When's the last time you took a look at your collection? Have you had kids ask you for a book, only to find that it's not in you collection? You probably offered to put it on hold for them, but they said "no, that's ok, I'll just look for it next time I'm here," not realizing that without someone putting a hold on it, it probably won't be there next time, or the time after that, unless someone happens to return it at your library.
Here are some easy steps to make your collection the best it can possibly be:
1. Weeding for condition: I know, I know it sounds counterintuitive - I'm telling you to get rid of things? But just think about how your collection looks-do you have books that are torn, have taped-together pages, weird smells, stains, are sticky or water-damaged? Get rid of them! You don't need anyone's permission to get rid of a gross item (discard based on condition). Would you want to take the book home and read it in bed? No? Then discard it! Attractive, well weeded collections move more books than overstuffed shelves of gross books.
2. Weeding based on other criteria: Consult the CREW manual to weed based on circulation or copyright dates. If you have items in good condition that aren't circulating at your location, these are good candidates for float. If something is outdated, it should be discarded (note: you do need to run these discards by someone in Collection Development-Alma or Sally). Occasionally, Sally will send out a list of items that have been preapproved for discard based on dates (one was sent out for teen items on 3/17/17 to the Collection Development List). There are weeding trainings offered throughout the year-make sure to take one if you haven't yet.
3. Use Collection HQ to refresh your collection and see what is popular! Take advantage of Collection HQ shopping times, and don't forget to send out materials when the time comes! If you haven't used Collection HQ, make sure to look out for a training (again, offered several times a year).
4. Take advantage of the float hub! Any time you're at Central, please go down to LMS and see what items they have on their float carts. You can hand select some items that you'd like to have in your library, and they'll even give you a box and send it through delivery to you! If you use Collection HQ, you can see who your popular authors are, and pull books by them. Don't forget to check in the items at your location when they get there!
5. Place holds on items that you don't have in your collection, but that your customers want! This is what you should do when a kid asks you for an item, but declines to put it on hold for him/herself. If the hold is filled by another neighborhood library, when you remove your hold and check in the item, it will now be your library's. A lot of the books used in VRR storytimes were purchased for the Young opening day collection-if you put them on hold, you can get a copy for your branch, and have it available for your customers to check out when you present your storytime. Young doesn't need 15 copies of any book-share the wealth with them!
Know your collection! Spend some time tending to it, and you'll boost your circulation in no time.
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