Thinking about collection building on the job

The library I work for is in the process of acquiring a new branch on a very limited budget. For the past eight months, or so, we’ve been pilfering through book donations given to the main branch to create the collection at our new location. It is really incredible to watch how we are all working together on this project. There are four or five of us who contribute our literary strengths each morning, pulling the books we know and love to add to this project. Some of us are most knowledgeable about mysteries; some know which best sellers to pull. I take some time out each morning to see which classics and children’s books I think this small rural library might need. Thinking about the kinds of patrons we’ll have and what they’d be interested in checking out has been a huge part of this. Likewise, thinking about the books that every library “should” have has also been a major part of the process. So far, we have created a fairly decent sized collection just based on donations. It’s really pretty incredible.