Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management

The second edition of the ALA’s Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management was staring me in the face at the ‘new arrivals’ display while I was waiting in line to check out my stack of books and I wondered if it would be helpful in terms of developing one’s personal collection — books or not. Curious, I added it to my pile.

They aren’t kidding when they say this book is for library professionals; not being one, I cannot properly review the book in that context — but skimming the pages I did pull a number of things which may be of use the collector.

Obvious parallels are the matter of funds (while we may dream of “funding,” we may content ourselves with merely having to please a mate’s inquisition, and not a Board of Acquisition) and, when funds are available, the proper selection of items to add to collections. Is it good enough? Does this object add to the collection as a whole? Do I like it that much — at the expense of the next things I (invariably will) find? The author, Peggy Johnson, states this situation very well:

A tension between collecting as much as possible and collecting only the best and most appropriate has been a constant feature of library selection. This is coupled with defining what is good and appropriate and balancing user demand against librarians’ perception of value.

While individual collectors do not have a general public to think of when considering user demand (generally, like the matter of funds, it is the collector and his family), considering your collection in terms of a user and their demands rather than a person and their hobby can be helpful to those who wish to accept that as collectors they are curators.

So what are the sorts of things collectors should consider when selecting items for their own collections? Well, really the question is, “Does the object fit the mission statement you have for your collection?” If you don’t yet have a mission statement, perhaps the following questions will help clarify things for yourself.

(I barely have any of these things figured out for my own collections, so I can’t even begin to presume answers for yours. But don’t skip this list — bookmark this post for further thinking, or cut & paste the questions into a document for brainstorming later.)

Who does this collection serve?

In the smaller picture sense, will the objects only be handled by and displayed for yourself, or will they be seen or used elsewhere, such as exhibited at libraries, collector shows, etc.?

In the bigger picture, is the collection really just to amuse and entertain yourself, or do you hope to leave it for future generations? And if for future generations, do you mean for your own children, or the future generations of humanity at large? What do these future generations require in terms of pieces and/or documentation in order to understand &/or value the collection as a whole?

What is the character of the collection?

Does it capture a personal narrative, a cultural one, both? Does it focus on the rare and elusive, or is it the largest?

Sustainability must also be considered — both in terms of interest and physical survival. What objects are necessary to keep the collection interesting, to set it apart from a simple grouping of items? What items are perhaps already too fragile or require more care than you can handle?

Please don’t let these questions intimidate you; there aren’t any wrong — or right — answers. Just as there aren’t any wrong or right collections or philosophies about them. (And, if you are intimidated or embarrassed by this, check out my upcoming presentation at the first Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention!) Let the questions empower you to see more in your darling little hobby than ever before!

In truth, you may never really arrive at concrete answers; collections are ever changing, growing, just as the people behind them are. As Nancy M. Cline is quoted in the book (from “Staffing: The Art of Managing Changes,” in Collection Management and Development: Issues in an Electronic Era), you must have “the ability to tolerate ambiguity.”

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 6:07 am and is filed under collecting fyi, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.