RA ROUNDTABLE APRIL 13 2015
Location: Case Memorial Library
Topic: Collection Development and RA
What is the relationship between readers’ advisory and collection development?
 Westport:
o Has had several retirements, and have redone collection development as
a result—feel they are still missing cohesiveness in the process, and
missing a connection to RA in the library.
o Patron requests are the main connection between RA and collections
o Have a biweekly meeting that is open to everyone to talk about new items
being ordered
o “If you want to be a good readers’ advisor, you need to know what’s in the
collection”
 Stratford also had a regular collection development meeting, but no longer does,
and the feeling is that makes it harder to be up-to-date on what they don’t
personally buy (like non-fiction)
How do people handle patron requests? Are they a good opportunity to connect RA and
collection development?
o Stratford gets a lot and will buy anything that is current and in their buying
parameters
o Westport will buy new books when requested, though not as many as they
have in the past
o Fairfield buys new books when requested
o Norwalk buys both new and older, inexpensive books
o Case Memorial’s policy just eliminates textbooks and self-published books
 Do you have a collection development policy?
o No: Westport, Norwalk, Stamford
o Yes: Darien, Greenwich
 Self-published authors can be a complicated issue for both collections and for RA
o Need a collection development policy to help with these issues
o Most libraries will purchase if the author lives in town, and add donated
books to the collection
o More and more are ebook-only, which is complicated because they are
usually not offered for purchase through library vendors
Digital collection development and RA: Ebooks and digital collections need to be
considered separately in collections policies because they raise new and different
issues
o The consortium Case Memorial is in is updating their policy to reflect this,
including looking at a price limit for books (ie the expense of some of
Random House’s books as they are on the permanent model)
o Holds ratios are often different because of expense, too
o Patron desires are very helpful in developing ebook collections
 Most are right now replicating the physical collection
 In some places, restricted by availability

Issues around digital collection development can be helped by RA—what are the
issues we are facing?
o Greenwich: separate buyers for physical and digital
o Norwalk: so many vendors—do we buy the same books in each digital
collection?
o Stamford still has a weekly book meeting 9-10am, before opening, in
which everyone goes through carts in advance and looks at reviews, then
discuss books based on how many people think they should be purchased
o Darien sends two emails to all frontline adult services staff to update them
on collection development: one weekly that talks about how many copies
of popular books have been purchased to help fill holds ratios (Fairfield
also does this) and one monthly that lists the coming month’s new
releases, annotated with notes about popular books and staff favorites
o Fairfield has a selection committee that also initials in carts and then
discusses books with multiple initials; send the weekly Most Wanted email
to notify staff about popular books and new purchases to fill holds. Staff
who work at the staff desk are often well-informed because they see
what’s going on the holds shelf
o Norwalk: each part-timer has a RA specialty, like sci-fi. They lean on that
knowledge rather than more general RA/collections information
o Fairfield: does a monthly genre study to learn more about unfamiliar
genres. Take turns running it, and whoever runs it sends out a book list in
that month’s genre to select from. (This also provides a great list of
recommendations)
NoveList—how do we use that for collection development and/or RA?
o Stratford uses to look up quick readalike recommendations and to print
lists for patrons to use for guidance, which they love
o “We don’t always have to be the expert!”
o Perrot: one challenge is getting buy-in and staff feeling valued—for
NoveList, a lot of the challenge is communicating which resources are
even available, especially to part-time staff
How does the human element of RA help with collections?
o Darien: Develop a “cult of personality” around each staff member so that
patrons know their tastes and feel comfortable approaching them—Darien
uses a weekly email called You Are What You Read where librarians write
about their current reading and share it
o Stamford trying to use librarian knowledge to anticipate long holds lists
and how to serve patrons—for example, knowing Go Set A Watchman by
Harper Lee will be big when it comes out, develop a list of similar books
for those waiting—and buy extra copies of them
o Darien: leave all ARCs in staff lounge, with a special space called “Top
Shelf Reads” for staff to let each other know which books they’re enjoying
o Fairfield: Sue personally hands out ARCs to people who she thinks will
enjoy them, helping to connect people with books
Is there a disconnect between selection of books and patron needs?

o Greenwich: “There’s a lot of room for communication between those who
are on the front lines and those who do the ordering, often in isolation”
 One way to get involved in collections is to be in the collection
development meetings and look at review sources, but this isn’t
possible for all employees
o Norwalk wishes it was possible to use data better, as for example when
considering purchase of short story collections, which don’t circulate
well—many purchasing decisions seem separate from actual numbers
available
Stamford is looking forward to collectionHQ’s ESP product, as is Darien, which
will allow libraries to import selection recommendations into Baker & Taylor
based on circulation history
 However, circ data only shows what has happened in the past, not
what could happen or might change
 It can also have a short memory—for example, books that circulate
well the first six months but then tank, or vice versa, will be hard to
spot when looking back
o Other ideas for collection development and RA:
 Stratford would love a failed search report from its OPAC, to see
what patrons are searching for and can’t find—would help with
collection purchasing decisions
 Fairfield has a display of “soft porn” after success of Fifty Shades
that is so popular it needs to be refilled every few days
 But no one ever asks about these books—so collection
development can’t just rely on RA, because RA wouldn’t have
predicted this success
 Case Memorial keeps a binder at the desk that allows patrons to
self-serve, and also helps staff who are less confident in their RA
skills
 Includes bestseller lists, subject booklists developed by librarians,
staff picks, and other recommended reads
o Darien encourages frontline staff to use the Suggest a Purchase page on
their website to make the workflow of patron (and staff!) suggestions
simpler
 An extra notes field at the bottom of this form allows staff to leave
notes for selectors about why they suggested (two patrons in a row
asked, missing the second book in a series, etc etc)
o Even just making it a habit for all staff to start their desk time 5 minutes
before their shift to share information can provide stronger links between
RA and collections, as long as collections staff have some desk time
Some libraries are not sure how to let frontline staff know what would be useful to
them in collection development positions
o Stratford regularly checks in to ask “what’s the hot book right now?” which
gives good feedback and keeps lines of communication open
o Fairfield points out that the staff who are most likely to talk to patrons are
shelvers, who are in a great situation to do RA

o Similarly, Westport frontline staff are encouraged to be on the floor,
especialy circulation, which is literally on the floor and highly visible
o Need to build a culture where people feel comfortable and welcome to
make suggestions no matter what their job is
Adult summer reading is another place where RA and collection development
can help each other
o Everyone but Westport and New Canaan plan to
o Most programs are very laidback
o Stamford leads book discussions as part of it
o Fairfield hides clues on website as part of the programming
o Greenwich’s “Greenwich Reads Together” program is taking over the adult
summer reading