By Jessie Bach

There are millions of books published worldwide every year. One of Alberta’s larger urban libraries may buy a few thousand of these new books for their collection each year, while a small rural library will be adding only about 100. This means that librarians have tough decisions to make about which of these books they purchase for the library collection. In this post, I’ll provide a high-level look at how Alberta’s librarians choose which titles to add to their collections.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while now, you won’t be surprised to learn that library book buying, like so many other things in the library world, is governed by policy. Every public library in Alberta is required by law to have a Collection Development Policy (the name of the policy may vary) that governs library book selection. You can see an example of such a policy from the Wood Buffalo Regional Library here. The Collection Development Policy will outline the library’s objectives for its collection, criteria for materials selection, and how they address patron requests and donations. These policies also often address how a library will decide what to discard from their collection and how book challenges will be handled.

Every community is unique in terms of interests, demographics, and environment and librarians work hard to gain an understanding of the wants and needs of their users. If you were to visit ten different Alberta libraries (now that sounds like a fun road trip!) you will encounter ten very different collections. For example, the Town of Oyen Library is located in a high school, so they make sure to keep a robust collection of young adult books. The Bighorn Library in Exshaw, Alberta, is nestled near Canmore in the Rockies, so hiking guides and books about mountaineering are perennially popular. World language collections are another great example of this; libraries will purchase materials in the languages spoken in their communities. Depending on the library you visit, you may encounter extensive collections of books in Chinese, Tagalog, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Spanish, German, and more. Through research, community feedback, and a bit of trial-and-error, librarians work to build a collection that is tailored for their unique community.

Librarians also make extensive use of borrowing data to inform their book buying decisions. Library circulation software provides an abundance of historical circulation data to use when selecting new material. Before selecting a title for a library, the librarian may check how well that author’s last few books have been used, or what the demand is like for titles in a similar genre or for books that cover a similar topic. Data can also show librarians which books haven’t been circulating at their library. In that case, further research may be needed to determine if the collection is “read out” so to speak, or if the interest just isn’t there.

Holds also provide a wealth of information about what books are in high demand. Librarians monitor the waitlists for books closely and make regular collection development decisions based on them. To keep wait times short for patrons, librarians purchase extra copies of any title with a high ratio of holds vs available copies. When that ratio reaches a certain number – in my system it’s 10:1 – another copy of that item will automatically be purchased. They may also note that holds on books of a certain genre or about a certain topic are rising week over week and choose to add more items that fit the theme. If an item isn’t available in the catalogue, patrons may also submit requests online directly to the staff at their libraries; if the requested item fits the library’s selection criteria, it will usually be purchased. Patron requests can often alert librarians to an area of the collection that may need bolstering and they will proactively choose a few more similar titles.

Screenshot of “Suggest a Title” button from Bighorn Library Website.

Librarians also make a point of monitoring what’s going on in the wider publishing world. They regularly read trade publications like Library Journal, Quill & Quire, or Publisher’s Weekly to get the latest about new titles that are receiving starred reviews. Nominees and winners for literary awards like the Governor General’s Award, Giller Prize, Booker Prize, or Hugo Award, to name a few, will also be prioritized for addition to collections. BookTok and #bookstagram, too, are great resources for finding trending titles that may not have received as much mainstream hype. At my library system, librarians also meet with representatives from both major and local publishers to learn about each season’s buzziest books and emerging trends.

The local literary scene is another source for new library books. Library users like to see local authors and publications represented on the library shelves. Local authors often approach the library to sell or donate a copy of their book and may offer readings or participate in other library programs.

Now, everything I have mentioned is at the mercy of the library’s books budget, which is always a key factor when it comes to library acquisitions. Large urban libraries, like Calgary Public Library, for example, work with a books budget in the millions of dollars; most small rural libraries may only have the budget for around 100 – 150 new titles each year. It is a careful balancing act to ensure that the library adds enough depth and breadth to their collection, while also adding enough copies of the hottest bestsellers to keep the waitlists as short as possible – all within finite budget. This is where the magic of interlibrary loan comes in! It’s impossible for every library to buy every book, but it’s very likely that one of Alberta’s 322 public libraries will have a copy of the title you want.

So far, I’ve addressed how libraries decide what items to add to their collections; however, our discussion won’t be complete without also addressing the opposite scenario — how libraries chose what to remove from their collections. The same Collection Management Policy that I mentioned earlier usually has a section to guide libraries as they “weed” (remove books from) their collection. You can read about weeding in more detail in this blog post. Weeding is important for several reasons, not the least of which is to make space for new titles! Through this practice, books may be removed from the collection for several reasons. Outdated materials like technology or medical books may be removed, and those subjects will then be prioritized for new additions in the coming seasons. Weeding is also used to remove books that are in poor physical condition; these may or may not be replaced, depending on whether the titles are still popular. Lastly, books that haven’t been checked out in a long time may be removed to make space for titles that will garner more use. As with the addition of new titles, weeding, too, is guided by librarian’s expertise and circulation data.

Library collections are chosen and maintained based on the needs and interests of the community, data showing the authors and topics that people request and borrow the most, and research into hot new titles and trending topics. Book buying is an ongoing process, and new items arrive at even the smallest Alberta public libraries weekly. If you haven’t checked out the offerings at your local library recently, give them a visit and discover what’s new!

Screenshot of New titles lists from the Vermilion Public Library website.

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