Do You GalleyChat?

Do you know about EarlyWord's monthly Galley Chats on Twitter? They are not only super fun but can also be great collection development tools, even if you're not able to make the live discussion. I have noticed that while the adult galley chat is always robust with lots of participants, there are not as many voices joining in to the YA/middle grade chats. I would love for more of you to join us, so I thought I'd give a little rundown of what Galley Chat is and how it can be helpful.

Screenshot of a tweet from last month's
YA/middle grade GalleyChat

What is GalleyChat? 

It's just what it sounds like: librarians chatting about galleys, i.e. upcoming books we're excited about. Participants share super-brief reviews of galleys they have read and/or tweet about upcoming titles they're excited about. Sometimes publishers join in to spread the word about their upcoming titles and to hear what librarians are buzzing about.

When is GalleyChat?

There are two live Twitter chats each month - one for adult titles and one for YA/middle grade titles. You can always find the schedule for upcoming chats on EarlyWord (in the left-hand bar near the top). Typically the adult chat is the first Tuesday of the month and the YA/middle grade chat is more towards the end of the month and rotates Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday.

So, how does it work?

If you want to participate, all you have to do is be on Twitter at the designated time and use the hashtag #ewgc (adult) or #ewgcya (YA/middle grade) on your tweets. You can use a platform like TweetChat to help you follow the conversation, but I usually just use the Twitter website on my desktop computer. I like to have a second tab open with notifications so I can switch back and forth easily.

What's in it for me?

As a collection development librarian, I find it extremely useful to participate as often as I can. Not only do I hear about all kinds of upcoming titles so I can put them on my radar, it also gives me the chance to talk up titles I've been reading. And it's a monthly reminder to be seeking out, reading, and nominating titles (especially inclusive titles!) for LibraryReads. Not to mention, it's a great way to connect with other librarians who are in the business of collection development and reader's advisory.

Often I hear about new-to-me books and they're readily available as digital review copies that I can download right away. Sometimes, publishers even offer to send print ARCs to folks participating in the chat.

I can't make the chat; I have a program/on desk/a meeting/etc. etc.

Never fear! The wonderful folks organizing the chats compile the list of books mentioned in the chat each month. You can find them on EarlyWord.com. Participating in the chat is a fun way to meet and interact with other librarians interested in what's new and upcoming, but you can totally use these compiled lists to help with your collection development even if you can never make the meetings.

I hope you'll join us for GalleyChat! The next YA/middle grade Galley Chat will be held on Wednesday, November 28 from 2:30pm-3:30pm.

Mark your calendar or set a reminder on your phone; I hope to see you there!!

Cybils Season

I'm late in writing about this - Cybils season has been going on since October 1 - but I want to share this great resource with you since you can use it to help you spend your budget money. What are the Cybils? The Cybils are the Children's and Young Adult Blogger Literary Awards, book awards that have been given out by Children's and YA bloggers since 2006. The judges are all kidlit bloggers and they aim to choose books that have a blend of high literary merit and kid appeal.

One amazing thing about the Cybils is that the organizers provide an amazing amount of transparency. You can see exactly who the judges are and who has nominated what. You can see what books have been nominated and ANYONE can make one nomination per category.

And it's these nominations that I find really useful at this time of year. I'm at the point in the year when I'm trying to wrap up my spending before our purchasing cut-off. I want to try to make sure I didn't miss anything, since it'll be a couple of months before I can start placing regular orders again as we close out the books on 2018. The Cybils nominees are often books that have high kid appeal, so I love to check out what's on those nomination lists each year.

Particularly helpful to me are the categories that have high circulation at my library but are rarely professionally reviewed: board books and easy readers. I also pay special attention to the picture books and graphic novel lists as those categories also check out frequently. Of course, I read professional reviews of these titles, too, but the nomination lists can bring titles to my attention that I may have missed.

There are a bunch of nomination categories, so whatever age you buy for, you're likely to find something that could help you out. Don't miss this great resource!

