Week 5 Prompt Response

1. How do the various types of reviews affect collection development?

I am involved with collection development at my library. We officially use Kirkus and LJ reviews when selecting material. When making decisions I also refer to Booklist and Publishers Weekly to see if I can corroborate elements of a positive review. I think it’s interesting that occasionally the reviews in LJ and Kirkus can differ so greatly that you wonder if they’re talking about the same book. There are two perspectives that I’m aware of regarding only running positive reviews and they both have some merit.

1.      Running only positive reviews is good because they (the journal) don’t waste print space on bad titles.  If they run a review on something of interest to your library you should seriously consider selecting it.

2.      The world is not black and white, many reviews can be mixed and it’s nice to know reasons why you may need to avoid a title.

Personally, I like having access to negative review.

2. Thoughts on A Billionaires First Christmas reviews.

I don’t know how reliable the reviews are because I don’t know the authors motivation or experience. When I read LJ and Kirkus reviews I know they are written by well-read professionals. That being said, at my library our primary reason for selecting material is patron demand not literary excellence. This title has elements that I know would appeal to my patrons so I would seriously consider it for purchase. It also helps if amazon or Goodreads has a ton of reviews on a title. With enough reviews the ratings can be reliable. If I can’t find a review anywhere I see how a title trends on them.

3. Thoughts on Angela’s Ashes reviews.

The fact that so many sources have very strongly worded positive reviews means this would be (and was) added to our collection. Particularly since historical memoirs do very well with our patrons. The Kirkus review is starred which is also something that is taken into consideration.

4. Do you think it's fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage? How does this affect a library's collection?  And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate? If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

No, the system is not fair. With the increase of ebooks and self-publicized authors there are an enormous number of titles out there that are not reviewed. However, I don’t really see any better way. A librarian who selects materials typically also works a desk, plans and implements programming, manages other employees, is on various library committees, weeds old material, manages a library service (think book-a-librarian), completes other duties as assigned, and etc. Even if there were more reviewers and more reviews who would have time to read them all? I have staff who read review journals at home because they don’t have time while they’re at work. It’s unfortunate that some types of materials are reviewed more than others, but I’m willing to bet that journals are responding to subscriber demands just as we respond to patron demands. At my library we primarily use circulation statistics, journal reviews, and patron request to select fiction material. Local authors can donate titles to us and we almost always circulate them (unless they’re really horribly written). Nonfiction is more complex because we try to ensure as many perspectives are included as possible and try to ensure balance. For personal reading I use journal reviews, novelist, and input from my co-workers and friends.