SBPL’s Guide to Suggesting Books and DVDs for Purchase
What Happens When I Make a Purchase Suggestion?
Did you know that you can request that the Library purchase books we don’t already have in our collection? Let’s take a look at what happens after you make that request.
Step One
Librarians check for requests each week, assigning each request to the librarian who purchases for that particular collection.
Step Two
A librarian checks to be sure we don’t already have the requested title in the catalog or on order, then checks to see if the title is available to purchase from our vendors.
Step Three
If the title is available for us to purchase, the librarian analyzes how well it might fit into our collection. Because we have a limited budget for each section of the collection, we need to balance adding new titles, replacing well-loved copies of popular titles, maintaining a core collection of materials, and purchasing patron suggestions in each particular section. We receive hundreds of suggestions each month, and though we wish we could purchase every title suggested, we’re unable to do so.
Step Four
The librarian decides if we’re going to purchase the suggested title, and responds to your request. (More information about how we choose which books to purchase below.)
Step Five
The librarian puts selected titles into a cart and sends that cart to be purchased. These items are then added to the catalog so you can place holds on them.