Collection Management in Public Libraries

This was a discussion forum Monday morning primarily attended by Collection Development managers of various public library systems. Discussion topics were proposed by attendees as they introduced themselves, and floating collections was one of the big topics. Several libraries had implemented floating (including mine), and we were able to share some best practices. Other topics included AV vendors and downloadable media. Recommended e-mail discussion lists were

publib http://lists.webjunction.org/publib/

Urban Libraries’ list (must be a member of Urban Libraries Council) http://www.urbanlibraries.org/join/index.html.

While I was occasionally able to share information about my library system, this forum wasn’t useful for branch staff, such as myself, who are more interested in sharing best practices of day-to-day collection maintenance and development. When I asked about a better forum for such discussion, I was referred to the publib discussion group. After the session, I was able to connect with a few other attendees who were like-minded, and we are planning on sharing weeding guidelines, training, etc.