Developing an Outstanding Core Collection: A Guide for Libraries - Softcover

Alabaster, Carol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0838910408 ISBN 13: 9780838910405

Publisher: ALA Editions, 2010

Synopsis

In this practical handbook, newly updated for 2010, Carol Alabaster focuses on developing a collection with high-quality materials while saving time and money. She addresses key collection development questions, including

• What criteria are used to identify a core title?
• What is the process for making selections?
• How is a collection maintained and improved?
• How are core titles tracked in the library's acquisition and circulation systems?

Packed with selection resources and sample core lists in seven subject areas, this soup-to-nuts manual will be useful whether you are starting from scratch or revitalizing an existing collection.

About this title

About the Author

Carol Alabaster is one of those women who love books too much, but an extremely fortunate one who has been able to indulge her passion full time as a librarian. She has more than thirty years experience working for public library systems in both New York City and Phoenix. During the thirteen years she was collection development coordinator for the Phoenix Public Library, she developed and implemented systemwide core collections. In addition to writing a weekly book review for the Arizona Republic for more than seven years, she was a National Book Award judge in 1982. She is retired from the Phoenix Public Library but continues to foster her love for books as a book club leader and a full-time reader.

Reviews

Building on the basic premises of the first edition (that the general public needs materials beyond current best-sellers and ready-reference works; that those materials should be high-quality, enduring pieces; and that librarians are the best persons to decide what constitutes appropriate core collections for their communities), Alabaster updates her previous suggestions and addresses the technological changes that drastically affect reading habits and our ability to satisfy the needs of “the people’s university.” Her updated bibliography, assessment of print and online review sources, and overview of how digitization might affect the way books are delivered make this title required reading for all those charged with the task of adult collection development—even if they have already absorbed the basic principles from the first edition. The sample collection-development policies and procedures should prove helpful to anyone responsible for dealing with the reality that no library can have everything and none can keep all they have—and then deciding which items must always be available in one form or another. --Sally Jane

Edition details

• Publisher: ALA Editions
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0838910408
• ISBN 13: 9780838910405
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 200