Selection criteria
Stock is selected by a variety of methods including:
- supplier selection – using defined profiles and rankings for fiction and non-fiction stock agreed with Birmingham Libraries
- bibliographical sources from the internet, publishers and booklists
- recommendation and requests from customers and staff
Our decisions on stock selection take into account:
- quality – merits of author, series, reputable publisher, estimated shelf life, binding
- presentation – paper quality, typography, illustrations
- currency – current affairs, new edition, accurate and comprehensive contents
- relevance – fluctuating demands, topical interest, balanced stock, specific and known demands, needs and interest of community, best in field, stock gap
- compliance with Public Sector Equality duty
- sequel – do we hold titles in this sequence?
- local interest – for example jewellery-making
- ethnicity – changes in the local ethnic minority population
- ease of use – social inclusion needs
- formats – a variety of formats will be purchased i.e. hardback, paperback, graphic, spoken word, large print, eBook and eaudio, and multimedia but some formats may be inappropriate for library use and will not be purchased
- cost – value for money
- popularity – reviews, reader requests
- existing stock – balance, coverage and existing or alternative titles
- proportion of fiction to non-fiction and hardback to paperback books
