Collection Reflection

Can we talk, for a minute, about things that aren't books? Don't get me wrong, I love books. I do. I always have. And, honestly, I can't even imagine that a day will come when I will disavow them. Not even for a million dollars. Not even for ten mill.....well, let's not go quite THAT far. But, the point remains, I love books so this is not even close to an anti-book screed. And, I understand that books and literacy are, and have been, the cornerstone of libraries. That's wonderful. Encouraging literacy, and a love of reading, is a fantastic thing to be associated with your organization/profession. I can't think of many people who would argue against these things, and it makes for wonderful, heart warming stories to share with people who hold the purse strings. But, libraries have been circulating things OTHER than books for a long time. In fact, I don't know that I can remember a time when libraries only had books. Even the tiny library in my hometown...

You may have heard of a movie releasing this weekend about a certain Caped Crusader.  After you've seen it (and, if you're like me, seen it AGAIN ), you'll be looking for something to keep the superhero buzz going until the next movie.   Fear not, the library is here to fill the need. "A Movie in Your Mind."  Graphic Audio takes on audiobooks in a whole new way.  They are full cast, complete with sound effects that sound incredibly real.  More than once, I've thought a siren in the audio was about to pull me over.  For an immediate post-DKR Batman fix, try.... Batman: Inferno   Batman: The Stone King Batman: No Man's Land Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 Batman: Dead White If you're ready to upgrade to the full Justice League, we also have Crisis on Infinite Earths , Infinite Crisis Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 , 52  Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 , Trail of Time , Exterminators , and individual stories featuring Green Lan...

Here at Collection Reflection, we're aware that we spend a lot of time talking about ebooks and weeding and EBOOKS , and we're going to start featuring some guest posts on topics outside of our immediate realm of expertise. One of these days, we might actually find someone to talk about something other than public libraries! Today's post comes from one of Robin's colleagues on the topic of collection development and audio CDs and DVDs. -- Hey Chicken Little, the sky is still up there. I mean, that acorn that fell on your head has fallen down, but there’s still plenty of sky. As a music and film librarian, I get asked almost daily about “when are we going to stop carrying discs?” My answer is always, “when people stop checking them out.” Which I’m guessing will be for a while, since my circulation numbers are still healthy and iTunes is over a decade old. Let’s face it, we only got rid of our VHS collection last year--and the few that could still play were still g...