Developing a Collection Consultation Report for The UBC Learning Exchange - Downtown Eastside, Vancouver. (LIBR 580: Collection Management Final Assignment)

In the library world, a collection is seen as the totality of books and other literacy materials owned and managed or catalogued for easy access by a library organization, and often consisting of several sub-collections. (Reitz, 1996). Developing a collection therefore entails selecting materials, taking in items donated by persons or groups, and establishing processes for weeding or discarding existing items deemed unwanted.

During my last semester in the SLAIS MLIS programme, I worked in a team to develop a collection strategy for the UBC Learning Exchange, a community-focused resource center committed to adult literacy training and life-long learning facilitation. This was a daunting task and needed careful planning and execution. Our team relied on several resources - both online and hardcopy - in preparing our report, our primary resource for consultation being Peggy Johnson's Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management. 4th ed. Chicago. American Library Association. 2018

Following recommendations in Johnson (2018), we implemented a systematic, logical process that entailed the following steps:

  1. Undertaking a detailed environmental scanning
  2. Assessing and evaluating the exiting user communities of the UBC_LE, DTES
  3. Developing a written, concise collection development policy that thoroughly defined the objectives of the DTES collection
  4. Carefully assessing existing UBC-LE collection to determine scope and coverage
  5. Specifying which materials to be included in collection through clear, unambiguous written collection statements
  6. Planning and developing a concise financial budget for allocating the resources to be acquired
  7. Establishing via writing, clear, unambiguous policies and guidelines detailing weeding and replacement procedures to be adopted to ensure proper maintenance of the collection
  8. Creating and specifying long-term strategies for the collection, and clearly spelling out areas of priority and special attention

Working on this project was quite rewarding as I was able to fully utilize (and improve upon) my analytical, creative thinking and teamwork/collaborative skills. I also gained a good understanding of the collection management process, as well as concepts and methods in business such as planning, marketing & advertising, public or community engagement, and budget preparation. After completing the proect (and the entire course), I felt prepared and confident to contribute to collection development efforts in any library setting

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