Collection Management

While most librarians recognize that libraries are more than books, they do hold a large space in the library ecosystem. As communities grow and change, libraries bear the responsibility of acquiring items that appeal to, and represent, current and potential readers, researching the accuracy of informational texts, and libraries are responsible for identifying when an item should be removed from the collection. 

To institutionalize these processes, many library workers participate in continuing education and build policies around the management of library collections from acquisition to deselection.

The Collection Management process includes:

• Knowledge about vetted, reliable review resources 
• The readers advisory skills to pair patrons with the appropriate books and identifying if the library collection meets the needs of the community 
• Mindfully cultivating collection that represent a diversity of lived experiences
• Identifying when items from a collection should be weeded from a library collection 
• Crafting a detailed collection management policy and reconsideration form and process