Collection development: Originally denoted activities involved in developing a library collection in response to institutional priorities and user needs and interests— that is, the selection of materials to build a collection. Collection development was understood to cover several activities related to the development of library collections, including selection, determination and coordination of policies, needs assessment, collection use studies, collection analysis, budget management, community and user outreach and liaison, and planning for resource sharing.Johnson, Peggy. (2014). Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management, 3rd edition. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. (Emphases mine) The point I want to make is, when a library does things with their collection, it’s intentional. Every book that ends up on a library shelf gets there because a human who’s responsible for the collection decided it had a place there. And within the context of libraries, the decision was made, at least in part, by considering the needs of the community that the library serves.
Week 2.1: Libraries vs. YouTube – Collection Development
Libraries have things in all kinds of shapes and formats, and generally these things are acquired according to some kind of policy. For ease (as I just finished my course on Collection Management this summer), here’s a definition by Peggy Johnson in “Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management”: