Collection Development and Maintenance Plan

Collection Development and Maintenance Plan

The purpose of the Collection Development and Maintenance Plan is to ensure that the Library’s collection is adequate to serve the needs of the community both in its size and content. The plan includes processes for developing, maintaining, and reviewing our collection. It ensures transparency in our development process and acts as a benchmarking document for the structure and scope of the collection.

In accordance with OP-03 Collection Development, purchasing and weeding decisions will be made using the following criteria:

  • Recommendations by critics or reviewers
  • Public demand
  • Relationship of subject to existing collection, including continuations of series
  • Importance of subject matter in relation to community needs
  • Authority or significance of author
  • Quality of writing, production and illustrations
  • Authority and standards of publisher
  • Suitability of format for FFPLTC use
  • Canadian content
  • Bestseller lists

Collection Development

Through ongoing development of the collection, the FFPLTC ensures that the community has access to recent resources to serve their information, cultural, and recreational needs. As stated in OP-03 Collection Development, “the FFPLTC develops collections which include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Fiction and non-fiction for adults, young adults and children
  • Magazines
  • Picture books
  • Music
  • Local history and local interest
  • Adult literacy
  • Government documents”

Collection priorities

Collection priorities will be established annually through the collection review process completed as a part of the Annual Performance Measurement Indicators and Statistics (APMIS) report. Once weeding and purchasing priorities are set they will be communicated to staff. Considerations will be given to the age of collections, patron demand, community need, and collection turnover.

Buying Plan & Acquisitions

New materials will be added to the collection at a rate and in formats that are sufficient to maintain a reasonable level of currency, accuracy, and accessibility. Purchasing priorities will be set based on data gathered as a part of the APMIS report.

The goal will be to purchase as many items as are weeded each year. Given current collection use and funding levels, this means the Library is able to replace approximately 7-8% of its collection each year.  

Languages

In order to ensure that the Library’s collection meets the language needs of our community. Staff will review the census data as it is released.

Currently, the majority (96%) of our community speak mostly English at home.  There is a French immersion program in the community and a small portion (1%) of the population report speaking French at home. A small portion (1%) of the population in Fort Frances report speaking Ojibway at home. There is a small number of Ojibway and French language books available, the majority of the collection is in English.

Collection Profiles

Audiobooks

This collection contains audio books in CD, including a small selection in MP3 format, and Playaway formats. Items that are collected are mostly popular fiction with a small number of nonfiction works. All items are rehoused in durable plastic cases to increase the longevity of these expensive resources. Audiobooks are purchased for adult, teen, and children’s audiences.

CELA resources

The Library stocks a collection of CELA resources. These resources include Daisy Discs, a Daisy Disc reader, and a Victor reader. The readers can be checked out by patrons so they can test the technology before ordering their own, or in the event there is an issue with their own reader. A small collection of Daisy discs is also held on a rotating basis. The items are held in storage and are retrieved as requested. This is done as the discs may only be loaned to patrons with vision impairments. Additionally, titles are borrowed through CELA’s interlibrary loan.

Children’s Print

A robust and varied children’s collection is necessary for the development of literacy skills within the community. A children’s collection is maintained which supports a wide variety of ages and reading abilities. The children’s collection includes board books, picture books (hardcover and paperback), easy readers (hard cover and paperback), fiction (including primary to intermediate level chapter books in both paperback and hardcover), non-fiction (primary to intermediate level), and graphic novels (primary to intermediate level). Some consideration is given to the needs of the curriculum.

DVDs

Patron demand for movies and TV titles is high. It has the total highest circulation per annum. The majority of the demand is for new or recently released material. The collection is divided into subcategories, which include Comedy, Drama, Family, Horror, Action, Westerns, Documentaries, and TV Series.

Equipment

The Library holds a varied collection of circulating equipment. This includes sporting – fishing rods and tackle, tennis rackets, walking sticks, etc. and audiovisual – VR googles, earbuds, GPS units, laptops, etc. The collection is added to according to current technological trends or the availability of grants.

Fiction

Adult fiction remains the second highest circulating collection the Library holds. New fiction is placed on display for the first few months the Library owns the item. After it ceases to be “new” the item is placed within the general collection. A wide variety of genres are collected.

Graphic Novels

Graphic Novel collections are maintained within our children’s, teen, and adult collections. The teen and adult collections are held next to each other, due to the assumed cross over between readers of both collections. Manga suitable for teens is also collected.

