How do libraries stock their shelves?

Question

I just moved to a new area and our public library is awful. The variety consists of some Ann Coulter trash along with a bunch of Nora Roberts paperbacks. Who decides this? Can I write someone to get more variety here?

Answer 1

Most public libraries are popular reading libraries, meaning that the bulk of their budgets is set aside for materials which will be popular for the readers in their communities. They usually have reference materials, but those are generally limited to the basics so that people can just do basic research.

Most libraries have staff who are assigned to select reading materials. I don't know of any but the largest systems in the US that have people who only do collection development. I worked for our local library for ten years. It was ranked in the top ten systems nationwide for the number of people we served. We had a healthy budget, and a huge collection, and the selection committees were voluntary (except for a few of the really unpopular ones, which were assigned). There were two kinds of selections made at our system. Librarians in each library were assigned certain parts of their own collections to work on. Different areas of the county had higher or lower demand for certain types of materials, and it was up to the librarians in each area to know what the people in their areas wanted, and stock the shelves accordingly. The other types of selections were made by committees made up of people from all over the system. Those committees did things like order popular movies and music, and also best sellers, both fiction and non-fiction. They worked with monies set aside specifically for best sellers and AV materials, rather than with the budgets of individual libraries in the systems.

If your library has a really cruddy collection, I suspect it is because of one of several reasons. They may have a tiny budget to work with, so they may be trying to pick up just a few items they think will be popular with the readers in your area. If super conservative claptrap and crappy romances are what is in demand, that may be the only thing they feel they can buy. They may have a collection that is developed significantly from donations, which does happen in some very small systems. They basically catalog anything which is donated and throw it on the shelves. Those types of collections really stink, because they are entirely dependent on the goodwill of the people in the area. You end up with the dregs of other people's book collections, or basically the junk they don't want to keep. The other thing that may be happening, and this is also depressingly common in really small systems, is that there may be just one or two people doing the ordering, and they may be more interested in the things they want to read than in providing variety.

Since you are unhappy with the collection, you need to write to the person who is in charge of the library. You will need to find out if it is simply a single library, or if it is part of a larger system. If it is part of a larger system, before you complain, find out if other items are available at other locations, as those items are usually shared throughout a system. It may be as simple as having books you do want to read sent to you from other branches. If there are no other branches, you need to do a little research, and find out how much the library budget is, and where the operating funds come from. If they come from your local taxes, they they really need to stock a larger selection of titles. If they come from private donations, you may need to step up and donate, or do a fundraiser to help raise money for more books. If you are helping pay for the library, either directly, through donations, or indirectly, through taxes, they have a responsibility to make sure you are getting some benefit from the library. It may simply be a problem of not having enough resources for people to do ordering. Many small systems will allow regular patrons to join committees where people decide what books would benefit a collection. They then make the recommendations to the person or people who hold the purse strings, and the books are ordered.

For now, the simplest thing for you to do is go into the library, and ask to speak to the branch or facility manager. Tell him or her that you would like very much to use the resources, but that you find the collection very small and unappealing. Ask them who you should contact to get more variety on the shelves, and also ask if there is anything you, as a patron, can do to help that happen. I know that at a lot of small libraries, they will simply take patron requests and try to work them into the budget. If you say, "I would really like to be able to check out the books which appear on the New York Times Bestseller List", that may be all it takes.

There is one more thing of which you should be aware. There is a wonderful program called Interlibrary Loan. Basically, it's a program where libraries agree to loan items from their collections in exchange for borrowing privileges from other systems. Find out if your library belongs to that system, because it can be a wonderful thing--if you can provide them with a title, and an author (an ISBN works great, too) they can borrow the items for you from another system. When I worked at the library, I reguarly requested weird, obscure titles that interested me, and they simply borrowed them for me from outside the system. I got a lot of books from libraries in the US, but I also got books from as far away as Europe.

I wish you the best of luck. Libraries are so important, and such a great resource--it really stinks when they suck.

Answer 2

Wow!! It looks like you have gotten some really great responses. Getting involved and talking to your librarian or drumming up donations for your library are great ideas. I just want to add that some libraries will have a link somewhere on their website (if they have a website, that is) where they will take suggestions on what types of materials they should acquire. For instance, my public library has an online catalog where you can access what materials are available through the library system as well as see what materials you have requested, checked out or renewed, etc. From the online catalog, there is also a link that says "Suggest a Purchase." While you don't probably want to bombard them with every book you would like to read, this may be a way to drop a few hints as to the materials you would enjoy. Good luck and happy reading!

Answer 3

Well, it starts with a budget to buy books which comes from taxes and donations from the public, often represented as Friends of the Library. Purchasing is normally done by reviewing library publications about upcoming books and by taking suggestions from users of the library. The public may donate books they have purchased and read.
If you want to change the library, then begin by discretely asking where its funds come from and who does the selection and buying. Find out how political the process is - is the head of the library committee the wife of the mayor who spouts off about illegal immigrants when he can or is the librarian a professional who is just limited by budget.

Answer 4

1. Most public libraries can get books from any state library, including university libraries. Request an "inter-library loan" if you are looking for a specific book.

2. Contact your local city council for more library funds. Suggest yourself as head of new-book acquisition. Failing that, contact your member of Congress.

3. If #1 doesn't work, #2 will take you years to fulfill. At that point, I can only suggest estate auctions, secondhand stores, and cheap paperbacks purchased online.

Good luck!

Answer 5

You can usually just talk to one of the employees to request a book. Or you can set up a meeting with someone a little higher up if you want things changed for good. Someone is in charge of that, just go ask.
And be careful. I like Ann Coulter, and a lot of people like Nora Roberts.

Answer 6

I developed a rapport with the head librarian. (She taught a computer course I took one summer.) I then recommended a few books I read previously. She bought a few under my recommendation.

There's also a "trade flier" that comes out that they have to look at and when they consider their choices, budget plays a big part... ;)

Ask to see if they have an intrastate program that allows you to check out books from another library in your state.

Answer 7

group requirements. Some principal town libraries do inventory playboy. However, the robbery fee is so giant that it isn't valued at stocking them. as for writing your congressmen... satisfactory of good fortune to you.

Answer 8

lol is it that bad!! well talk to the head person at the library. most are put together by class or subject but complaints mite do the trick