Decisions, Decisions

Greene County Public Library buys lots of books. But there are so many books published—up to a million in the U.S. each year—that it’s impossible to buy them all. So how do we decide which titles to add to our collection?

“There are a number of things we look at,” says Adult Services Coordinator Tamar, who’s responsible for buying our books for adults.

The library’s Collection Development Policyopens a new window provides the first level of guidance. We work to include materials that reflect a variety of viewpoints, satisfy current interest, and provide enduring value.

Books that appear on bestseller lists, such as those from the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, or Amazon get strong consideration for purchase. We’re also likely to buy books that have received starred reviews—which indicate outstanding quality—in publications like Booklist, Library Journal, or Kirkus. And we’ll always take a look at new offerings from publishers whose books have been popular with our patrons in the past.

You can also suggest books you’d like us to include in our collection. “We’ll consider anything we get requests for, although some books won’t have enough interest or be appropriate for our community,” Tamar says. If there’s a book you’d like to see on library shelves, tell us about it using our Suggest a Purchase form.

We welcome your respectful and on-topic comments and questions in this limited public forum. To find out more, please see Appropriate Use When Posting Content. Community-contributed content represents the views of the user, not those of Greene County Public Library
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