Curating Community Collections: The Critical Role of Technical Services
Diversity in collections is a hot topic—how does it affect Technical Services?
In this interactive (bring your questions!) workshop, we will look at the role of selectors, acquisition team members, catalogers, and processors as we discuss the pivotal role that Tech Services plays in ensuring the diverse needs of our community members are met. Practical problem-solving for libraries large and small (including consortia issues!) will be the focus of this workshop. Participants will learn: the pros and cons of various types of diversity audits and what the results mean for technical services, what selection, acquisition, cataloging, and processing departments each need to know to avoid common pitfalls and work efficiently to help connect community members with diverse resources.
Presenters:
Wendy Bartlett began her library career in 2000 as the assistant director of the Kent Free Library in Kent, Ohio. In 2006, she joined Cuyahoga County Public Library as the manager for the Beachwood branch. In 2009, she became the Fiction Buyer for CCPL, and in 2012, she became the Collection Development & Acquisitions Manager, centralizing selection for the system, launching a floating collection, and developing merchandising solutions. Prior to becoming a librarian, Wendy was the Regional Manager for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Borders Books & Music stores.Wendy has several publications to her credit, including Floating Collections: A Collection Development Model for Long-Term Success (2014) and Curating Community Collections: A Holistic Approach to Diverse Collection Development with co-author Mary Schreiber.
Mary Schreiber is the branch manager of the Brooklyn Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, near Cleveland, OH. Prior to that, she worked in collection development for 13 years as a youth and world languages materials selector. An avid reader and book evaluator, she served on the 2016 Newbery Award and the 2021 Caldecott Award Committees. Her latest book with Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited, Curating Community Collections: A Holistic Approach to Diverse Collection Development, published in 2024.
Mist Alvaro has worked in academic, public, and special libraries, but public libraries are their forever home. They worked in every possible public services department and technical services before landing their perfect gig as a cataloging and processing manager at Columbus Metropolitan Libraries. They are a member of CML's DEI Committee and are passionate about equity, inclusion, and representation in library collections. Most importantly, Mist loves answering questions!
Kristin Casale spent the bulk of her career in children's services, and is now the collection development manager at The Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library.She has presented programs for NEO-RLS through the years, and is excited to present about collection development for the first time.