Collection Management Proposal

LIS615

March 4, 2004

Welcome to Trenton Veterans Memorial Library

            "In studies of nursing home octogenarians as well as in trials of overweight, middle-aged adults, exercise is proving to be a powerful therapy to reduce blood pressure, boost cardiovascular health, strengthen muscles, improve metabolism, elevate mood and maintain mental functioning" (Squires, 23 April 2002, F01).  In fact, in this Washington Post newspaper article, it is stated that no one is too old to see the benefits of exercising (Squires, 23 April 2002, F01).  This is why it is so important for the Trenton Veterans Memorial Library of Trenton, Michigan to buy more running materials.  While the shared collection (see below, Proposed Collection) boasts 970 titles (includes books, videos/DVDs, audio books, and periodicals) in the subject of exercise, only 68 titles (includes books, videos/DVDs, audio books, and periodicals) exist for running (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  This is just 7 percent of the shared collection devoted to running.  This is one of the lowest areas under exercising in the collection.  For example, aerobic exercise represents 43 percent, and even walking receives 8 percent consideration (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  We know as you read through our proposal that through our library community, proposed collection, and proposed budget, the need for these funds will become clear.

Our Library Community

            Trenton is a small city of 19,584 citizens (City of Trenton, 2004) who are predominantly Caucasians; however, Trenton is becoming more ethnically diverse with African-Americans moving in from Detroit, and Japanese citizens working temporarily for the Japanese car companies.  Employment is good due to the auto industry, and the average age of the people of Trenton is 38 (City of Trenton, 2004); however, many families and seniors live in Trenton and the surrounding areas.  As a result, the library serves many age groups.

            One library exists in Trenton which consists of 65,603 volumes (City of Trenton, 2004).   The library underwent a renovation due to customer demand for more library services.  In fact, the voters approved a $4,000,000 bond to build the new library (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  This resulted in the library having space for over 90,000 volumes (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  As you can see, space is available for the new materials being requested (see below, Proposed Collection).  Also, support for the library is strong in Trenton as can be seen by the voters' approval of the funds.

Proposed Collection

            From our library community, let us discuss our proposed collection.  Trenton Veterans Memorial Library is a member of the Library Network Shared Library Automation System.  The system is an online catalog of materials owned by 40 libraries in Southeast Michigan (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  The following are our ideas and justifications:

1.            Trenton only has five titles of the 68 running materials.   We want to save our users time.  This shared system keeps our patrons waiting because the materials can come from 57 different locations (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  As a result, the users have to wait up to two days for some materials.  If we had more running information, the patrons would be more likely to use it. Also, some duplication of the materials in the shared system will result because we want our users to have access to the best materials, quickly.

2.            Some of the titles within the shared system date back to 1931 (Trenton Veterans Memorial Library, 2004).  We would like to get more updated materials to include books, audio books, videos/DVD's, and periodicals.  We do not feel we need any retrospective collecting due to the earlier dates of some of the materials in the shared system.

3.            The materials mentioned above will be in English and be broad in terms of age group.  As mentioned, Trenton consists of many age groups, so we want to get children, teenage, adult, and older adult materials.  We want to pay particular attention to the teenage group and work with Trenton High School track coach to obtain materials for the track team.

Proposed Budget

We want to buy 50 titles.  The breakdown is as follows (*Bogart 2003, 459-460 and **Amazon, 2004):

            Based on our budget, we need only $730 to furnish Trenton Veterans Memorial Library with the necessary materials to inform our users about running.

Please Consider Our Request

            We hope that we have convinced you of the need for the running materials for Trenton Veterans Memorial Library.  We have user support for the library, a broad age group of patrons, and room for the materials.  Also, we want our patrons to be as healthy as possible and feel that introducing more running materials into the library for easy access by our users will encourage exercising.  Please give us your consideration for the funds that we have requested.  Thank you.

Bibliography

Amazon.com.  "DVDs & VHS," Amazon.com Online.  Home page online.  Home page online. 

Available from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ix=dvd&rank

=%2Brelevancerank&fqp=format%01dvd%7Ctheatrical%02keywords%01exercis

e&nsp=store-name%01dvd%02score%01proj-unit-sales%02price-bins%01%7C0-9%7C10-19%7C20-29%7C30-39%7C40-49%7C50-X%7C&sz=10&pg=2/ref=s_

d_np/002-7392156-1427266; Internet; accessed 2 March 2004.

Bogart, Dave, ed., The Bowker Annual Library and Book Trade Almanac.  Medford, NJ: 

Information Today, Inc., 2003.

City of Trenton.  "City of Trenton, Statistical Review," City of Trenton Online.  Home

page online.  Available from http://www.trenton-mi.com/community/

aboutthecity/stats.htm; Internet; accessed 1 March 2004.

Squires, Sally.  "In it for the Long Run; Exercise is Key to the Prescription for Healthy

Aging, No Matter How Old You Are." The Washington Post, Health; pg. F01 (23 April 2002), available from LexisNexis Academic, <http://micro189.lib3.

hawaii.edu:2087/universe/document?_m=2dfbe00d0fc67da18c2dab894f8e7044&_docnum=2&wchp=dGLbVzz-zSkVA&_md5=1d39feee08c619e853c06cb688

cd0bd6> (accessed 1 March 2004).

Trenton Veterans Memorial Library.  "About the Library," Trenton Veterans Memorial

Library Online.  Home page online.  Available from http://www.trenton.lib.mi.us/

AboutTheLibrary.htm; Internet; accessed 1 March 2004.

Trenton Veterans Memorial Library.  "TLN Catalog and Reservation System," Trenton

Veterans Memorial Library Online.  Home page online.  Available from http://web2.tln.lib.mi.us/web2/tramp2.exe/log_in; Internet; accessed 1 March 2004.