Any article that covers what sorts of books make it into the collection should also cover the sad (and mysterious) process of de-accessioning. I use another city's very large library system and I notice books are constantly disappearing from the shelves (and the database). I know this because I make notes to myself of what I want to read, and when I go back several years later (when I have the time to read it), it's no longer in the collection. If this is based on criteria like when was the last time someone checked out a title, I wish I had known this, so I could have checked it out just to put it on a "safe" list.
26
Top two books from NYPL are hate Trump books. Gee What a surprise
1
Regarding the Cat in the Hat being a staple... it may not be as much of a staple as it has been in the past. There is thought that Dr. Seuss based the Cat in the Hat on blackfaced minstrelsy. There is a recent article in School Library Journal called "Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books" by Grace Hwang Lynch. You can read the article on-line.
3
About libraries, does anyone know if the NYPL in Hunters Point South, LIC, will ever open?
1
The NYPL makes it easy to recommend a book through its "Recommend a Title" online form in the Contact Us section of its web site. I've submitted several requests over the years. While I'm sure my recommendation alone never moved the library to add a title to its collection, it's satisfying to think I may have contributed to the decision process!
10
No one needs an M.L.S. degree to decide what books should make it to the shelves at NY Public. Certainly, it takes a knowledge of books and readers, but a Masters of Library Science? Of no use whatsoever.
8
Part of an MLS entails learning about "books and readers," as well as experience in terms of what sorts of books people read, both at first and over time (not the same thing!). Also knowing how to gather and analyze data to support those decisions.
Contrary to what some think, buying the "top sellers" on Amazon is NOT the way to build a library collection of any value, either in the short or long term!
And why the antipathy to people with degrees and skills? Sounds a lot like the "anyone can teach so who needs to have education credentials?" line of thinking... When did people with skills and advanced degrees become objects of scorn?
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@Civres
That's the silliest comment I've ever read. People with a MLS live for books and readers. That's why they have the degree. And that's why they can make the decisions of what books go on the shelves.
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I'm a former academic who's no longer affiliated with any university. I might write a scholarly book on Shakespeare. It's dawned on me that, for serious research on such a topic, I won't be able to rely on the NYPL. I'll have to buy a membership at NYU or Columbia. The NYPL won't have all the books and articles published on Richard II or Macbeth.
3
@Anti-Marx And as an academic (former, current or otherwise), you'd know that you'd always have to rely on university libraries to support your "serious" research. NYPL, large as it is, is not a TARDIS with infinite space to accommodate everything ever written. Their acquisition protocols and budgets allow them to acquire as many items as possible that will circulate well; realistically, though, they can't buy every niche monograph or scholarly journal, which are usually obscenely expensive. (Check out Elsevier's price list if you need proof.) So please don't pout about a public library system allocating its resources realistically for its main patron base. If you're still writing about Shakespeare (and more power to you if you are), then you can deduct your NYU and Columbia library access fees from your income tax as work-related expenses. Good luck, and let us know when the book's out!
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@Anti-Marx
Sadly, no library has all the book and articles on any topic. That's why Inter-library loan was invented.
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Don’t forget the vast resources of the NYPL Research Library at 42nd St. When you enter the main reading room, you will see displays of the many books that were researched and written there. Good luck with your Shakespeare book.
17
How I happily remember the "good old days" when I could spend a day or more immersing myself in each and every book that vied for inclusion in the part of the library for which I made the selections. Their physical presence, along with reviews from PW, Booklist, Kirkus, NYT, etc. as well as personal knowledge of the constituency served by "my" collection helped me make judicious selections and bring our public library research collection to the level of first year college research.
But, all things change - for good or for ill. And I won't comment any further.
8
Where is the giveaway pile?
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@Concerned
Its a pile of books that have damaged, discarded, or were never put in the collection. Some libraries sell such books and use the money for library programs, some give them to Friends of the Library who have annual books sales and some libraries just give them away.
