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Hall Monitor: Library supporters lukewarm on Free Library's "floating collections" idea
A proposal by the Free Library to institute "floating collections" received lukewarm reviews by branch advocates. A resolution on City Council's agenda calls for the library to reconsider.
Hall Monitor: Library supporters lukewarm on Free Library's "floating collections" idea
A resolution on tomorrow's City Council agenda, introduced by Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., calls for the Free Library to reconsider a "floating collection" policy it's considering.
Right now, if you borrow a book form Library A and return it to Library B, the book is re-delivered by truck to Library A.
Under the new proposal, the book would stay at Library B until checked out or requested via inter-library loan.
"The fewer times you’re moving a book or DVD around, the less cost it's going to be — and to a certain extent, from the administration's point of view, that makes sense," says Friends of the Free Library director Amy Dougherty.
The problem, as raised by individual branch Friends groups in a recent meeting, is that such a policy could scatter some of the individual libraries' special collections (the Independence Branch, for example, has the second-largest Gay & Lesbian collection in the country).
What's more, she points out, Friends groups have raised money to purchase books and A/V materials for their own branches — "It's kind of a slap in the face to the contribution they made to support their local branch."
Dougherty says she and other library advocates aren't necessarily against the policy outright, but want to work with the administration to find a way to code special collections and specially-purchased materials.
How is the now-holding library going to shelve the book? Almost every agency has their own special way to shelve their collection for the convenience of their patrons.
Also, when any reading list comes out many patrons prefer to actually go to the owning branch to find the book rather than wait for the 'hold' system to work.
This is some administrator's dream to get rid of more jobs when the Library is already operating on a skeletal staff.
Also, it is a recent 'innovation' that patrons are allowed to return A-V materials to any branch, rather than the branch from which they were checked out from. Front line staff warned about delays in getting items back on the shelf due to this change. Now the administration wants another change to combat what was predicted?— KidLit
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