[Web4lib] Libraries: Standing at the Wrong Platform, Waiting for the Wrong Train?

[Sue Kamm]

I think there has to be a happy medium between "give 'em what they want" 
and "the library is a people's university."  We can't please all the 
people all the time.  Cf. Lincoln's statement on this very topic.  

Responding to this issue is EXACTLY why libraries must develop 
collection development policies. Some of the budget burden can be eased 
by participating in book leasing plans (McNaughton is the best-known) 
which enables a library to provide (for example) 20 copies of the latest 
Harry Potter, which may have more than a hundred reserves on it before 
the book's street date, without blowing an entire year's acquisition 
budget on a popular title. I don't know how much cataloging 
andprocessing our McNaughtons require, nor the cost analysis of 
withdrawing extra copies toreturn to the company when the novelty wears 
out.  The staff costs involved with a lease program must be balanced 
against the costs of purchasingthe title outright.   A policy doesn't 
need to say how many copies you will purchae, just that the library 
makes popular books available.  

Richard Wiggins wrote:

>This thread came up at Internet Librarian last night.  Stephen Abram
>quoted a stat that books suggested for acquisition by patrons tend to
>circulate at 7 times the rate of books selected by librarians.
>
>Of course that begs the old "popularity does not equal quality"
>concern, but Google became a $100 billion company based on a PageRank
>algorithm weighted heavily towards popularity.
>
>I'm curious if public library collections policies differ from
>research library policies in this regard.  Even if subject matter
>experts denounce a book as crackpot, it seems a public library might
>still add it to its collection to meet patron demand.  And a research
>library might add it so that experts can read what they are up
>against.
>
>Hmmm... If you buy "the" best book on a subject and it never
>circulates, did you do the right thing?
>
>/rich
>
>On 10/26/05, Louise Alcorn <Louise.Alcorn at wdm-ia.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>>Louise E. Alcorn     --    Reference Technology Librarian
>>West Des Moines Public Library
>>4000 Mills Civic Pkwy
>>West Des Moines IA 50265
>>(515) 222-3573      louise.alcorn at wdm-ia.com
>>http://www.wdm.lib.ia.us
>>
>>    
>>
>>>>>K.G. Schneider 10/26/05 11:55AM >>>
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>It would probably be cheaper than most ILL!
>>>      
>>>
>>I think the idea has merits, but I want to throw this comment out there, in
>>light of a patron interaction I had less than 15 minutes ago:
>>
>>What if they 'buy' through Amazon a title you'd -never- add to your
>>collection?  The patron in question wanted another 'tell all' book on Princess
>>Diana (copyright 2005, so not eligible for ILL) which was -soundly- panned by
>>LJ, Booklist, etc.  We'd never spend our budget on it, unless it was *the* hot
>>book of the year and had to be bought (it's not).  Luckily, the book in
>>question happens to be a reissue of a 1998 title, not a new edition (just a
>>new, flashy cover), so I was able to ILL the '98.  If we had a policy to let
>>them buy new titles 'for us' through Amazon, we might have gotten stuck with
>>this book.
>>
>>My question/comment is:  I'm fine with 'giving them what they want' up to a
>>point in the budget, but how would we avoid budget abuses and retain some
>>selection control with such a system as has been suggested?
>>
>>I'm not asking this to be snarky, I'm genuinely curious how this would be
>>handled.  Or if it is already being handled by any libraries?
>>
>>Best,
>>Louise
>>
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>>
>>    
>>
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>  
>

-- 
Your friendly CyberGoddess and  ALA Councilor-at-Large,
Sue Kamm
Inglewood/Los Angeles, CA
Truest of the Blue, Los Angeles Dodgers Think Blue Week 2000
email:  suekamm at mindspring.com
Visit my web page:  http://suekamm.home.mindspring.com/index.htm
What I wonder is, where are the guys who just love to play baseball?
--Wes Parker, former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder