How successful have you been

[cdrumm4448]

in getting your library to purchase books you have suggested? I just put in my first request ever. How long did it take to get a response? Do they get annoyed by suggestions?

[Nestof3]

I would say before budget cuts, they ordered 95% of what I asked. Now, it's more like 75%. I have asked for ten books in one day before. :lol:

 

I've heard they want to know what the patrons want.

 

Right now, they have 16 of mine on order.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

I didn't know you could request books! How interesting...

 

Although, the librarian hates me right now, so, she probably won't be ordering anything for us. :glare: We went in Friday to get DD a library card of her own, and the librarian wouldn't give it to her because we don't have a local address. What? The address on my license is in the same state, and I am a student in this town, but our permanant address remains back home. She said unless I had the right address on my license or a lease, no going.

 

I understand that rules are rules, but... Why did they let ME get a card then last summer?? And she didn't have to be so rude. I mean, DD was actually in tears, and the librarian was just cold.

[Rosie_0801]

Our old library did buy a gardening book I requested. I found it on the shelf months and months later. You'd think they'd notify me, wouldn't you?

 

I think they ignored the email suggesting lots of very useful resources for the local homeschooling population. It was very long. :001_huh:

 

:)

Rosie

[Slartibartfast]

I have noticed that for some reason, my library doesn't have a lot of the *FIRST* book in a series but has the rest of them.

 

I am going to be sending them some requests because that is really annoying.

[Dana]

Our library bought a DVD series I requested last year. I put in a request this year for the Liping Ma math book and haven't heard a decision yet (this was about 2-3 months ago). So my library is pretty slow about it. But I do like that we can request they buy books and resources. If they do buy it, I get an email notifying me of the decision and then the materials are put on hold for me.

[FaithManor]

Zero success....this has been one of the few downfalls of our move. Previously, we were near a wonderful library! I could get out my WTM or SWB's additional reading list for history and walk into that library and find many, many books. If there was something I wanted and they didn't have it, they would check the state library. Once they got to know me, they trusted my judgement and would purchase books based on my recommendation. It was a library devoted to education and so in the children's wing, one was hard pressed to find a lot of "twaddle".

 

Then we moved....oh the agony....bad library, non-helpful staff, complete and utter twaddle everywhere, will not make an effort to get anything from the state library, virtually nothing on the shelves that I can use. Though a very good size library and one that has won awards for "Best rural Library in Michigan" (how they have gotten this award, I do not know!), the history section in the children's wing fits on two shelves! Most of the science volumes are so old that when we first moved here, I would take stacks of books to the head librarian and show her page after page of inaccuracies, theories debunked, etc. She wouldn't replace the books, and I quote, "It's not like the kids in this community actually read these books anyway."

 

Now, if you want Tales from the Crypt, Michigan Chillers, and The Babysitter's Club, this is the place. Tons and tons of this kind of reading. We haven't checked out a book in nearly four years. In adult section, there is only one volume of Shakespeare and it's so old that the binding is falling apart.

 

I think they get the awards because they do have a huge periodical selection and a Michigan history research section plus it is one of the most "activities" oriented libraries I've ever seen. DD and mil have gone on antiques road trips, all day excursions to the glass factory and art museum in Toledo, etc. They put on a wonderful quilt show, etc.

 

But, I'll bet there hasn't been a new book in the children's section that wasn't total twaddle for many, many a year. A homeschool group used to meet in one of the conference rooms but they gave up and went to another library that had more "real" reading.

 

Faith

[Margo out of lurking]

Of course it would all depend on the library. BUT, working in the children's dept. of our small(ish) county library, this has been my experience.

 

Budget cuts are huge this year. We are grateful to not have cuts in staff, but the county has been on a hiring and wage freeze for two years. Additionally, state funding to the library has been cut again and again and again. We just had our fiscal year end and were grateful to have extra money left over to make a few very large orders. However, we don't anticipate this happening this new fiscal year (which began 7/1). We're still buying, but it will be tighter.

 

We love suggestions and some are taken more seriously than others. If you request 50 cheap, Scholastic-style paperback titles, well, those are not a priority for us. A lot of our purchases are requests for juvenile and young adult popular fiction themes, a lot of fantasy. Vampires and other "dark" fiction is also popular. We will order the majority of those. Series are also big. (I think publishers figured that one out, haha.) If we have the earlier books, we will order successive books unless the earlier books have very poor circulation. The three on staff in the children's dept. also review the Library Journals and contribute to the order. This is nice, because we get a better variety than if just one person ordered.

