May 5, 2009

Question:

Scott Dermont, IA

This is in regards to revolving collections. A group of libraries get together and pitch in a certain amount of money to pay for a revolving collection. This collection or parts of it, then travels from one library to the next on a regular basis. Should each library in this consortium claim the total collection as theirs? Should they only claim those titles that they actually purchase? I think the problem here is that the money is pooled, so no library can claim a certain number of titles as “theirs.” The problem is not with circulation, but with collection totals. This can actually have a large impact on smaller libraries. This seems to be happening mostly with audio books in Iowa. Many small libraries would have no audio books at all if not for this revolving collection. Please keep in mind that there are no library systems in Iowa like other states, these are independent libraries with separate budgets and collections.

IMLS Response: 

The answer to the question was not apparent from the data element definitions or from discussion on the wiki.  The following answer was arrived at after conferring with the Data Standards Committee of the Library Statistics Working Group:

Pick a date (the end of the fiscal year comes to mind) and count all the books in the revolving collection that reside at a particular library on that date as part of that library’s collection.  Whatever date you pick, just be consistent with it over time.  On average, this will give us a reasonably accurate snapshot of the resources that a library typically makes available to its patrons.