Collection Development Policy Part 2

1. Statement of collection policy
   1. Scope of the Collection: The contemporary poetry collection consists of roughly 80 volumes in the 811 Dewey range, although there are a few other volumes scattered throughout the 800s. The 811 range is commonly designated for contemporary American poetry, and currently that is what the collection consists of. Those volumes of poetry found elsewhere in the 800s consist of works by non-American poets.  Most of the volumes are slim individual works, and often only one title by each poet is included.  A few large anthologies are included from very important poets, as well as a few anthologies covering specific years, important decades, or certain subjects.  Although the adult collection includes two audiobooks of poetry, and provides access to an extensive collection of poetry through the libfinder database, different formats are considered different collections at Redwood Public Library.  Therefore, this collection contains print titles only.
   2. Strengths of the Collection: Research has shown that poetry readers use the library to sample poets before purchase for their own collections. That being the case, they find small collections with limited choice a deterrent to use. (Conrad, 2015) Likewise, large anthologies are not often sought out unless researching a specific poet.  For readers like these, small volumes of individual works by a wide variety of poets is a developing strength of this collection.  The current collection is diverse, including works by well-known award winners with long careers, as well first publications by rising stars.  Poets included offer perspectives from a variety of backgrounds.  The collection has high turnover, having titles removed as soon as circulation drops off, to be replaced by the latest publications.  Appendix C shows that only nine of 76 titles has not circulated in the last two years.  This ensures the collection is new and fresh.
   3. Desired Strength of the Collection: The collection should continue to grow in number and diversity of poets. This growth should result in increased circulation. Local published poets have been supportive of library programs, and special effort should be made to include their titles in the collection, perhaps creating a subsection of local poets, an area in which the collection is currently lacking.  As Redwood Public Library moves toward eliminating the Dewey Decimal System in favor of a bookstore-model classification system, all currently-owned works of poetry will be moved to the 811 Dewey range in anticipation of the change, regardless of whether or not the poet is American, or even contemporary.  Additionally, all formats of materials should be curated by the same librarian for the range, rather than split according to format.  This will allow for cohesiveness of the collection across various formats. Ideally, additional audiovisual materials would be purchased, as there are currently few of these in the collection.  Ebooks and online formats are not a high priority, as research has found that poetry readers do not seek out online sources for poetry. (Conrad, 2015)
   4. Selection Criteria: Selection shall focus on contemporary poets bearing in mind diversity of poet backgrounds and perspectives. Poets should be recognized professionally based on review sources, websites, and poetry organizations. Anthologies should be avoided unless a specific need is warranted, i.e., academically important poets, anthologies often assigned by university professors, etc. Local poets included in the collection should be active and known within the local writing community
   5. Deselection or Weeding Criteria: Redwood Public Library depends heavily on the statistics in Collection HQ for deselection criteria. At last weeding, librarians were instructed to discard anything that had not circulated in the last four years. As of next weeding, librarians have been instructed to weed anything that has not circulated in the last two years.  Should any titles remain in the collection outside of these parameters, (at the librarian’s discretion) the CREW method should still be followed.
2. Vendor Selection
   1. Formats: Spoken word is extremely important to the appreciation and enjoyment of poetry, particularly if read by the poet himself. Audiobooks of poetry on CD should be added to the collection along with the print materials. One of the difficulties of engaging patrons with the library’s poetry collection is the variety of other venues available to readers of poetry for accessing recitation of the material. (Conrad, 2015) Audio CDs can fill a gap that entices poetry readers to seek out other venues for engaging with poetry.  However, print materials are the preferred method of reading poetry and constitute the core of the poetry collection.
   2. Vendors: Baker & Taylor is the preferred vendor of Redwood Public Library, for all print materials. Baker & Taylor is the largest book distributer, in existence since 1828, and most likely to have any title desired. (About Baker and Taylor, 2015) This is particularly true in regard to poetry, as poetry can often be difficult to source elsewhere.
      Apart from Baker and Taylor, Naxos has a fairly large (in comparison to other vendors) selection of audiobooks of poetry on CD.  However, these were mostly classic poetry or collections, including almost no contemporary poets.  However, even Baker and Taylor only had one poetry CD audiobook title.  This indicates that Naxos would probably be the best source for audio CDs.
3. Selection Resources: Redwood Public Library subscribes to several professional journals including review sources such as Kirkus Review and Publisher’s Weekly.  These review sources can identify new, up-and-coming poets, as well as new releases by established writers.  Additionally, professional poetry organizations can inform of recent award winners and identify career poets as their reputations grow.  Websites of local poets and writing community groups can identify writers of local importance.  All of these resources should be used in deciding which titles to include in the collection.
4. Bibliography.

About Baker & Taylor. (2015). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from http://www.baker-taylor.com/home_aboutus_details.cfm?sideMenu=Our History&home=home_aboutus_details.cfm

Conrad, J. (2015). The Problem of Poetry Curation in Libraries, Unpublished manuscript, Department of English, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Appendix C

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