Strategic Update - Collections - The Right Stuff

Collections Strategy – “The Right Stuff”
“The Right Stuff” is the name of our over-arching collection strategy – it’s all about meeting our customers’ needs by connecting them to “the right stuff” (books, media, magazines, e-books, etc.) when, where and how they want it. The Collections Project Team, led by Collections Strategist Larry Lockway, is responsible for aligning our holdings with customer demand and ensuring that MPL provides high-performance, high-turnover collections. Recent highlights of the Team’s work include:

Collections Specialists: Our “Right Stuff” strategy is supported by a network of Collection Specialists, who oversee the ongoing development of assigned collection areas (adult fiction, adult nonfiction, teen fiction, etc.). The Specialist Librarians carry out collection specialist responsibilities for the system, staying on top of trends in customer demand and publishing, providing input for Collection Profiles and wish lists, monitoring award-winners, best-sellers, sleepers, etc., doing collection analysis (e.g. collection turnover), liaising with local schools on collection issues, and reporting on their area of responsibility to the Collection Development Strategist.

Improving Magazine and Newspaper Collections: Based on work by our Periodicals Strategist, Librarian Wendy Tang, our processes for the regular review of periodical subscriptions have been improved. Also, in response to customer demand and to reduce the workload associated with periodical processing, in 2009 we will begin receiving multiple copies of high-demand magazines and newspapers, with one copy designated for in-library use and other copies available for borrowing. This strategy will also support E3 by enabling staff to stop performing inefficient material-handling processes such as newspaper stapling and putting current issues in plastic jackets.

Improving French Collections: Based on research and analysis by Children’s Librarian Jennifer Dias-Stevenson regarding customer demand related to French immersion programs in local schools, we will revise our collection profile for children’s French materials and increase our budget lines accordingly. Improvements will include high-interest, low-vocabulary items and more curriculum-related materials.