Building a Collection Development Toolkit

Image of a light bulb inside a chalk thought bubble. Like, an idea.

When I took on a new position as Collection Development Leader at my library, I knew I would need to reach out to find resources to help me in my job. I have been pretty good at staying on top of what's being published as far as youth materials since that's been part of my job for many years. But I am brand new at collecting materials for adults, so I've been building up my resources in that area. Not only did I need resources, but I needed to figure out how to manage them in a convenient way.

One system that's worked for me is signing up for collection development and reader's advisory emails and then setting up filters so that they go to their own folders and I can peruse them when I have time. Emails go straight to their own folders and then I reserve some time each day or every couple of days to look through them.

What are the resources I have found so far? 

Book Pulse from Library Journal. Becky Spratford of RA for All pointed me to this resource and I am so grateful. Updated each weekday, this blog points out popular titles for the week, books new to the NYT Best Seller List, and books that have been reviewed in big publications or mentioned in the media. It also shares general book news like award announcements, author deaths, etc. The posts can be emailed to you, so I get them in my Book Pulse folder each day.

Baker & Taylor's Fast Facts. This weekly email includes not only hot titles for the upcoming week and titles about to be featured on radio and TV but it includes a spreadsheet of all titles being published the following week. Sometimes that's too overwhelming, but it's broken down into Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, New Paperback, etc. so unless it's a super busy week it's helpful to me to double-check and see if there's anything I've missed that I want to make sure I order. My library is a Baker & Taylor customer, but it looks to me like you can access their Fast Facts even if you're not (I could be wrong!)

Shelf Awareness Pro. This is another weekday email blast that sends out book-related news. A lot of it pertains more to bookstores, but it helps me keep my eye on the publishing world. Even the ads can be helpful, pointing me to books that are being heavily marketed that I might want to put on my radar.

Check Your Shelf. This is a new bi-weekly email sent out by Book Riot for a librarian audience. Even though I haven't actually gotten my first email yet, I trust it will be a useful resource since I already rely on Book Riot's blog posts to help make me aware of new and upcoming adult books. Bonus: if you sign up now you can enter to win a free library cart!

LibraryReads. Each month, LibraryReads announces librarians' top ten picks for the upcoming month so you can put them on your radar. I get these emailed to me so I can forward the list out to my public services staff and make them aware of hot books that will be coming out.

RA for All. Becky Spratford has an amazing blog with tons of resources for reader's advisory, which goes hand in hand with collection development. I've found out about many great resources through her blog.

Book Riot. Here's another great blog for staying on top of what's new and upcoming in books. What I love about this site is that it's geared towards all readers; there's something for everyone here. Not every post is relevant to my work, but there are tons of book lists and they make an effort to feature diverse books, which is important.

Rich in Color: Diverse Books Release Calendar. Here's another great resource for keeping on top of diverse children's books coming out. It's something I have bookmarked to check each month so I can be sure to be collecting diverse titles for my library.

These are some of the resources I have found most useful and use regularly. I use other resources from my vendors (e.g. Baker & Taylor's Automatically Yours plan and their First Look carts). What should I add to my toolkit?

The "We" in Collection Development

Previously, I posted There's No "I" in Collection Development, about checking personal biases as I'm selecting books for our community.

It turns out that there might not be an "I" in collection development, but there certainly should be a WE. Particularly if your library has centralized selection (i.e. one person or one department selecting materials for the entire library or system). Who are your collection development partners?

(Image shows a cat standing on a dog's back to reach the refrigerator water dispenser with the words "Teamwork makes the dream work.")

Colleagues

My front-line colleagues are an important partnership. They're the ones at the circulation desk and shelving the books and talking to patrons every day. They're the ones that know what new series is popular with elementary school kids, what title everyone's asking for because it was mentioned on a local radio station, what genres our large print readers are seeking. Make it as easy as possible for them to make suggestions for purchase.

I created a Google form that is bookmarked on every public service desk computer and I also emailed the URL to every staff member so they could bookmark it for themselves if they wanted to. Staff can pass along patron requests for purchase, suggest general subjects we need more materials on, or request particular titles they think would be a good fit for our library.

