A few people asked me to provide a summary of my responses regarding the assessment of our collection. So far, I have heard from booksellers, librarians, and consultants. Advice I was given by one is not to rush to sell or give away anything - that the state of Washington is not rich in Judaica, compared to the East Coast, and a warning about the self-interest of some.
Another sent me some good questions to consider: Do you have a mandate to reduce the size of the collection? Do you have a list of important books in each of your core areas: Judaica, Teacher & Curriculum, General? Are there guidelines from the state that will help? Another reminded me of the fickleness of book values. No one mentioned consultant fees.... These responses were helpful for me in redefining and refining my reasons for wanting to evaluate the collection; and another reminder of how crucial this step is for developing a collection development policy and library planning. Because I am a new librarian, and though Jewish, not a Judaica subject specialist, I especially appreciate AJL and its resources! If I hear more tidbits worth passing on, I'll let the list know. Thanks for all the support! Toby Harris, Librarian Temple De Hirsch Sinai 1522 E. Pike Street Seattle, WA 98122 (206)315-7398 Seattle Library (206)323-8486, Ext 7481 Bellevue Library Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