6
Self-published author? Do NOT show up at your local public or college library with your "gift" and expect us to accept your so-called book, and thank you for it. Libraries have protocols. Libraries have standards. [This snarky post made on behalf of a professional librarian pal who is driven mad by amateur authors bearing gifts because, hey, this is America, and anyone can be an author.]
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@Will Fortunately, libraries are not expected to keep gift books. If they don't fill a need in the collection, they can go onto the book sale table, and thus help to raise funds for materials that the library really needs. Plus, the gift books get re-homed at bargain prices with people who really want them.
7
So what was the book about the history of Yorkville?
1
Thank you. As a retired librarian most library users don't know how books are selected for a collection nor do they understand how books are de-selected or what librarians call weeding the collection. The process for de-selection is just as important for the public to know about as the selection process. Thanks again. Please reference this fight in Fort Wayne. https://fortwaynesnbc.com/news/2019/03/01/allen-county-board-of-library-trustees-puts-pause-on-weeding-books-until-after-public-meeting/?fbclid=IwAR2hk3RsiCojnjxrF_JY-fD9do6qMQBhbD2o68qfIEOiTWagFsPx_LK9kdU
16
Thank you for this article. At every stage of my life I have enjoyed exploring libraries:
1) Riding my bicycle to the Carnegie library in my home town;
2) Once I had a driver's license, driving to downtown Chicago evenings and weekends to explore the old main public library (built in 1897);
3) During my four years in Washington DC: as a Congressional staffer being able to explore the closed stacks of the Library of Congress, a rare privilege.
27
The NYPL seems to have multiple copies of every silly political book produced assembly line style by bloviating pundits and other political hacks. It is much more difficult to find books with real literary merit such as the classics and contemporary literature.
2
Absolutely not true!
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@Andrew J. Cook
Not so! Libraries serve all readers and you will find the classics as well as the short lived books on the shelves.
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@Andrew J. Cook The library buys the books people want to read, and gets multiple copies so that they don't have to wait weeks or months to get them. What a concept!
Did you know that many classics are in the public domain and, as such, are available for free online?
14
My books on science and lit are in libraries like the Royal Danish, Stanford, U Toronto, Liceo Aristophanes Roma, and the British Library (which has four of'em) so I don't worry about libraries who never discover them. I spent forty years writing one, translating mostly from the subject's Latin and Italian, but also from articles in French and Russian; I spoke on it at Harvard Center for Astrophysics. One of the others, a play by the same author, was performed at the Bridewell Theatre, London--neighborhing where that same author had lived for three years when the French ambassador lived there (1580s). The publisher of the prior was a small British art publisher, so I could include 76 color illustrations
--which none of the famous publishers on this author had bothered to do.
@Alan Powers
Satire?
5
Random library thoughts:I have loved libraries since I was a child (I’m now 67). I was always lucky to live by a public library or to have easy access to a university library. Seems to me that I see fewer and fewer teenagers and young adults at my local libraries checking out books. If they’re there, it’s to have access to a computer or free wi-fi which just shows how libraries can meet the changing needs of their public. Now that there are fewer and fewer bookstores, we browser-types can satisfy our desire to find something interesting by looking through the stacks. And no one cares how long you browse! My husband and I make a point of visiting libraries wherever we travel. Every library is unique and interesting. One last thing—public libraries around here are places of refuge for people when the weather is miserable and/they have no other place to go. I’ve never heard or seen a librarian be rude to these people except to ask them not to bathe in the bathroom sinks and not to place their tents where it might block access.
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As a retired teen librarian, I can tell you they are devouring books, mostly ebooks, and taking their parents with them. Libraries through the decades have changed to meet the needs of society, often anticipating social change.
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@JS
Got good news for you. Bookstore are a growing business (two just opened in towns near me) and libraries are changing into community centers to serve all public needs (but I can assure you, books are still being checked out)
9
@JS Teens are rampant in our libraries, sometimes too many when they are studying and noisily interacting. Our local libraries actually have dedicated teen sections separate from the kid's sections. They have a large room of books for them along with separate computer, eating (there's a cafe), and socializing areas. There's even programs specifically tailored to them Sometimes, how many teens you see depends on the time you are at the lib: they're esp. prevalent from 3PM - closing time on weekdays where I am. And weekend afternoons. They do their homework in the library.
7
My local public library (town population of 6500) and I have a deal. I buy books that interest me, read them and give them to the library which adds them to the collection.
In return I get a free library card.
A bargain for us both...
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@HapinOregon I’ve never heard of having to pay for a library card. You must be kidding, right?
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@JackRussell
Tongue thoroughly in cheek...
But, there are indeed private libraries that charge.
3
It strikes me as a bit ironic that the NYPL sorting facility is, according to this article, located in Queens, one of the two boroughs not served by the NYPL (Brooklyn and Queens each having its own separate library system.)
When we moved from Manhattan to Forest Hills a few years back, one of the first things I missed was the ease with which I had once been able to request virtually any book in existence online and then pick it up a few days later at my local NYPL branch (Webster, for the record.)
As impressive as the Queens library system may be when compared to that of almost any other city in the country, it is simply outdone by the NYPL.
13
I worked for NYPL in the mid-80s, and we had a marvelous book selection room at the library. Once a month I would visit to select books for my children's department in a small branch. I was able to look at picture books before I bought them--reading reviews is just not enough--you need to look at the art! Every book there had been reviewed by an NYPL children's librarian. If I couldn't afford all the books I wanted, I could put the library on the list for the Extension Collection, which rotate books from library to library.
Standards were really high. We bought a minimum of commercial toy/movie tie ins. We were encouraged to buy more new books than replacement copies to encourage keeping the collection fresh, and promoting new authors.
Those 16 folks in that warehouse don't work in branches, and in NYC, branches are as individual as their residents. It's better than getting your books pre-selected by a jobber, but I'm very glad that the small library system I work in still allows me to purchase books that truly fit the needs of the neighborhood I serve. It would be a waste to buy fabulous children's books that just sat there, and if I'm missing a title, nowadays getting a wanted book from another branch takes a quick phone call and/or a computer transaction.
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@Elizabeth
I too was a children's librarian in the 80s and would go to the main library to look at the books before ordering for my library. Our standards were similar to what you reported.
Ah the good old days.
9
As a librarian it's hard for me to believe that the juggernaut NYPL does not receive any titles automatically through approval plans that are based on collecting profiles.
6
My experience with Themis they include too many titles not relevant to the community. Too many wasted resources. And nothing beats knowing your collection. Worth all the time it takes to select carefully!
7
Re-read the article— it states some things ARE automatic.
4
@C Fig Yes - bestselling authors and news-making titles are purchased automatically. Why wouldn't they be? If Stephen King or J.K. Rowling come out with new books, or an ex-White House cabinet member or Trump wife writes a new tell-all story, do the selectors really need to wait for reviews to determine whether or not people will want them?
3
I sent a copy of my first book about slavery and Ben Franklin to the Schomburg reading library, primarily because I used a quote from a James Baldwin introduction to a volume about New York black history, rights to which were owed by the New York Public Library. I asked permission to use the quote before publication, and received a return e-mail describing the art of fair use. The book was not sent back. In fact, I gave away 32 copies and not one was ever sent back! Kind of nice.
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@Marilyn Sue Michel Your technical jargon makes it hard for most to understand what you have written. How do you know they didn't just toss them?
@Lisa
Well, she COULD check the electronic card catalog :)
Oh, now I know where I will be spending a good part of my time during my next visit to NY City! If only the now-generation could realize both the simultaneous comfort and quiet as well as the stimulation to those gray cells of ours when we visit our local libraries. I remember my youth, how I was so excited with my first library card, hopping on my Schwinn with its front basket at the ready, during my weekly visit to my place of so many books. To this day, the books which I purchase are hard-copies or paper backs. I want to feel and flip those pages. The folks at NY's libraries - as well as those across the nation - probably have this little treasure already. However, I will suggest it any way: Susan Orlean's The Library Book is a delight. Finally, my grown daughters and I thank you for having The Very Hungry Caterpillar!
22
While you are there, sign up for the guided tour!
