Best Collection EverOLA Superconference 2015

Anthea Bailie – Collections Development Strategist

Fred Whitmarsh – Branch Manager

What We Will Cover Today

• MPL at a Glance• Collections – Before • Collections – After• What you can do now!

MPL at a Glance

Population 331,053Branches 7

Total Circulation 4.37 million

Total Visits 2.32 million

Languages 20

Before

Work Not Assigned Effectively

• Librarians with too much to do• Supervisors not responsible for collections

Lack of Staff Engagement

• Impact at the branch level• Communication about collections procedures

“Customer Focus”?

• Emphasis on anecdotal information• Lack of objectivity

“Training”?

• Lack of training for branch staff• Right information in the wrong hands

After

Assigning Work Properly

• Collections Development Strategist• Branch Librarians • Library Services Associates• Communicating with vendor

Staff Engagement

• Share information• Ask for suggestions• Staff Picks

Customer-Centered Collections

• Customer usage patterns– How are customers using your existing collection– What are they requesting more of?– What are they requesting that you don’t have?

• Collection Placement and Transfers• Direct customer feedback• Sociodemographic data

Customer-Centered Collections

• Customer usage patterns– How are customers using your existing collection– What are they requesting more of?– What are they requesting that you don’t have?

• Collection Placement and Transfers• Direct customer feedback• Sociodemographic data

Training

• Position-specific• Teach yourself

What You Can Do Right Now!

What you can do right now! (Strategy)

• Weed• Merchandise• Look & Feel• Review procedures (process map)• Take an Excel course• Data clean up• New collections

What you can do right now! (Quick Wins)

• Unlimited renewals• Holds ratio• Up sell• Celebrate reading

Questions?