What to Read? Writers and Library Events

Having a guest speaker in is a great excuse to bring the community together at the local branch of the library. No matter what genre the speaking writers have written, if the library already have copies, there will be a run on their books. This looks great in the report on Circulation Statistics for your library. (And my help you wring a few more dollars out of the Budgeting Committee for next year's event planning.)
That said, it's not all cake and flowers.
There's a lot that goes into planning an event of this type.
First Question: Do you have the MONEY? Events aren't cheap.
Some authors will come and talk for 'free' [read: shameless self-promotion] but most have to be paid. For most, it's a pittance compared to a regular salary but enough to justify their time away from their word processors. For others, their required fee may prohibit you even asking. Another consideration: You may want your favorite author to visit, but what if he's dead? Who will you ask?

Then there's the refreshments. A library doesn't have a kitchen big enough to feed more than the staff and municipal regulations (and federal law) dictates that anyone making food for public consumption must pass the health inspections on their kitchens. Libraries don't have that kind of documentation and don't want it - they aren't in the restaurant business. That means you will have to cater the event if you want food there. Catering costs.

Next item requiring funds is decorations. What kind? Pictures in the windows? Streamers from the ceiling? Displays for the guest speaker's books? Whatever you choose to use to dress up your facility for the event, it will cost. And once the event is over, do you store the decorations for another event? Are they re-usable?
After you think that through there's the issue of promotional advertising costs. One-time event or is this going to be a regular thing where the names of the authors change but not the timing or day of the week/month? Which leads to asking whatever other things might be desired to promote your library.
 I'm sure you get the picture.

Don't despair!

There is help for this!

American Library Association Event Planning lists money in third place after Strategies and Timetable as does Library Support Event Tips. The School of Library and Information Studies Event Planning Course is available for $125... for those who think they need the education to face this with confidence. Event Planner Resource Library is another place to look for instructions and coping plans.  

I brought up the money issue first because all the Strategies in the Universe won't get your event off the ground if you have no way to pay for it, and knowing how much you have to spend will determine which strategies you choose when you do go ahead with this kind of thing.
Shoestring strategies are VERY DIFFERENT from money-is-no-problem strategies.
They may both turn out to bring in equal amounts of patrons, so what's the best bang-for-your-buck?

That's up to YOU. 

Have fun with it.

Records, Reports, and Repercussions

Libraries are filled with records - that is, after all, what books, journals, newspapers, and e-files in all their varying types are. However Libraries also generate records.

Financial records - the library budget, budget receipts, building maintenance costs, as well as employee pay records.
Facility records - repairs, upgrades, tools, outsourced maintenance (for example: landscaping or snow removal contracts), and floor plan.
Meeting records - committees and board membership, municipal or provincial oversight, even the meetings of the librarians to discuss programs and other such planning.

These records have nothing to do with MARC or Cataloging Materials. They have to do with running a business. That the business of Libraries is non-profit and solely concerned with bettering their community is irrelevant. The Library generates many of the same type of records as any other business.
Toronto Public Library Record Management Policy is a clearly written example of the type of policy needed to deal with this fact of Library life. A somewhat longer version is the UBC Library Records Management Policy which deals with the records of the entire University as well as donations. It's a much longer document but has a lot of practical advice in it.

Reports are a fact of life. The rational for reports is that they are used to reduce large amounts of data to their most basic and using that to render judgement. As may become obvious very soon (if it isn't already) the biggest question is not 'what to put in' the report, it's 'what NOT to put in' the report. If all the relevant information was put into every report, the text would take as long, or longer, to read as the events being reported on took to happen. This is not a good thing. If you bore your audience they will ignore you - and you won't get the [funding, assistance, job, etc...] that you want for the work you put into the report in the first place.
There are many helps out there for generating reports.
Library Technology ILS Marketshare Migrations, American Libraries Magazine Systems Report, Library of Congress Collections Report and others show how it can be done and offer hints for how to do it yourself.

As a result it's important to keep good records so that you can write good (succinct!) reports which in turn will help you build your Library and Community.

Repercussions of not doing this... well, it makes life difficult. Then compounds the difficulty until the job becomes intolerable.

We can make the choices we want to. The repercussions - good and bad - are attached to those decisions and arrive whether we want them or not.

Readers, Writers, and Builders in Libraries

Most people know that Libraries are places to go and find materials to read - either for research or for pleasure. What most people don't consider is how the library influences and supports the writers of those books, past present and future.
Toronto Public Library, Writer's Room is one such dedicated space. Available to writers - published or unpublished, this research and work space is open on a first-come-first-served basis to assist writers in the Toronto area fulfill their goals.
Writers in the Library is a program offered by the University of Tennessee to encourage local writers and showcase them with award-winning authors world-wide.
Edmonton Public Library Welcomes 2016 writers-in-residence is an ongoing program in Alberta to encourage local writers. Three years running this program has touched thousands of lives, author and reader alike.

