LIS 659 with Dr. Reynolds, University of Kentucky, Summer 2017.
I have been working at the McCracken County Public Library in Paducah, Kentucky for 8 years. Before I came to the library I taught High School Art classes for 6 years in Austin, TX. I have a bachelor’s degree in Fine art and French, and a Master’s degree in Education, and will finish my MSLS degree from The University of Kentucky in December, 2017.
As a Collection Development Librarian for The McCracken County Public Library in Paducah, Kentucky I strive to make popular and useful materials available to library patrons in a timely manner, and in the formats which best suit the patron needs. Using multiple review sources, statistical usage analysis, staff and patron requests and feedback, I manage the collections to keep them relevant. I have learned many things about collection development and maintenance through my ongoing work with the collection and with front-line library services on the Youth Services floor of the McCracken County Public Library. For instance: you should always have an extra copy of the first in any popular series. For each section of the collection there is a point person who works with the public and is familiar with patron questions and requests to care for the collection, make displays, and weed the collection as necessary. These team members also recommend items for purchasing. We meet monthly as a collection development team to discuss general collection policy and procedure.
My favorite website for spirit lifting and pep talks when weeding a collection is called Awful Library Books, and it is written by collection development experts Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner who speak at conferences and are well known in library circles. I use their tag line from the web site: "Hoarding is not collection development, " as my personal collection maintenance mantra. It takes constant maintenance including visual and statistical analysis to keep collections relevant.
Created by Lea Wentworth 6/11/2017