Current Topics and Titles

Welcome to the Polk County Public Library's CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES web page!

In the future this page will be devoted to ideas and projects developed over time to address the Polk County Public Library's chosen secondary service priority, CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES. Until then, we offer below some background information on what an CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES service response might entail. --

(This description of a variety of ways to implement a CURRENT TOPIC AND TITLES service response is from Planning For Results: A Public Library Transformation Process, by Ethel Himmel and William James Wilson, Chicago: ALA, 1998, pp. 87-90.)

Example of Needs Addressed by This Service Response
A library that provides CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES helps to fulfill community residents' appetite for information about popular cultural and social trends and their desire for satisfying recreational experiences.

What the Library Does and Provides
The library will provide a current collection with sufficient copies of titles in high demand to ensure customer requests are met quickly. Materials will be offered in the formats and in the languages people want and will be selected primarily on the basis of local demand. The library's collections will be organized in ways that make items easy to find and will be merchandised to the public through the use of displays and display shelving. Staff knowledgeable of the content of best-selling titles and the style of popular authors and performers will offer expert guidance to the public. The library will monitor pre-publication review sources and publisher advertising campaigns in order to anticipate public demand. The library may track personal appearances, media appearances, publicity tours of authors, and the schedules and media reviews of artists' performances for the same reason. The library may offer programs such as book talks, book signings, performances, and exhibits that promote current and forthcoming releases.

Some Possible Components of Current Topics and Titles Service

Booktalks
Author book signings
Readers' advisory services
Preview stations for videos and recordings
Display shelving
Drive-through check-out or return.

Target Audiences and Service Aspects

Target Audiences
CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES can be targeted to the general adult public as well as to other age groups such as young adults or children.

Service Aspects
A library could choose to narrow the scope of this service by offering a current popular collection of materials in a particular format such as video.

Resource Allocation Issues to Consider

Staff
Staff providing CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES service need to be knowledgeable about popular culture and literature. Staff will need to spend a significant amount of time keeping current with what's in and what's out. Staff members should have broad personal interests and should frequently read, view, and listen to the types of materials the public is demanding. Skill in marketing and merchandising, including public relations, is an asset.

Collection and Information Resources
Popular demand is the primary criteria for the collection that supports CURRENT TOPICS AND TITLES service, and consequently the collection should reflect library user preferences. Non- fiction and fiction titles, paperbacks and hard-bound books, popular magazines, and non-print materials such as video and audio formats should be provided. Libraries may offer CD-ROMS, multi-media kits, puppets, and computer games. Quantities of popular titles in all formats should be sufficient to make the library a dependable source of high-demand items.

Facilities
Display shelving, display end panels, and other furnishings that allow for the effective merchandising of materials should be provided. Broad aisles that encourage browsing should be a standard design feature. A pleasant atmosphere should be created by providing comfortable chairs and excellent lighting. Innovative approaches to creating unique environments, such as coffee bars, should be considered.

Technology
Computers can assist staff in providing a high-level of readers' advisory service. For example, library users can be supplied with information about authors, musical performers, or movie producers who share a similar style. Offering this type of special service through a library web page or pages should be considered. Libraries may offer listening and viewing facilities for browsing and previewing purposes. The online public access catalog should be available by dialing in from home and should offer services such as patron-initiated holds. The library might provide access to commercial online services which provide fiction readers' advisory assistance.

Possible Measures to Consider When Developing Objectives

People Served
Total number of users served (this measures the total number of users who used a service during a given time period):

Number of people who attended programs related to current topics and titles
Number of people who attended exhibits related to current topics and titles.

Number of Unique Individuals Who Used the Service (this measures the total number of unique individuals who used the service during a given time period, regardless of how many times they used the service):

Number of unique individuals who participated in the library-sponsored new foreign films discussion group
Number of unique people who participated in at least one of the library-sponsored new books discussion groups.

How Well the Service Met the Needs of People Served

Percent of people who used the current fiction collection who indicated on a survey that the materials were useful to them
Percent of people who used the video collection who indicated on a survey that the collection met their needs
Percent of people who used the media collection who indicated on a survey that they almost always were able to find something of interest
Percent of people who indicated on a survey that they used the library to obtain recreational materials.

Total Units of Service Delivered

Circulation of new books
Circulation of books on tape
Number of times the readers' advisory database was accessed
Number of unique current titles and topics book lists produced.
Number of current topics and titles displays created.