Libraries are also developing dedicated areas, tools, and kits for the purposes of teaching skills beyond the traditional sit-and-read icon. Calling them "Maker Spaces" they are as much a mindset as an opportunity for patrons and visitors to try out things they could never afford on their own.
Edmonton MakerSpace is available to residents and tourists of Edmonton. You can print books, film green-screen videos, use 3-D printers, cut vinyl records, and much more. These tools are not likely to find their way into the average household any time soon. Libraries make them accessible.
Sudbury Makerspace, Brantford Makerspace, Ottawa Library ImagineSpace, Moncton Public Library Makerspace, and many others are available to encourage the tactile learners (and those of us who just want to make things!) to learn skills that up until now have been beyond our reach.
What a wonderful world we live in!

What goes in the Collection? Acquisition and Weeding.

What goes into any library collection depends on the type of library.

School Libraries will focus on texts, resources, and materials intended to assist their age-group of students learn. This School Collection Policy from the Urban School of San Francisco is one sample for what a simple policy can look like. There are no specifics for titles or duration in it. Those are left to the Library staff.
School Library Collection Development is a site put together by a retired school librarian and gives access to 54 separate sites covering such topics as: Collection Development- Web Sites, School Library Collection Policies, Collection Evaluation and Weeding, and Preservation and Repair. The sites range from text and articles to videos that teach important skills.

When it comes to Academic Libraries, most Universities and Colleges post their policies online. A few that may be of interest are: Columbia University Collection Policy, University Of Prince Edward Island, Robertson Library Collection Policy, University of British Columbia Collection Policy. There are many others.

Special Libraries come in so many formats that while the broadest outlines of the policies listed above may apply to some of them, it is certain that they do not apply to all. No matter where you are you can rely on some people being more willing to acquire than to weed, and others to weed than acquire.

Sorry, but that's human nature.

Issues in Libraries

Every human interaction has the potential for conflict. Simple conversations can become confrontations with one misapplied word. As Library workers we seek to keep these issues to a minimum, by diplomacy and understanding. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - but that doesn't mean you don't try.
Issues in Libraries come in all types and flavors.

Library Issues is a subscription on-line magazine that researches these issues as they apply to academic libraries and publishes the results. They maintain a three-volume sample for visitors to peruse. If you think they are covering topics that will help you, the remainder of their collection is available upon subscription.

Public Library News is another site that explores issues, this time in Public Libraries, and publishes hints, help, or results for the use of others.

Library Problems is a site that uses video gifs to express the opinion of the author on the types of problems noted in libraries. Please watch them, they're funny. Appropriate and humorous.

Non Fiction

Non-Fiction is defined as being literature about facts that are verifiable through many other sources. Scientifically. No matter what system your library has chosen to use for cataloguing, you will still need to sort through the massive amount of such publications and place them appropriately.
Two of the most commonly used formats for Cataloguing are: Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress Classification.

 The Dewey Decimal system was first introduced in 1876 and was adopted by the majority of libraries in the following century.
If your library uses Dewey, you might be interested in sites such as: OCLC's Dewey Online which covers the how and what of classifying by Dewey. This is a very effective tutorial in the uses and applications of one of the most widely used classification systems in the world.
Dewey at a Glance is a good cheat-sheet for students and teachers alike.

The Library of Congress Classification system was originally developed in 1897 but did not gain widespread use until 1939. It was primarily intended for use in the United States national library. As such there is a LOT more room for US publications than there is for any other country. There are work-arounds for this problem and LCC is becoming more popular as it has more expansion room than Dewey does.
The Library of Congress has a site Classification that explains and offers assistance on using the system. Many libraries looking at LCC find a bit of help welcome.
Some people find reading LCC difficult. Reading LCC call numbers is a site with guidelines for this.

Subjects and Themes for Fiction

The broadest definition of "Fiction" is that it is writings that are not held to strictly researchable facts. It is also accepted that there are various categories in fiction that subdivide the broadest definition.

"Science Fiction" "Mystery" "Horror" "Suspense" "Action" "Adventure" "Intrigue" "Folktales" "Poetry" "Drama" "Romance" "Realistic" "Historical" "Legend" "Fable" "Comedy" "Tall Tales"

These are well known genres in their own rights and, some if not all, can be found in most libraries.

Many books cross lines between genres. An Action/Adventure may also be a Romance with Science Fiction elements. Deciding where books fit will influence who in your visiting readership will access them.

Arranging Library Fiction by Genre is a website put out by the National Library of New Zealand and holds a lot of helpful tips on how to organize your fiction sections to attract readers.

Separate or Keep Together is another site, this one by Libraries Online, that gives information and arguments on the arrangement of Fiction shelves.

Ultimately the decision is up to the individual Library but remember:

How you Present your Material influences your Staff, your Readership, and your Community.