Collection Development

Developing a collection to serve a library's diverse population can be challenging.  As important as allocating funds to purchase items is a planning process that defines, however informally, for whom you are purchasing items, which types of materials you wish to have available in the collection, and to a lesser extent from what sources you will obtain the items.  Start with your library's existing collection development policy.  How does it speak to adding materials to serve your diverse users?  What changes or additions might you need to make to that policy?

Once you determine the user audience (children? adults?), with its cultural and language ramifications, and you have considered what types of materials you wish to make available (reference, periodical, fiction, non-fiction, e-resources), you can begin to identify publishers and vendor sources.  This may be as simple as purchasing items from your local or online bookstore, or it may involve using published bibliographies of "best titles..." (requiring some research or effort on your part), or you may need to consult a collections expert for a specific language or culture.  Publisher catalogs will show available materials, but you may want additional guidance from review sources.

Some of the resources listed on the "Resources" page are designed to help you plan your collection.  Others point to web pages listing publishers or online resources which offer cultural materials and content.  Although an effort has been made to select web pages which are current, the web lacks a guarantee that what "was" at a given url will continue to be there.  If you find "empty" links, contact ltls@lincolntrail.info.