4 COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
assessment of local needs, acquisition and
1. Introduction: the Public Library should
provide equality of access to a range of
resources that meets the needs of its user for
education, information, leisure and personal
development.
 the Public Library should provide access to
the heritage of its society and develop diverse
cultural resources and experience.
2. Collection Management Policy: each Public
Library system requires a written collection
management policy, endorsed by the
governing body of the library service.
 AIM: to ensure a consistent approach to the
maintenance and development of the library
collections and access to resources.
 the Policy should be based upon library
standards developed by professional staff
related to the needs and interests of local
people, and reflecting the diversity of society.
 the Policy should define the Purpose, Scope
and Content of the Collection; access to
external resources.
 Content of the Policy: Universal, General,
and Specific.
3. Range of Resources: the Public Library
should provide a wide range of materials in a
variety of formats and sufficient quantity…
 the culture of the local community and
society must be reflected in the resource
collection.
 Public Libraries must keep abreast of new
formats and new methods of accessing
information.
 the development of local information sources
and resources is vital.
A. Collections
B. Formats
4. Collection Development: services – Primary
Purpose is the preservation and conservation
of resources for future generations.
 Large Collections are not synonymous with
good collections, particularly in the new
digital world.
 Collection size: space, financial resources,
catchment population of the library,
proximity to other libraries, regional role of
the collections, access to electronic resources,
discard rate, and policy of stock exchange
with other libraries.
 Criteria for Collections…
5. Collection Maintenance Principles: applies
equally to all materials whatever their format
 Materials on open access should be in good
physical condition and contain current
information.
 using outdated reference material can result
in the user being given inaccurate
information
 Materials in electronic formats complement
book collections and will replace them in
certain areas.
 Reference Works and Periodicals on the
Internet and on CDs are viable alternatives to
printed formats.
A. Acquisition and Discards: acquisition
rates are more significant than collection
size; the acquisition rate is often
determined largely by the size of the
resource budget; the size and quality of
the stock should reflect the needs of the
community.
B. Reserve Stocks: necessary to maintain a
collection of older and lesser-used books
on shelves not directly accessible to the
public; this should only contain books
that have a current or future use and that
cannot be replaced or found in any other
format.
C. Interlending: No library or library
service can be self-sufficient in stock, and
an efficient and effective interlibrary loan
system should be an essential part of
every public library service…
6. Standards for Book Collections: as a
general guide an established book collection
should be between 1.5 to 2.5 books per
capita; the minimum stock level for the
smallest service point should not be less than
2500 books…
7. Standards for Electronic Information
Facilities: a standard of 1 computer access
point per 5000 population has been used in
Canada…
 at least half the public PCs should have access  Local History Resources – material
to the Internet and all should have access to a relating to the history of the locality
printer… should be actively collected, preserved
8. Collection Development Programme for and made available
New Libraries: an assessment is required of  Libraries in communities with a
the demographics of the community in the high proportion of particular
catchment areas of proposed new library groups – children, retired people,
developments to determine the initial mix of young adults, indigenous peoples,
collections. ethnic minorities or unemployed
A. Establishment Phase: a basic collection people should reflect the needs of
should be established in new libraries to these groups in their collections and
serve the needs of the general population service
within he catchment area; ideally a new  Reference Collections – older
library should be established with a reference material may need to be
minimum base stock of 1.0 book per retained to provide historical data for
capita research.
B. Consolidation Phase: to achieve growth
in the stock size, range and depth; a
growth to 2.0 per capita would be a
modest target over a three-year period…
C. Steady-State Phase: the quality of
collections is maintained by acquisition
rates matching discard rates; new formats
are accommodated within the collections
as they become available and access is
provided to the widest possible range of
resources through the use of technology.
D. Content Creation: the service should
become a content creator and a preserver
of local community; it includes
Publication of Information Booklets and
the development of Web Content by
providing access to information about the
library or held by the library in printed
formats…

9. Acquisition and Discard Rates

A. Small Libraries and Mobile Libraries:
acquisition rates, renewal rates or
exchange rates should be based upon the
collection size rather than the population
served, and be in the order of 100% or
more per annum; an efficient interlibrary
loan system is essential in these situations
B. Special Collections:
 Indigenous Resources – maintaining
and promoting collections of
resources related to the culture of
indigenous people and ensuring
access to them