Selectors' Survey Summary

Page history last edited by PBworks 4 years, 7 months ago

Strategic Plan Collections Group Selectors’ Survey

Summary of Results

20 responses received

Your position title:

Librarian: 8, Sr. Librarian: 9, Administrative Librarian I: 2, Other: 1

Areas of the collection for which you select (please check all that apply)

_11__Adult Books __9_Juvenile Books __3_YA Books

_1__AV Adult _2__AV Juvenile

Approximately how many hours do you spend on collection development per month? Include time spent reading reviews, looking up usage statistics, checking reviews sources against on order lists, preparing additional orders (patron recommendations, reorders, etc), and time at meetings devoted to collection development.

20.5 on average for the 18 respondents who provided numerical answers

What are the advantages of the Durham County Library’s current system of resource selection?

· Staff familiarity with collections, better readers’ advisory, staff involvement, sense of ownership – 11

· Collection responsive to needs of local communities, front line staff know their own readers’ interests- 10

· Greater communication among branches, opportunity to share collection information - 4

· Increase staff expertise in genre areas, professional growth – 2

· Selection is a rewarding duty of a readers’ advisory/reference librarian, staff enjoy selection - 2

· Subject areas selected by specialists

· Materials selected by a diverse group

· Managers have more control over decision making for their own locations

· Selectors get materials they believe their patrons want, but may not necessarily know the wishes or needs of all their patrons and may not have materials that would welcome all customers in their service areas

What are the disadvantages of the Durham County Library’s current system of resource selection?

Time involved, having to take work home- 13
The system could make use of an electronic system that will track duplicates, needs to make better use of technology – 3
Review sources not arriving in a timely manner at all locations-3
Selectors unfamiliar with authors or series -2
No disadvantages – 2
Use statistics can only be compiled on Horizon at the library, making it difficult to do this task from home when forced to work “after hours”
Possibly need less frequent meetings
Takes too long to get materials on the shelves
Inefficient
Staff doesn’t know what has been previously ordered and for what location
Not all staff with selection responsibilities have the inclination to do it
Not having more control of nonfiction selection
Lack of control over budget
(No response)

What would be the advantages of a centralized system of resource selection?

Save time, take less work home, free time for more customer service oriented tasks – 11
Selection would be more consistent, selection staff could focus on that task and have an overview of entire collection, items really wanted/needed would be ordered -5
See no advantages -3
Improved efficiency-2
Most locations would have similar materials, so patrons would not have to drive to another location to find what they want (Although books can be requested and sent to another location, current magazine issues cannot)
Materials arrive on shelf more quickly
Job would get done correctly
Selectors might have more time to devote to reorders, standing orders, book club selections, college reading assignments, local books of interest
Better system-wide tracking of orders, budget, etc.
Decrease in diversity of collection
Decrease uniqueness of individual libraries
(No response)

What would be the disadvantages of a centralized system of resource selection?

Individual libraries homogenized and not reflecting local needs, not using staff familiar with individual communities’ needs -12
Staff at libraries unfamiliar with collections or what is being ordered, less able to do readers’ advisory -9
Lack of sense of ownership of collections, loss of decision making power for own location -4
Staff would lose a professional task they enjoy, hurt morale -2
Lack of subject specialist for some areas, loss of multiple viewpoints, limited number of selectors could result in more bias in collections – 3
Less communication among locations
Centralized selection is one step closer to the undesirable option of vendor selection
Inability to fill collection gaps
Collections more hit-and-miss
No disadvantages
(No response)

If selection was not part of your job, how many hours per month would you need to read reviews in order to perform the Readers’ Advisory function of your job?

10.61 average for those who answered

Comments:

Not sure -2
It would no longer be a priority, so possibly none
If not selecting, would have time to look through all reviews, not just selection area
Review reading would need to be written in work plans to ensure time is allowed to perform this task
It would be frustrating to read reviews and not be involved in selecting
Would miss knowledge currently gained by sharing information at selection meetings
(No response)

Describe the ideal system of resource selection for the Durham County Library.

Current system -7
Decentralized
More automated -3
One that involves input from each branch, frequent communication – 2
One that has selection more broadly distributed among staff than the current system - 2
One that allows input from staff and patrons and is responsive to local needs and fluctuations in popularity
System that puts items on shelves quickly, respects subject specialists, and is less cumbersome and does not require staff to work overtime
Selections made by a central group, forwarded to those responsible for selling books to patrons prior to ordering, and discussion allowed for questionable titles
Centralized selection with regular Readers’ Advisory Meetings
Book approval plan
Staff hired specifically for all tasks needed to order library materials. A few staff members at all locations are assigned only one or two tasks (such as working with patron and staff recommendations). Possibly form a community group to meet bi-annually and provide recommendations to help ensure that all populations in the community are served. Staff and group members could email lists to the various population groups to review. Staff involved would have quarterly staff meetings to discuss recommendations and make a final order which would go to acquisitions staff.
Popular books

Other comments or suggestions

Survey seems pointless given the stated high probability that the collection management system will be centralized, even a partial decision should have been made only after information was gathered - 2
Questionable time saving with centralization - time will still be needed to read reviews
If selection is centralized form genre interest groups
Wasted money when items are ordered for a location that does not need them
Would like more time to devote to selection
There is a unique camaraderie and joy in performing this part of our jobs that brings branch managers closer together. It is a time to talk about books, titles, and trends instead of policies and problems. It is worth a lot.
Activate the on order function in Horizon
Regular communication and discussion is an integral part of successful collection development. We need to be open to patron suggestions and provide what they want in terms of collections, just as we have in regards to service and circulation policies. We can only do this be being open to patron input and through discussions among staff. Currently we have good staff communication regarding selection. Collection development has long been one of the things that Durham County Library does best. Durham County Library has maintained an excellent collection despite facing obstacles such as budget and staff shortages and our patrons tell us so on a regular basis. Citizens of other counties are willing to pay for a card because they find our collection superior to their local libraries’. We should consider how satisfied our customers are with our collection.
Request for information on how positions involved with selection may be affected by a restructuring of the selection system.