Library employees say they get 100-200 titles a month that don’t meet the needs of their communities. Here are some of the worst offenders:
• 85 copies of ‘The Secret Daily Teachings’ a day-by-day tear off calendar at a cost of $15.00 each for a total of $1,317.
• The library system purchased 57 copies of ‘The Wand Maker’s Guidebook,’ a book for children that can’t be circulated or even be out of the librarian’s sight because of the choking hazards it presents to small children. At $32.00 each, we wasted a total of $1,852.50 on these books…
Making Room for Best-Sellers
Because of these bad choices, there are not enough copies of the titles people do want, with long waiting lists for new and popular titles. For example, from the April 27 best-sellers list:
• “Tyranny”: 83 requests,7 copies
• “Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man”: 354 requests, 40 copies
• “Just Take My Heart”: 183 requests, 5 copies
Our Answer: Putting Readers First
Not too long ago staff at each library selected books that matched clientele’s needs. With new computer-based technology already in use by the county this same process could be re-introduced with relative ease. It would put each community’s needs first and reduce the amount of waste that comes with ordering the wrong books for the wrong part of town.