A Guide to Developing a Collection Plan LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT GUIDE # 6 © December 2009 Southern Ontario Library Service A Guide to Developing a Collection Plan The Library Development Guide Series Developing a Collection Plan The Library Development Guide #6 Prepared by Hélène Golden and Peggy Malcolm Southern Ontario Library Service December 2009 The Library Development Guide Series A Guide to Developing a Collection Plan Contents INTRODUCTION TO COLLECTION PLANNING........................................................... 3 a) Setting the groundwork.........................................................................................................3 b) The Rationale for having a collection plan............................................................................6 c) Steps in the collection plan ..................................................................................................7 STEP 1– EXAMINE THE COMMUNITY ......................................................................... 8 a) What does a community assessment include?.....................................................................9 b) Methods of assessing the collection needs of your community............................................9 i. Collecting statistical data..................................................................................................10 ii. Conducting surveys .........................................................................................................12 iii. Holding small group discussions or focus groups and one-on-one interviews ...............13 STEP 2– REVIEW OF PRESENT USERS AND THEIR INTERESTS .......................... 14 a) Collecting statistical information..........................................................................................14 b) The user survey ..................................................................................................................14 STEP 3– WRITE A COLLECTION POLICY ................................................................. 17 a) The need for a collection policy ..........................................................................................17 b) Examples of Collection Policies..........................................................................................18 STEP 4 - ASSESS THE PRESENT LIBRARY COLLECTION ..................................... 21 Collection Evaluation Methodology - Part 1 - Statistical Analysis ...........................................23 a) Size of the collection.......................................................................................................23 b) Circulation and interlibrary loan activity ..........................................................................24 c) Materials budget..............................................................................................................25 Collection Evaluation Methodology - Part 2 - Quantitative Analysis .......................................25 a) Quantitative analysis of the collection using automation system reports........................26 b) Statistical breakdown of the collection using the sampling method ................................28 SAMPLE STUDY: What the Quantitative analysis might look like? ...................................29 c) Comparative statistics and benchmarks .........................................................................33 i) Circulation comparisons and benchmarks ...................................................................34 ii) Collection size comparisons and benchmarks ............................................................35 iii) Collection allocation comparisons and benchmarks...................................................38 Collection Evaluation Methodology - Part 3 - Qualitative Analysis..........................................44 Collection Evaluation Methodology - Part 4 - Visual inspection..............................................46 STEP 5 - WRITE COLLECTION STATEMENTS.......................................................... 46 STEP 6 - CREATE LONG-TERM STRATEGIES AND ANNUAL PLANS.................... 48 a) Long-term Strategies ..........................................................................................................50 b) Annual plans .......................................................................................................................51 STEP 7 - DEVELOP A BUDGET.................................................................................. 53 a) The current budget plan......................................................................................................53 b) Buying plans .......................................................................................................................54 i) Buying plan to build minimum collection size...................................................................55 ii) Buying plan to build a collection with various formats .....................................................57 iii) Buying plan to meet the specific targets set out in the collection plan ...........................58 STEP 8 – WRITE WEEDING GUIDELINES ................................................................. 60 a) Why weed? .........................................................................................................................60 b) Weeding instructions...........................................................................................................61 APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................ 66 Collection Development Plan – Lincoln Public Library (excerpts)...........................................66 The Library Development Guide Series 1 A Guide to Developing a Collection Plan APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................ 70 Sample user survey for a collection study...............................................................................70 APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................ 78 Quantitative analysis of the library collection ..........................................................................78 APPENDIX D ................................................................................................................ 82 Collection Management Plan for the Tompkins County Public Library ...................................82 APPENDIX E ................................................................................................................ 95 Toronto Public Library - Selected Sample Collection Development Statements ....................95 APPENDIX F............................................................................................................... 101 Worksheet for the Collection Plan.........................................................................................101 APPENDIX G .............................................................................................................. 102 Resources to get Started ......................................................................................................102 APPENDIX H .............................................................................................................. 103 Lists for Qualitative Analysis .................................................................................................103 The Library Development Guide Series 2 A Guide to Developing a Collection Plan INTRODUCTION TO COLLECTION PLANNING Everyone who works in public libraries knows that at the centre of every public library is the collection of library materials. The ODLIS —Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz, posted at http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm, defines a library collection in this way: “library collection The total accumulation of books and other materials owned by a library, cataloged and arranged for ease of access, often consisting of several smaller collections (reference, circulating books, serials, government documents, rare books, special collections, etc.). The process of building a library collection over an extended period of time is called collection development.” The key is that there is a process to building this collection. Collection development, then, is the process of building or improving a collection of library materials through the selection of appropriate materials, acceptance of gifts, weeding or withdrawing materials. The collection development process can just happen based on a series of unrelated decisions, but is best done when there are written documents, that articulate how collection development will happen in your library. These documents include the Collection Development Policy and the operational collection development plan. It is the development of this written collection plan which will be the focus of this document. a) Setting the groundwork The ODLIS —Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz, posted at http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm, provides the following dictionary definitions for collection assessment, collection development and a collection development policy. “collection development: The process of planning and building a useful and balanced collection of library materials over a period of years, based on an ongoing assessments of the information needs of the library’s clientele, analysis of usage statistics, and