The full document is available online at www3.webrary.org/inside/colldevtoc.html.
THE MORTON GROVE PUBLIC LIBRARY (MGPL) serves a population of 23,270 (2010 Census) with a collection of approximately 125,000 volumes. While their board has now approved a new, shorter collection development policy, the Library was known for the comprehensive plan that was available online for many years (many libraries took advantage of this and used the MGPL plan as a starting point). Written in 1992 and updated on a regular basis until 2005, the library is currently using a shorter, more easily updated board-approved document with much more general terms. The original document is currently available online for archival purposes at www3.webrary.org/inside/colldevtoc.html, and a small portion of it is reprinted here.
While it is a very long document, I think it is perhaps the finest example of a comprehensive and complete overview of the collection, and it is a superlative guide for staff. What is most notable is the fact that each section of the collection gets a paragraph on “Retention and Weeding” and a “Development Plan.” For example:
The religion collection is an overview of topics of interest to the general public, including such topics as theology; concepts of God; good and evil; immortality and evolution; biblical studies; Christian theology, history, and doctrine; moral and devotional literature; and titles on comparative religion and religions other than Christianity. At present, the collection is strongly Christian and Jewish in content.
INFLUENCING FACTORS A significant influx of East and South Asian immigrants indicates the need to build collections oriented to Buddhist, Islamic and Hindu traditions. The prominence of an author in the area of Christian moral theology is of prime importance in the selection of materials from reviews in the standard sources. Christianity and its response to socioeconomic phenomena and problems are of constant interest to religious readers. Media reporting of current events can have a strong influence on selection.
A strong influence is the denominational representation in Morton Grove: Roman Catholic, United Church of Christ, Wisconsin Synod Lutheran, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Another factor is patron interest, regardless of denominational affiliation or lack thereof. For example, there is a continuing interest in the Mormon faith. There is a similar interest in cults.
Morton Grove has a substantial but declining Jewish population. The Library has collected virtually anything well-reviewed on Judaism and the Jews as an ethnic group. In recent years, there has been an influx of immigration from East Asia and South Asia to Morton Grove. The newly established Muslim school donated a basic collection of books on Islam. A few titles on religion in Korea were obtained with funds from a state grant.
SELECTION PLAN Using Reader’s Advisor and Books in Print, the Library should augment its present collections in Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism with materials of interest to lay readers and relevant to current social issues. Attention should also be given to religious best seller lists, such as those found in Publishers Weekly. All religions and denominations are represented as fairly as possible, but sectarian materials of a proselytizing nature may be excluded in favor of unbiased, informative presentations.
The Library should focus on selection of titles on Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and the other religions of South and East Asia—Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Confucianism; perhaps titles on the faiths, as practiced in the countries of interest, i.e., Islam in India and Buddhism in Korea, could be acquired if patron interest should so indicate.
RETENTION AND WEEDING Condition of the book determines to a great extent its retention. The 200s are a more stable area with regard to retention and weeding than are many other areas. Classic works, histories and sacred texts of major religions, and important commentaries are retained. Books in poor condition and titles of an ephemeral nature must be withdrawn on annual cycle to maintain space for newer titles.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN Some modest retrospective buying is needed to represent the traditions of immigrant residents and to fill noticeable gaps, i.e., biographies of prominent church founders; however, the collection should remain fairly stable in size.
Concentration should be on popularly written or layperson-accessible titles of potential interest to practitioners of non-Christian faiths and to interested other parties.
The 700s encompass a wide range of subject matter of interest to students, casual art lovers, collectors, and handicraft and sports enthusiasts. The largest sections cover a wide range of arts and crafts, television and motion pictures, and sports. Virtually all items are at a popular level, with little scholarly material.
INFLUENCING FACTORS Patron interest and demand heavily influences purchasing patterns in arts and recreation. Current libretti for each Lyric Opera season, books on Chicago sports teams, and other recreational and informational topics of general public interest are essential purchases.
SELECTION PLAN Standard library selection sources are consulted along with specialty magazines in various fields such as Opera News, Sports Illustrated and Petersen’s Photographic. Specialized publishers’ catalogs such as Abrams, Watson-Guptill and Schirmer Books, and catalogs from sources such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Art Museum are also consulted. Opera libretti are ordered directly from Lyric Opera of Chicago. Most price guides for collectibles are added to the circulating collection rather than the reference collection. General guides should be treated as reference titles, while the more specialized titles are better utilized in the circulating collection.