I also walk around.

I admit, sometimes it's nice to spend a day in my office at my desk working quietly on book things. But I'm doing my library a disservice if that's all I do. When I walk around, I can see changes that are happening to our physical shelves. I talk to my colleagues and ask them what's working and what's not. How are things going? Is there anything they need that I can help with?

Patrons

My patrons are an important partnership. They're the ones who can best tell me what they're looking for and I need to listen to them. Staff can pass along their requests for purchase (and soon we'll have a place where patrons can make their requests directly - we're working on this bit). I can also listen to them by checking the holds lists and running circulation reports.

I also walk around.

I can listen to our patrons by perusing the shelving carts to see what's been recently checked out or by scanning the stacks to see what's been so loved that it's falling apart. I can jump on to a circulation desk to help patrons and engage with them. Have they read the first book by this author they're checking out? What did they think? How did they hear about this book?

It was by helping staff the circulation desk that I learned that some of my patrons get book recommendations from local blogger and podcaster Modern Mrs. Darcy, so you can be sure I added her blog to my feed and read it regularly.

Vendors

I get so much help from outside sources - a post about resources I have discovered for collection development is coming soon. But vendors make up another important partnership for me as I step into this collection development role. As with stepping into any new role, I have not been afraid to ask questions. I've tried to contact all the vendors I'm now working with and ask for training or introduce myself. And many of them provide valuable help in keeping me aware of what's hot and new and what will be useful for my collection.

Like I said, look for a resource post coming soon (and probably many more in the future... I'm still new at this!). But don't overlook vendor reps as valuable partners. Use them!

Who are your partners in collection development?

Collection Development Tool: Google Keep

So, I've started my role as the Collection Development Leader for my library and I'm slooooowly learning the ropes. One tool I've been using a lot already is Google Keep.

Google Keep is a free app and web tool that's part of the Google Suite. Basically, it's a digital bulletin board where you can make notes, keep lists, pin links, add photos, etc.

I am a person who loves to read about books and reading. I love perusing Book Riot for their recommendations and checking out what people are reading on Litsy. I have been known to view online publisher book previews at home on my day off. I love making lists of books I'm interested in reading, even if I know I'll only have time to get to a tenth of them. I've done that for a long time, not just because I'm now a collection development librarian.

We talk a lot about work-life balance and, even though my work is something that I LOVE and researching new books is something I sometimes do for fun, it could all too easily turn into me working all the time, around the clock. If I was constantly bringing up our library catalog to check if we have books or pulling up our vendor's site to add books to carts, I would be working all the time.

So I wanted a tool that would allow me to save relevant links, lists, etc. for further investigation when I'm back at my desk. I needed an online tool so that it could be accessed on multiple devices and I needed something that has an iPhone app so that it would be with me where I am.

That way, instead of digging out my bullet journal to jot down the URL to the amazing Rich in Color, the diverse books release calendar, I can add a link from Chrome or my phone or snap a screenshot so I remember to look it up later. I don't have to obsess about something in hopes I'll remember it on Monday when I'm at my desk. I can quickly note it right where I am and then go back to living my life.

Here are ways I've already used it:

• I jot down titles that I want to check and see if we have. This is great for when I'm hearing about a book during casual conversation, etc. and I don't want to forget.
• I snap and save photos of new books or book displays at the bookstore when my husband and I are browsing.
• I keep lists of book display and book list ideas that I can add to whenever something occurs to me (no more scrambling for themes on the first of the month!).
• When I'm scrolling through my blog subscriptions on Newsblur, I can save links to posts that I want to read in close detail, so I can catch up on my blogroll as I'm watching TV or something but not miss anything that might be useful in my job.
• I keep resource links saved in there that I want to check regularly. Since I can make notes about the links, I can note what I want to explore when I have time, what I want to check regularly, etc. 

I'm sure there are other similar organizational apps out there - what do you use to keep notes about new books or trends you hear about??