 

She said unless I had the right address on my license or a lease, no going.

 

I understand that rules are rules, but... Why did they let ME get a card then last summer?? And she didn't have to be so rude. I mean, DD was actually in tears, and the librarian was just cold.

 

Policy . . . rules. Our library will give to anyone in our state WITH valid ID, which means your address has to match your license or other official paperwork. A neighboring county will not give library cards to residents of other counties. It's very likely that the policy has since been reinforced since last summer. Fortunately, you can surely check out books for your daughter on your card, and it shouldn't be any big deal.

 

You'd think they'd notify me, wouldn't you?

 

I think they ignored the email suggesting lots of very useful resources for the local homeschooling population. It was very long.

 

Yes, I think they should have notified you. (I can say that because we have what I consider to be an antiquated computer system, and we notify people.)

 

And, fwiw, Rosie, *we* would be interested in hsing resources, as long as they aren't textbooks. (I don't think anyone knows Phonics Pathways, or Apologia's Physical Science are textbooks, haha.)

 

For the record, all these little kids STILL scare me.

[gandpsmommy]

Well, the one time that I suggested a purchase, they were very receptive and did order the book, but they told me upfront that the process takes several months, so I had already purchased the book for my own use by the time it was available at the library. It was The Latin-Centered Curriculum, the second edition. I sure hope someone has checked it out.

[Nestof3]

I don't understand all of the library discards. We have a little shop in our largest city library which sells donated and discarded books. I bought a hardcover Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse in perfectly brand new condition. Why buy a book and discard it immediately? Why not discard one of the older copies? It was seriously brand new.

 

This happens a lot. It seems like really poor management of money.

[Sherry in OH]

I didn't know you could request books! How interesting...

 

Although, the librarian hates me right now, so, she probably won't be ordering anything for us. :glare: We went in Friday to get DD a library card of her own, and the librarian wouldn't give it to her because we don't have a local address. What? The address on my license is in the same state, and I am a student in this town, but our permanant address remains back home. She said unless I had the right address on my license or a lease, no going.

 

I understand that rules are rules, but... Why did they let ME get a card then last summer?? And she didn't have to be so rude. I mean, DD was actually in tears, and the librarian was just cold.

 

Wow. I've had to show ID and if the address on the ID was not current, show something with a current address to get a card (a piece of mail address to me). In Ohio I don't even have to live in the library's service area. In other states I've had to show a local address or pay a non-resident fee. I would call the library and ask for clarification on the policy.

 

I have noticed that some smaller library systems are run as fiefdoms. Larger libraries tend to follow written policies.

 

As far as book requests, at the libraries in which I have worked, patron requests were always treated seriously. Materials that met the library's collection guidelines were nearly always purchased. It could take several months from the time the request was made until the item appeared on the shelf. Reasons for not purchasing materials included price, falling outside the library's collection scope, number of other titles in collection on same topic (especially if these items rarely circulate), and non-availability through library's vendors. I worked in one library that would periodically send staff to a local bookstore to purchase paperback fiction for the library's leisure reading area. This type of book was frequently requested by patrons, but not available through library booksellers.

[Cinder]

My success has been over 50%. I don't really keep track. A lot of what I request are books that are the "next" in that series . . . and knitting books. Our library doesn't put out books until a couple weeks after the publisher has released them. Or sometimes they just don't order the next book. So I request them as soon as I'm aware they're out there or aware of a publication date to come. I think the way it works is that if I'm the first to request it, it's automatically on my "hold" list once the decision is made to purchase it and the book is listed in the catalog. I've had items on my hold list for a couple years now, though. I figure it's just they would like to purchase that book, but it didn't make the budget cut this year (or the previous year or the year before that).

 

My library has turned down my requests for homeschooling how-to books, in spite of the large homeschooling population around here. My biggest peeve, though, is when I requested a science video series from Schlessinger media. My request was denied, but a couple years later all these Schlessinger media videos started appearing in the system. :glare:

 

 

Cinder

[Perry]

Close to 100%.

