Salutations!

Rather than the goals of collection development having changed drastically since the early days, the difference between collection development of then versus now lies in the process, materials, and formats having changed (Howard, 2011, p. 10). The first of these linked statements has truth woven in it, even when taking into account the historical views of quality compared to quantity of the collection and whether the librarian was acting in a predominately educational role for the community by offering “good” books (Huynh, 2004, p. 20-21). Regardless of philosophical views, the overarching goal of collection development is “building a coherently connected selection of appropriate items intended to serve an easily identifiable body of users” (Disher, 2014, p. 2). The ultimate goal of almost every library collection can well be said “to check out its material” (Disher, p. 94)!

The process, materials, and formats have changed. It is true that the materials and formats have shifted to include a wider variety than librarians dealt with in previous decades. Since collection development encompasses “all the steps from preparing a budget to eventually placing the book or material in the collection” (Howard, p. 10), the process has remained virtually unchanged, based on what I see in the literature. Materials and formats have definitely expanded over time. Libraries, once only dealing with print books, experience shelves holding audiovisual materials, including DVDs, audio books, and compact discs (Disher, p. 58), and links in OPACs to various electronic versions of items on the shelves for circulation. Within the non-book materials available, my public library offers kits patrons can borrow from the Teen collection, such as a waffle iron, popcorn machine, ukulele, and crochet hooks, akin to the “American Girl dolls” available for circulation in “Washington,” “fishing equipment in Minnesota,” and the “bicycles in Ohio,” all of which are contributing to the growing “library of things” movement across the United States (Mead & Dankowski, 2017). Formats of books and audiovisual materials have also changed over time, with print books morphing into eBooks, books on cassette moving to CDs then streaming, and VHS tapes becoming DVDs becoming Blu-rays and streaming.

RLGing,

Sarah Hope

PS. This was originally written in INFO 5040: Developing Library Collections during Summer 2023.

References

Disher, W. (2014). Crash course in collection development. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Howard, J. K. (2011). Basic selection tools: 21st-century style. School Library Monthly, 28(3), 9–11.

Huynh, A. (2004). Background essay on collection development, evaluation, and management for public libraries. Current Studies in Librarianship, 28(1/2), 19–37.

Mead, B., & Dankowski, T. (2017). the LIBRARY of THINGS. American Libraries, 48(6), 48–51.

Salutations!

When one stops and think about it, the purpose of the library and collection development are tightly intertwined. If a library is located in a botanical garden, for instance, with its purpose being research on botany, then its collection development strategies will focus on botanical materials in different formats and ignore information regarding other topics, such as Shakespeare’s sonnets. Similarly on a smaller scale, Disher (2014) stated “books on the library’s shelves…share a common purpose,” so the role of the collection developer, “therefore, is to collect items that illustrate to the community that a unifying purpose or goal prevails” (p. 1). The community’s needs and interests fuel the purpose of the library, since “public libraries exist for the communities they serve” (Disher, p. 4), which resultantly informs the work of collection developers.

Huynh did a fantastic job providing an overview tracing the history of book selection from the early 1900s to what we now know today as collection development. I found the comparisons of such categories as philosophy, selection, and evaluation to be quite helpful in seeing the shift in thinking over the years. One particular statement struck me as corroborative of my views on the linking of library purpose with collection development, in that Huynh (2004) declares that “the collection development philosophy is heavily dependent upon the purpose of the libraries” (p. 31), so it follows that what items are purchased and made available fluctuate while the purpose “has swung like a pendulum, from educating to entertaining or ‘edutaining’ the public” throughout the decades (as cited in Huynh, p. 31). The current trend regarding collections and services for public libraries “heavily leans towards public demand” (Huynh, p. 19), evident in Woodward’s goal for libraries to morph into bookstores, driven by evaluating circulation rates and responding to customer demands (as cited in Huynh, p. 36-37). As Huynh points out this customer-driven model illustrates how quickly perspective of what is important enough to last beyond popular culture fads and “raison d’être” (p. 31), that is “reason or justification for existence” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.), can be lost. Without a balance of reason coming from clearly delineated purpose, as well as collection development policies and procedures, libraries will not be able to handle the stressful expectations society places on them. “Instead of being many things to all, should public libraries strive to be a few things to some?”  (Huynh, p. 31).

RLGing,

Sarah Hope

PS. This was originally written in INFO 5040: Developing Library Collections during Summer 2023.

References

Disher, W. (2014). Crash course in collection development. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Huynh, A. (2004). Background essay on collection development, evaluation, and management for public libraries. Current Studies in Librarianship, 28(1/2), 19–37.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Raison d’être. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved May 11, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raison%20d%27%C3%AAtre