Competency F

Statement of competency

Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science:

1. Books are for use.

2. Every reader, his/her book.

3. Every book, its reader.

4. Save the time of the reader.

5. The Library is a growing organism.

Introduction

Even though libraries today function more like community hubs if you ask the average person what a library is they will probably say that it is a place filled with books. It is where people can search for information, research, study, and learn. However, libraries contain more than just books. They also have graphic novels and manga; audiobooks on cassette tapes and CDs; movies on VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray; music on vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CDs; newspapers on microfilm, microfiche, or in print; magazines; and journals. Furthermore, they may have digital or electronic copies of books, audiobooks, movies, music, and periodicals. Libraries provide their patrons with any of the forms of the information above, either to use in the building, to check out, or to access online. Collections are tailored to meet their community’s wants and needs. Doing so requires librarians to cultivate a collection through thoughtful selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation.

Selection

When librarians are selecting materials they are accountable to their library’s collection management policy. A collection management policy is a formal document that outlines how a library manages its collection and it is focused on the library’s mission, vision, and the community that they serve. Typically, there is a selection procedure within the document to guide librarians' decision-making process. This might include selection criteria, such as that detailed for public libraries by the ALA (2018):

General criteria

• Present and potential relevance to community needs

• Suitability of physical form for library use

• Suitability of subject and style for the intended audience

• Cost

• Importance as a document of the times

• Relation to the existing collection and to other materials on the subject

• Attention by critics and reviewers

• Potential user appeal

• Requests by library patrons

• Excellence (artistic, literary, visual, etc.)

• Authoritative and varying perspectives on controversial issues

• Ability to stimulate further intellectual and social development

• Technical criteria (for example, clarity of sound in audio materials, quality of cinematography in the video, and quality of graphics in games)

Special Considerations for Electronic Information Sources

• Ease of use of the product

• Availability of the information to multiple simultaneous users

• Equipment needed to provide access to the information

• Technical support and training

• Availability of the physical space needed to house and store the information or equipment

• Available in full text

One librarian may be responsible for handling the entirety of a library's selection process or there may be a team of selectors depending on the size of the library. Libraries may even have subject experts for children's items, young adult's items, or for certain fields of study (such is the case for academic libraries). Libraries are finite spaces, so librarians need to be cognizant of what they already have and ensure that there is a balance between catering to what is popular versus trying to maintain a well-rounded collection. There also needs to be a variety of reading levels, formats, and perspectives. A workaround for space concerns is to check if other branches or nearby libraries have the material a library needs. Interlibrary loan and consortium sharing of materials allow libraries to meet patron needs while also saving space in their building.

Librarians use professional review journals, materials that have won awards, best recommendations, ratings, and informal customer reviews to decide what to select. However, there are some issues with the selection process. For instance, there may not be enough time to read all the reviews so librarians may make their decision based on how appealing the item looks or how popular it is. Additionally, there are concerns over who chooses what books for prizes, and how do these awards reinforce the status quo? Additionally, librarians must confront their selection bias. This is where a librarian chooses not to purchase an item to avoid backlash from stakeholders or the community. To avoid selection bias, librarians should follow the ethical guidelines of their profession and refer back to their collection management policy. They can also follow the rule that ten to twenty-five percent of their collection should contain content that they do not agree with (Bodart, 2019). This ensures that there are a variety of viewpoints on controversial topics, which should meet the diverse needs of any given community. Furthermore, librarians can take into account patron requests and give some of the decision-making processes over to demand-driven acquisition. However, they need to monitor this function to make sure it is being used equitably and there is not just one person making all the requests. This could also result in minority groups’ requests being lost in the requests made by the majority. Lastly, librarians choose which donations or gifts to keep that are given to the library.

Evaluation

Collection management is an ongoing process, whereby evaluation is particularly important. The point of evaluation is to make sure that your collection is being used, that the materials are in good condition, that there are no gaps in the collection, and that it is up to date. Circulation statistics are reviewed to see what items are checked out the most, the least, how often, and when was the last time they circulated. To make sure library materials are worthy of circulation, library staff must physically check the collection either at regular intervals or in an ongoing process. One method of judging materials is to use the CREW’s MUSTIE method:

• M = Misleading (and/or factually inaccurate)

• U = Ugly (worn and beyond mending or rebinding)

• S = Superseded (by a truly new edition or by a much better book on the subject)

• T = Trivial (of no discernible literary or scientific merit; usually of ephemeral interest at some time in the past)

• I = Irrelevant to the needs and interests of your community

• E = The material or information may be obtained expeditiously Elsewhere through interlibrary loan, reciprocal borrowing, or in electronic format (Larson, 2008, p. 46).

If an item has not been circulated recently or it meets any of the MUSTIE criteria, then it may be time to weed it out of the collection. However, if an item is factually accurate, in good condition, fairly new, significant, relevant, and/or cannot be found elsewhere but still does not get checked out then the librarian should pause before pulling it from the collection. It could be that the community is unaware of the item, so the library should try promoting it. If it still does not garner attention then it should be discarded. These evaluative actions keep the library’s collection interesting, dynamic, pleasing, significant, and outstanding. However, the one true test of these efforts is to see if there is an increase in the circulation of materials after the evaluation period is done.

