll stick with print. I know what I'm getting, I can do what I want want it. Straighten out the formats, stop the vendor wars and   then   we'll talk. I'm actually not in either of these groups. I'm more of an A-/B+. I love ebooks, but not to the exclusion of everything else. I hate the angst surrounding them, but not so much that I'll refuse to buy them. Over the weekend, news leaked out that there was going to be an   ebook summit between ALA   and the publishers who won't sell ebooks to libraries (Simon & Schuster and Macmillan--Penguin is invited along too). This is great news. Wouldn't you love to be a coffee cup on the table in t...

So, lately, the "ebook revolution" and librarians have reminded me of the Farm Bureau Insurance commercials making the rounds. I don't think they are regional commercials, but in case they are, here is an example: Librarians are knocking on wood when it comes to their electronic resources. The Penguin saga is just one more example that we need a course correction in how we're approaching this issue. The problem isn't Penguin. They are a for-profit company and are acting in their own best interest. The problem isn't Overdrive. They are also a for-profit company and also acting in their own best interest. The problem is we have jumped into this marketplace without knowledge and we keep expecting other companies to take care of us. We expect Overdrive (and Penguin, and Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan, and...) to be on our side, to make sure we are protected, when that is our job. It is our job to spend the money entrusted to us by our taxpayers. It is o...

So, when I started making notes for the LJ presentation next month, of course I wrote down WAY more than I have time to use in 10 minutes. I think (I hope?) I used the best stuff for the slides, but no reason why we can't discuss the same things here too, right? Of course there isn't. I was thinking about permanence and the digital collection and how we shouldn't think of buying into this format (whatever format we might be using) as an endpoint. Who knows what might happen in the future, right? But this isn't an idea that is unique to downloadable audio/ebooks! How many cassettes (audio AND video) did we have to replace with the next format? Before cassettes, many libraries had records. There was probably some crazy library out there that circulated 8-tracks (oh please, fess up, I'm dying to know who you are!). Publishing companies would love for libraries to believe we're buying this digital format and it will last forever, but we all know that isn't li...

I was denewing books in the 800s recently, which gives me the opportunity to see how books on the "New" shelf have circulated in the 10-12 months between when they're processed and when they're put in the general collection. These books are featured in a very public area and theoretically have a greater chance of being noticed by patrons and checked out. I've been aware for a while now that books of poetry, while dear to my heart, don't enjoy much popularity at my library, even though they are featured on displays (as for National Poetry Month) and given the same time as other books in the New section. Most of the poetry collections I denewed the other day had circulated, but sometimes as little as one time. Is one circulation a victory? If a book costs a certain amount (after a library discount), and then we add the cost of paying people to process and shelve it, does one circulation make its purchase worthwhile? At what point does the balance swing in fa...

Good Morning, Reflectors! I've had one or two people ask how we hear about books (and by extension, dvds, cds, etc) to add to the collection. There are a variety of ways. Here are a few: Vendor catalogs: Baker & Taylor Forecast : Comes out every month and covers fiction and non-fiction titles. Sometimes audio and large print as well. Divided into HC, trade pb and mass market, and then divided by category/genre. The ads are just as important as the actual listings. Every once in awhile, you might find an interesting author interview or article as well. Carries titles usually a month or so in advance of publication. Absolutely wonderful for keeping up with mass market series. Not so hot on smaller press or self published items. Ingram Advance : I wish I could provide a link, but the majority of things linkable from their site are so old they aren't worth the trouble. BUT, they are very good at listing (and stocking) small press and/or self published t...

During any given month, I could spend my entire paperback budget on on subcategory like paranormal romance, or urban fiction, or even my beloved science fiction and fantasy. I could definitely spend it all on series romance without having to spend more than five minutes a month building my cart. But part of my job as a selector is to consider my patrons, my existing collection, and the publishing trends for books that people are going to want to read in the near future. There's nothing I dislike more than spending some of the library's money on a book that nobody checks out, so this crystal ball element can be very nerve-wracking. Let's take the example of paranormal romance. We see articles all the time about the incredible popularity (especially in this economic climate) of romance novels, especially in e-book format . As far as I know, paranormal romance is still going strong , but for how long? For the past few years, if I had purchased everything that claimed it was...