RETENTION AND WEEDING Books on museums, sculpture or art history should be retained as long as use indicates continuing patron interest and demand. Information in these subject areas is stable and not time-dateable; however care should be taken to maintain currency and freshness in the collection by the regular acquisition of carefully selected new titles. The same applies to books on the history of movies, radio, theater, television and background information on various sports. Handicrafts, hobbies, collectibles and sports rule books should be kept current. Usage figures, condition, and currency of information should continue to be the standard criteria in the weeding process.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN The emphasis should be on keeping the popular topics (as noted above) current to fulfill patron expectations and needs. Photography should be developed, as funds permit, particularly in how-to titles and in collections of individual photographers. Purchasing in the fine arts should be influenced by patron demand and general public interest.
The applied science and technology section serves an extremely wide range of needs: medical information, from personal health to disease coping and recovery; all aspects of home economics and management, including cookbooks, gardening, home and appliance maintenance and repair; electronics and engineering, including automobile maintenance and repair; management, ranging from starting and running a home business through improving one’s management style and moving up the corporate ladder; manufacturing and building trades.
INFLUENCING FACTORS Public library patrons historically have extensive interests in areas such as business, personal health, cookery, do-it-yourself-projects, etc. Consequently, the demand for relevant, current information on these high profile subjects is always high.
SELECTION PLAN In addition to the standard selection tools, Science Books and Films and publishers’ catalogs are used for selection. The standard sources generally provide adequate coverage of medicine, agriculture, home economics and management, while a greater reliance on additional sources may be necessary for other subjects such as electronics, engineering, manufacturing and building. Rarely should more than one copy of a title be purchased.
With the exception of classic works in such general areas as anatomy, nursing and first aid, most selections in the medical sciences should be aimed at the general consumer. It is important to cover as wide a range of diseases and treatments as possible.
Engineering, Manufacturing, Building: Coverage of the more popular subjects in these areas needs to be broad in terms of level, from beginner to professional. Other subjects, especially some in the 660s, 670s and 680s, are too specialized and technical for a public library this size, in which case only popular works aimed at the non-professional are appropriate. Broad coverage is especially important in car repair books in terms of both year and model.
RETENTION AND WEEDING Weeding is based on the normal criteria of age, condition and usage, with the additional criteria listed below for certain subjects.
In general, medical books should be aggressively weeded to ensure that all sources are accurate and up-to-date. This is especially true for books on specific diseases. In other areas, such as dieting, smoking cessation, etc., weeding should be based more on usage level. While it is necessary to select a wide range of books in such areas, their popularity often drops quickly after a year or two.
In all areas, retention should be based on usage level and accuracy of information. In electronics repair, consideration should also be given to the popularity of the device; for example, there is little need to maintain anything more than a very basic collection on repairing black-and-white televisions.
Car Repair Books: Chilton’s and Mitchell’s multi-year or all-model books should be retained permanently (or as long as their condition permits). Single-model books should be retained as long as the model is popular, or a minimum of 5 years.
Regular weeding has left the collection in good shape. However, many new titles are added on a regular basis, so weeding must be done on a yearly basis to avoid overcrowding. Withdrawal considerations should be based on the condition of the book, excess material in any given area, or outdated information.
Manufacturing, Building: Until these sections are built up, and since information on these subjects is not quickly outdated, weeding should be fairly light so that the collection covers as broad a range of topics as possible.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN Overall, the 600s are at an appropriate level. However, within the manufacturing and building subjects that are appropriate for the library, increased purchasing is necessary to expand both the size of the collection and the range of technical levels (beginner to professional).
The history and travel collection consists of popular works intended for a general audience, and supplemental material to support student use (mainly in United States and Western European history). Morton Grove patrons are great travelers, thus placing a considerable demand on current travel guides to most international and national locales. There are also numerous titles covering World War II.
INFLUENCING FACTORS Morton Grove is an ethnically diverse community, thus reflecting a wide range of subject areas that need to be addressed by the collection. The population demands current as well as classic works in the study of all aspects of history. Age and affluence create demand for all types of travel materials. Growth of the Asian population in Morton Grove will necessitate a further enhancement of the Asian history and travel collections.
