RA for All Roadshow Visits ALA Annual: Give Them What They Want: Readers-Focused Collection Development

This post is so that you can access the slides from the panel I am moderating today. Please also go here for  he post where I detailed the goals and provided an outline for this presentation. That will familiarize you with what to expect from this presentation.

There will also be an official recording of this panel by ALA, which I will also attach here after it is available.

So basically, this is the homepage for all of the information and resources that support this panel. Everyone, near and far, will get to participate [especially after the recording is available], and I am so excited about that. 

Give Them What They Want: Reader-Focused Collection Development
Saturday, June 22 

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Location: Washington Convention Center, 143A 

Readers are flocking to library’s leisure collections. To make smart collection choices, we must look further than circulation statistics and learn what our entire community desires. Our presenters are using methods suitable at libraries of any size to incorporate patron wishes into collection development, making readers integral to the whole process. From complex patron-driven acquisitions plans at large library systems, to bite-size surveys at the smallest libraries, to prioritizing patron requests, to canny materials displays, all of these librarians are finding innovative ways to put what readers want front and center, and to ferret out even the hardest-to-discover reading desires.

Below I have posted my introductory comments and then you can find the panelists and their resources with direct links:

In true library fashion, this panel has a story. It began as an Adult Reading Round Table program I organized in Fall of 2018. That one featured Robin Bradford, Rebecca Bartlett, Stephen Sposato, and Nicole Steeves. You can access more details about the panelists and see handouts from that presentation here.

With permission from ARRT, I brought this program to the committee Robin and I are on, the one sponsoring this program today, The RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) CODES (Collection Development & Evaluation Section) Readers' Advisory Research and Trends Committee. The committee is charged with considering the issues, challenges, and trends facing library professionals doing RA work in all types of libraries and serving as a forum for discussion and education around the vital work of Readers' Advisory. We host several moderated email discussions throughout the year and are thrilled to bring this talented panel together to discuss Reader-focused Collection Development. Committee members please stand up and be acknowledged for your hard work. You can see a list of the committee here.

We are running this program in combination with one of those Email Convos our committee had back at the end of April. You can click here to read the notes from that conversation. [Thanks to co-chair Magan Szwarek for getting those put together.]
We are very excited to continue the conversation here today.

• Polli Kenn, Readers' Services Coordinator and William Ottens Cataloging & Collection Development Coordinator both from Lawrence Public Library [KS] 
• Handout
• Jennifer Rothschild, Collection Engagement Librarian, Arlington Public Library [VA]
• Slides
• Rebecca Bartlett, the Collection Services Manager at the La Grange Public Library [IL]
• Slides
• Annabelle Mortensen, the Access Services Manager at Skokie Public Library [IL]
• Slides