Organization

An important aspect of libraries is how they organize their materials. The greatest collection in the world would not be very effective if people could not find what they were looking for. Public libraries tend to use the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system to organize nonfiction. The DDC is more general in nature, which reflects the purpose of public libraries. Fiction is organized by genre and author’s last name or part of the item’s title. However, there has been some disagreement with the relevancy of DDC, due to its racial bias, discrimination toward LGBT people, and the focus on Christianity and Western civilization over other religions, cultures, histories, and languages. So, some public libraries have organized their collections like bookstores instead and use their Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) (Redihan, 2021, p. 96). Academic libraries collect materials that suit the fields of study taught in their parent organization, therefore they need the more detailed Library of Congress Classification system for their collections.

Libraries use Online Public Access Catalogs (OPAC) to store information about each item such as its title, author, publisher, call number, ISBN, physical characteristics, and more. Each item’s metadata is inputted into a Machine Readable Catalogue (MARC) record, which the information retrieval system can understand. The OPAC contains every item the library has, where to find them and the status of their availability. A call number is a unique set of letters and or numbers that identifies each individual item and the general location of where it is in relation to its subject. Digital and electronic formats may only be accessible through the library’s OPAC or via an app connected to it. This is where collection maps come in handy. Collection maps provide a diagrammatic representation of the library and where groups of items are located within the building. For example, a map will show where the children’s section is in the building. Then within that section, there is a smaller map of where the nonfiction and fiction books, audiobooks, read-alongs, graphic novels and manga, movies, and music are located. The purpose of classification, OPACs, and collection maps is to provide people with the tools to find the information they seek.

Preservation

Libraries have a vested interest in preserving their collections for repeated and future use. It is worth it to purchase items that are more likely to last through heavy use, such as books with hardback covers. Materials need to be processed to ensure further longevity, which can be done in-house or outsourced to vendors. I work in the technical processing department at my library, where I process materials before they are put on the shelf. Items are barcoded, tagged with RFID stickers, stamped with a location, property name, and an address of the library, and stickered with a call number tag. It may also have a genre, age level, look for (CDs, booklets, templates, maps, etc.), and/or new stickers as needed. These stickers are protected with Mylar covers (plastic designed to wrap around book jackets), packaging tape on hardback books, and rigid laminate on softback books. DVD, Blu-Ray, and CD cases have plastic covers on them so the paper inside is given all the appropriate stamps and stickers before being slipped back into their cases.

Usually, normal wear and tear on items only affect their protective coverings, which can be easily and cheaply replaced. If the item itself is damaged, libraries try to mend it as best they can. Books with broken spines can be rebound, torn pages can be taped back together, markings can be cleaned, scratched discs can be polished, and the like. Due to libraries' propensity for preserving their materials, they are slower to accept the newest formats of information. The reasons are twofold, to save money and to wait to see if the format will be commonly used by the public. Especially if new technology is needed to use the format. For example, 8-tracks, Betamax, and certain e-Readers never caught on with the general public so libraries did not invest in them. Today most libraries have caught up to recent technology and invest in Blu-Rays, e-books, digital audiobooks, and streaming services. The electronic and digital formats do not degrade like physical materials but the cost of providing access to them can become more expensive over time.

Most materials will eventually be replaced with new copies and up-to-date formats. The VHS gave way to the DVD, but Blu-ray has yet to supplant its predecessor. It may never do so if streaming services are preferred over physical copies. Similarly, the vinyl record gave way to the cassette and then to the CD, which has also been surpassed for digital music. Books are competing with their electronic counterparts, but the physical form is still preferred by most readers. Perrin (2019) reports, “Print books remain the most popular format for reading, with 65% of adults saying they had read a print book in the year before the survey” (para. 2). To reflect this preference, it is important that libraries continue to invest in physical books for their patrons.

Another factor of preservation is holding onto materials that cannot be replaced and/or hold historical significance. Some examples are books that go out of print, periodicals, obscure recordings, and one-of-a-kind items. This may mean holding onto older formats like VHS, vinyl records, cassette tapes, and so on because the material was never updated to newer formats. Libraries used to make microfilm or microfiche copies of periodicals but now they may try to digitize them instead. The same is true for books, photographs, sound recordings, and film. However, the library may need to host a server or pay for access to a server in order to make digital copies available to patrons.

Evidence

Conclusion

One of the things I love about libraries is that there is always something to do. The work is not just to keep you busy either, there is real value and importance placed on all aspects of librarianship. Selecting, evaluation, organization, and preservation are tasks that need to be done consecutively and continuously. Each one flows into the other three and affects them either directly or indirectly. Library collections need to be evaluated before selection can proceed, selections need to be made before items can be organized, and materials need to be preserved and organized after they have been evaluated. The status of their preservation is evaluated and can influence whether or not selections of new materials need to be made. I look forward to assisting in these ongoing projects in my future career.

References

American Library Association. (2018, January). Selection criteria. Retrieved April 7, 2021, from http://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/criteria

Bodart, J. (2019) Collection development [lecture].

Larson, J. (2008). CREW: A weeding manual for modern libraries. Texas State Library and Archive Commission. Retrieved from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod08.pdf

Perrin, A. (2019, September 25). One-in-five Americans now listen to audiobooks. Pew Research. Retrieved April 7, 2021, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/25/one-in-five-americans-now-listen-to-audiobooks/

Redihan, E. (2021). Abandoning the Dewey Decimal System in public libraries. Public Library Quarterly, 40(2), 95–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2020.1763755

Rimland, E. (2007). Ranganathan's relevant rules. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 46(4), 24–26. https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.46n4.24