SELECTION PLAN In addition to the standard selection tools, university press publishers’ catalogs, New York Times Book Review, and American Historical Review are checked regularly. Generally, one copy is ordered unless strong patron demand is anticipated. Travel materials are selected through the standard tools as well as through publisher’s catalogs such as Hunter, Lonely Planet, Fodor, Globe Pequot Press, and Rand McNally. MGPL has standing orders for many annual travel guide series such as Fodor’s, Fieldings, Frommers, Mobil, etc. Generally, one copy is purchased so that the library will have a wide spectrum of the world represented, but titles which are very popular, such as the Mobil guides, are often purchased in multiple copies.
RETENTION AND WEEDING Many works of history are classic titles and should be retained, such as the WPA guides to the states. Careful selection and anticipated demand also aid in determining retention. Titles on popular history are weeded as demand decreases. Travel materials are generally retained from 3 to 4 years, except for travel/adventure memoirs which are retained as long as circulation statistics indicate an interest in them. Multiple copies, materials in poor condition, and superseded titles are weeded on a continuing basis. Public Library Catalog, Books in Print, and Reader’s Advisor may be consulted before withdrawing titles in this collection.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN This collection needs some attention in order to broaden coverage on areas of the world outside of Western Europe and the United States. Areas that need to be expanded include the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Current thought should be represented along with classic texts and treatments. It is important to replace worn or missing titles in the heavy circulating area of travel materials. It is also important to keep in touch with the changing needs of the community and to monitor the demand for specific titles and subject areas.
Classics of literature, popular best sellers, critically-acclaimed first time authors, and genre fiction (spy novels, gothics, romances, historical fiction, westerns) make up the fiction collection. Mysteries and science fiction, which includes fantasy, are separate collections for the browsing/reading convenience of Library patrons. The primary purpose of the fiction collection is to satisfy the heavy demand from recreational readers for popular, new titles. Current best sellers are bought in multiple copies to satisfy anticipated demand. Emphasis is on American and English authors. Classic and popular current authors from other countries are included in English translation, but on a limited basis.
INFLUENCING FACTORS Fiction circulates well in the Library’s community. In addition to recreational reading, the needs of student populations in high schools, numerous community colleges, universities, and continuing education programs for returning older students influence selection of authors and titles. Numerous adult book discussion groups in Morton Grove and neighboring communities create demand for critically acclaimed writers, classic authors, and noted foreign authors. A ready audience and a heavy demand for popular authors dictate selection in the best-seller category. Short stories generally appeal to a small audience; the selection of such titles should be restricted to major authors or award-winning titles.
SELECTION PLAN In addition to standard selection tools, book sections from the Chicago newspapers, and patron demand heavily influence selection. Popular best sellers are obtained in multiple copies to fill patron reserves on a one book to five reserve basis. Generally, only one copy is purchased of other titles, depending on demand. Clues for determining the number of copies to order include how many copies are being printed, the promotional budget, author tours, and selection by book clubs or guilds. Titles are ordered as far ahead of publication as possible, often without the benefit of a review, knowing that there is a heavy demand for major authors.
RETENTION AND WEEDING Literary classics, regional authors, and well-recognized contemporary authors are retained, sometimes in duplicate, as fits demand. Weeding of duplicate copies, books in poor condition, and of ephemeral authors must be done on an annual basis to maintain space for new books. Best sellers wear out rapidly because of high demand; they are either repaired, replaced, or withdrawn depending upon circulation, significance and current popularity of the author, and/or availability. Donations frequently are used to replace worn, damaged best sellers.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN Very little retrospective development is needed, except for filling out the complete works of important and/or popular authors. An emphasis should be placed on replacing worn out editions of older, but important titles with new hardbound editions or new trade paperbacks so as to encourage patron use. New translations of classics that receive critical acclaim should be considered for purchase, or new editions purchased as needed to replace older versions that are worn, bound in library binding, or otherwise unappealing for patron use. The focus should be in having enough multiple copies of high demand books to satisfy patron requests as quickly as possible while maintaining collection depth by purchasing as broadly as possible.