Large-Print

Fort Frances is an aging community, as such the Library boasts a sizable large print collection designed to meet the needs of our community. The majority of titles added are newly published however, older titles in large print format are added to the collection based on patron demand, particularly in the western genre.

Local History & Content

Fort Frances and the Rainy River District has a rich history dating back thousands of years. The Library maintains a local history collection which reflects the breadth of history that exists in our area. Local history books are circulating material, in some instances more than one copy of an item will be purchased in order to have one circulating copy and one copy held in storage. If an item from the local history collection becomes worn, a replacement will be purchased or if a replacement cannot be found the item will be moved to storage and become reference material available upon request.

In addition to local history books which are non-fiction, the Library also collects books which contain local content, ie. they are set in Rainy River, northwestern Ontario, or northern Minnesota. The Library also collects books that have been published by local authors. A local author is someone who either currently lives in the area, or who has lived in the area previously.

Music

A collection of CDs in a variety of genres is maintained. This includes popular music, jazz, classical, folk, rock, soundtracks, and country. The circulation of this collection is closely monitored to ensure that the budget for materials purchasing matches the circulation of the collection

Non-Fiction including Reference resources

How non-fiction collections are used had shifted with the advent of the internet. A report was developed which allows the Library to track circulation and turnover by Dewey decade in order to better identify the demand for each subject. The Library retains items that are of general or popular interest as well as items which are authoritative on particular topics.

Paperbacks

A paperback collection is maintained that includes romance, harlequin, science fiction, fantasy, general fiction, western, mystery, and true crime genres. Paperback volumes are purchased for items which may be otherwise too expensive in hardcover, are only available in paperback, or whose demand does not warrant a more expensive hardcover version. Paperbacks are collected in recognition of that the fact that some patrons only want paperbacks or “pocket books”.

Periodicals

A magazine collection of popular titles is maintained. The majority of titles are purchased from a wholesaler, specific items of proven demand are purchased individually from the publisher. A newspaper collection of local and national papers is maintained. It is becoming more difficult to find national papers willing to deliver to Fort Frances.

Teen Print

A Teen collection of fiction and non-fiction is maintained. The items include popular and best-selling titles at a variety of age and interest levels. Hi-lo titles and titles with Canadian content in a variety of genres is also collected. Given the high turnover in popularity of titles in the teen collection, the collection is replaced with higher frequency than circulation may warrant.

Video Games

Video games are collected for Xbox One and PS4, items are also held for the Xbox360, PS3, and Wii consoles. Primarily games which are rated E or T are collected.

eResources

The eResource collection includes eBooks and audiobooks accessed through Overdrive as well as subscriptions to online digital resources like EBSCO, Gale, Novelist, Tumblebooks, etc. Ebooks are added to the collection based on popular demand and cost. Digital collections are expanded or discontinued based on usage and community need.

The participates in two shared eResource collections, the Ontario Library Service – Download Centre and the Rainy River District Library Cooperative.

Labelling procedures

FFPLTC material is labelled in a consistent format that facilitates ease of access. The following table provides a guide for labelling and item type selection.  Additionally there are distinct labels for the Teen, Graphic Novel, Reference, and Easy Reader collections. For Teen and Graphic Novel collections, the spine labels form a part of the call number. The below list will be updated as JASI cataloging standards are altered.