 

I love my library. :thumbup:

[Sophia]

When I lived in the Chicago suburbs-100 %.

The librarians there were serious about books and the quality of their library.

 

Here, south of Atlanta- the librarians act like patrons are a necessary evil and why do we need so many books anyway?

 

I miss my old library.

[Aubrey]

Zero. I suggested Phonics Road to Reading (because I really wanted to *see* it). Now, I did not have high hopes of this kind of thing being ordered. I *did* expect them to understand my communication.

 

"Oh, we already have phonics books--have you tried Hooked on Phonics?" (After I had to tell them how to spell it.)

 

Me: "That's really something entirely different." This isn't the guy who makes the decisions. He's just supposed to take my information. He continues suggesting phonics readers, & I continue attempts to explain.

 

I later get an email from the lady who makes the decisions. Or is on the board or whatever. The guy wrote the info down wrong, & she's confused. I clarify. She suggests Hooked on Phonics. I link her to the PRR website.

 

Eventually? She simply stopped responding. I'm pretty sure it was never remotely considered. Because they didn't even *see* what it was. :tongue_smilie:

[Mom0012]

At our library, you can make your suggestions online. In the past, they've always been great about purchasing books I requested. I think there was only one time they said they could not purchase an item. Either way, they usually let me know very quickly via e-mail (a few days to a week).

 

Unfortunately, now there have been major budget cutbacks and they will only purchase books that have been published in the last 6 months and they have to meet other qualifications as well.

 

Lisa

[Mom-ninja.]

Nope. My library system no longer accepts suggestions or requests. :glare:

[Slartibartfast]

I don't understand all of the library discards. We have a little shop in our largest city library which sells donated and discarded books. I bought a hardcover Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse in perfectly brand new condition. Why buy a book and discard it immediately? Why not discard one of the older copies? It was seriously brand new.

 

This happens a lot. It seems like really poor management of money.

 

I assume it is because they have many copies when a book is new? I got a Michael Pollan book at my library sale for $1. That seemed weird but surely they wouldn't be tossing all of those would they? If I check my library online I can see they have five copies, as well as a bring print version and an audio version. So I guess they reduce once a book has been out awhile or something.

 

Also I think some things they sell are from donations.

Edited July 12, 2010 by Sis

[Nestof3]

Yes, but like I said, it would make more sense to discard an older copy. This was flawless. Also, library discards are obvious because of their stickers.

 

I assume it is because they have many copies when a book is new? I got a Michael Pollan book at my library sale for $1. That seemed weird but surely they wouldn't be tossing all of those would they? If I check my library online I can see they have five copies, as well as a bring print version and an audio version. So I guess they reduce once a book has been out awhile or something.

 

Also I think some things they sell are from donations.

[T'smom]

Yes, but like I said, it would make more sense to discard an older copy. This was flawless. Also, library discards are obvious because of their stickers.

 

Did this book not have the library stickers? (Call number, etc.) If not it was probably a donation. Libraries sell their discards, but they also sell books that people have donated. If I was to go through my son's books, I could donate some of his books that are in better condition than the copy the library has of the same book- but the library would have to spend money to have someone add it to the collection and then discard the one that is already there. I doubt many libraries even look at the donations- they just add them to the stack to be sold at a sale. It would be a huge waste of time to pay someone to go through them just to see if maybe there were any that could be additions to the collection.

[Nestof3]

It had stickers and was a library discard. Sorry I didn't make that clearer in my post. Yes, our store also sells donated books. I can tell the difference easily because of the library stickers.

 

Did this book not have the library stickers? (Call number' date=' etc.) If not it was probably a donation. Libraries sell their discards, but they also sell books that people have donated. If I was to go through my son's books, I could donate some of his books that are in better condition than the copy the library has of the same book- but the library would have to spend money to have someone add it to the collection and then discard the one that is already there. I doubt many libraries even look at the donations- they just add them to the stack to be sold at a sale. It would be a huge waste of time to pay someone to go through them just to see if maybe there were any that could be additions to the collection.[/quote']

[mammaruss]

We are 100% at our library. We adore our librarian!! It does take some time to receive it--about a month, but we have always received what we have ordered. Our librarian adds it to our library card as a hold--so we are notified immediately when the book arrives at our library.