4
American Public Libraries are the BEST! We have no such animal in Europe. When I am in USA, I never fail to spend time in a library! This article just helps confirm.
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@Jean louis LONNE we got them in Switzerland.
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@Jean louis LONNE Ireland has free public libraries too!
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@Jean louis LONNE
"We have no such animal [Public Libraries] in Europe."?
Absolute rubbish! Having seen the main public libraries Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and a number of other European cities, as well local branch libraries in Geneva and other cities, I can attest to the terrific quality of many European public libraries, not to mention those in Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa.
13
The problem with the public library's collection development policy is that the public libraries are essentially just following the commercial publishing industry. Books get ordered if they are expected to become big sellers. They don't get ordered if they're not expected to become big sellers. But if libraries are supposed to be educational institutions, then the books they provide should serve some educational, intellectual, or cultural purpose, not merely a commercial interest in selling books. The public libraries are run on capitalist principles. But when information gets treated as just another commodity to make a profit off of, then the value of that information as a conveyor of knowledge becomes degraded. If you want to know why Americans are so ill-informed--why, for example, politics on both sides of the aisle is full of lies and fake news--then look no further than the commodification of information.
11
@James Public libraries serve the reading public, and as such, we buy what public library patrons want to read. Professional selectors try their best to predict accurately what patrons will want to read -- both at the time of publication and in the future. The reason we buy lots of copies of big-publisher books? Lots of marketing means lots of people are going to want to read them.
Sometimes we miss great books, so most libraries are happy to purchase items patrons request, as the budget allows. No budget allows buying every book published, so knowing someone wants to read something is a strong argument in favor of purchase.
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@James A public library is not a university library. A branch of the New York Public Library system provides access to a range of resources that meet the educational and recreational reading needs of their service area. Books not immediately available can be obtained through interlibrary loan. The Central New York Public library on 42nd street is considered the second or third best research library in the country. NYPL does a great job!
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@James I tend to share your opinion. I generally don't read books by the "big names" listed, as they seem to be manufactured for a fan base, rather than something fresh and interesting. I understand the libraries wanting to serve such fan bases, but let's not forget more challenging works by authors similar to David Foster Wallace (RIP).
5
So interesting! I would love if the NYTimes did more "behind the scenes" articles.
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@CarlyC I agree, and Ms. Hu did an excellent job of researching and structuring this article.
15
Thanks for reporting on this topic. Public libraries play an important role as gatekeepers in settling which books become readily accessible to readers.
In the same interest, it would be useful to look into how the library decides which books remain on the shelves for years to come. Most books don’t have much staying power beyond the first two years, and many award-winning titles can no longer be found.
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@S. Ray LAPL has a search and hold feature, and many, many books are available within ten days.
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@S. Ray
Sadly, books are only cardboard and paper and they simply don't last. I run a college library and I just reordered (again) a copy of Paule Marshell's Brown Girl, Brownstone. The classics are constantly being repurchased.
4
@Marilyn Sue Michel
Last month I saw an interview on C-Span which interested and decided I would buy it. After finding the book on Amazon and seeing its price I decided to see if it might be available from the Dauphin County Public Library which serves the Harrisburg, PA area. A quick search of the electronic card catalog online showed that a copy had been purchased and should soon be on the shelf. I did an electronic hold and a week later received an email informing me that I could pick up the book immediately. I was the first person to read the book and the system worked beautifullly, thanks to the tax dollars which I and others spend each year.
11
Terrific! We need more stories like this.
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Does this mean that the library does not use software to help preselect titles? That would seem to be more efficient.
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@DickH
Book selection is both science and art. Algorithms can't replace skilled and trained human selectors.
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Very cool story, I still love the public libraries despite using my e-reader a lot. Just seems like a place to explore a new read, I think I’ll stop by today!
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@David - dude. Most public libraries provide access to ebooks. Check with your local.
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@David , as a good librarian, I immediately checked to see if Westchester County uses Overdrive, and they do.
If you've got a library card, go to https://westchester.overdrive.com/
(If not, go out and get one!)
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@David
Bless you! A retired career librarian.
3