Adult Fiction E-FIC FIC XXX
Adult Graphic Novels E-GN GN [DEWEY]/FIC XXX
Adult Non-Fiction E-NFIC [DEWEY]
Adult Paperbacks E-PB PB [COLOUR] X
Adult Reference E-REF REF [DEWEY]
Blu-Ray Movies BLU-RAY BLU-RAY X
Board Games E-GAME GAME [Number]
CDs (Music) E-CD CD [GENRE]  X
Daisy Reader DAISY_RDR Daisy Reader
Daisy Reader CD DAISY_CD DAISY FIC/NFIC XXX
DVD - Children's E-DVD_J J DVD X
E-Book E-EBOOK EBOOK
E-Book Reader E-BKREADER E-Reader [TYPE] #
Fishing rods and tackle TACKLE
Game Controllers AV-EQUIP CONTROLLER #
Garmin GPS E-EQUIPMENT GPS
Juvenile Board Books E-JBD_BOOK J BABY BOOK XXX
Juvenile CDs (Music) E-JCDROM J CD XXX
Juvenile Fiction (including paperbacks) E-JFIC J FIC XXX
Juvenile French Books E-JFRE J FRENCH [DEWEY]/FIC/PIC XXX
Juvenile Graphic Novels E-GN_JUV J GN [DEWEY]/FIC XXX
Juvenile Hardcover Easy Readers E-JEASY J EASY XXX
Juvenile Magazines E-JPER J MAGAZINE [month] [year]
Juvenile Paperback Easy Readers E-PBEASY J PB EASY XXX
Juvenile Playaways E-JPLAY J PLAY XXX
Juvenile Reference E-JREF J REF [DEWEY]
Juvenile Talking Books E-AUDIOBOOK J AV FIC XXX / [DEWEY]
Kit E-KIT KIT XXX
Laptop Computer COMPUTER Computer #
Large Print E-LP LRG PRT FIC XXX
Large Print Non-Fiction E-LP_NONF LRG PRT [DEWEY]
Launchpad E-VID_E J LAUNCHPAD
Leased Materials E-MCN FIC XXX
Magazines E-PER MAGAZINE [month] [year]
Pamphlets E-PAM PAM
Paperback Picture Books E-PBPB  J PB PIC XXX
Picture books E-JPIC J PIC XXX
Playaways E-PLAY PLAY XXX
Talking Books E-TBCD AV XXX
Talking Books Non-Fiction E-TBNF AV [DEWEY]
Talking Books on MP3 E-TBMP3 AV MP3 XXX
Teen Fiction E-YFICTEEN TEEN FIC XXX
Teen Graphic Novels E-YAGN  TEEN GN [DEWEY]/FIC XXX
Teen Non-Fiction E-YNFCTEEN TEEN [DEWEY]
Videogames VIDEOGAME [CONSOLE] # 

Item categories used by the Library are:

Item Category 5

Adult, Teen, Children

Collection Maintenance Procedures

By regularly maintaining the collection the Library will be able to ensure the collection remains appealing and authoritative. Regular maintenance makes it easier on staff and patrons to find books. It ensures that our collection is in good repair. Regular collection maintenance assists with collection development as staff will be well informed of the strengths and weaknesses of the collection.

Withdrawal Procedures

At the minimum staff should be removing about as many items from the collection as are being added each year. This ensures that shelving does not become overcrowded. Weeding should not be done specifically to create more room for a collection however, and instead on the merits of the material. The merits include how long it has been since the item last circulated, its condition, as well as other factors. Collection sizes will shift over time, and it may be that one collection will need less space as other collections grow due to demand.

Reports Used

Item Stats: this report can identify both the last checkout date and the date that the record was created. Other item list reports do not capture items which have never circulated.

Factors influencing weeding

Weeding lists will initially be generated based on the length of time since the item has last circulated. Any item which has not circulated in 5 years will be included. When weeding staff will also consider the following factors as outlined in the CREW method:

  • When was the item published and when was it added to the collection?
  • Is the author still read or likely to be read in the future?
  • How is the items physical condition, is it worn and tattered?
  • How expensive would a replacement copy be?
  • Are there additional copies of the title within the collection?
  • Do we hold other books on the same subject in the collection, or what else is available on this subject if this item is discarded?
  • How relevant is the subject to our community, or would anyone in the community be interested in the topic?

Inventory Procedures

The collection is inventoried on an ongoing basis and is completed at least once every five years. By inventorying the collection we can ensure that the catalogue accurately reflects the contents of the collection.

Collection Review

On an annual basis the Library will review the collection. This review will include an examination of:

  • Circulation per capita compared to volumes per capita
  • Turnover Rate – number of items which have circulated that year versus total holdings
  • Public Suggestions for purchase, including if they were purchased or borrowed through interlibrary loan
  • Percentage of each collection which circulates a year

Size of the Collection

The FFPLTC is considered medium sized library as we serve a resident population of approximately 7,500 and a contracting population of 950. It is suggested that medium sized branches serving populations between 5,000 and 10,000 have 3-4 items per capita with a minimum of 15,000 items. As Fort Frances is near the middle of the range for population, the FFPLTC should also be in the mid-range for the number of items.

Given the above, the FFPLTC should have at least approximately 25,167 to 33,556 items. The Library currently holds 45,530 print items and many digital items. It is not suggested that we weed in order to reach the minimum standard, instead weeding decisions should be made based on collection circulation and age.

Every four years, once new census data has been released, library holdings will be reviewed to ensure that the Library continues to have a collection of the appropriate size.

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