Book Sale: How does that work?

The Westlock and district libraries serve vibrant and dynamic communities. Your library provides reading, reference and research material for every age and interest group either through physical holdings, on-line access, or Inter-Library Loan services. The library collections must reflect the information needs and reading preferences of the patrons; otherwise the library is merely a place full of paper rather than people. We love people, so it’s the library’s mission to provide books that will attract the public into our facility.

The public library has, historically, been the hub and heart of the community: a place where people meet and share knowledge. Books are integral to that information and knowledge sharing, but our facilities have limited space in which to house and circulate books. We cannot hold copies of every book that is in print, so we have to select items that are timely and relevant to the public. It’s tricky business, but here’s how it works…

The library staff does a regular culling process of our shelved books in order to ensure that we have room to accommodate new material. But how do we decide what to cull?

Each title in our collection is tracked on our computer system. Library staff can search for a book’s title or barcode and find out how often it has been borrowed since it was purchased.

When a book is not borrowed regularly or has been replaced with a newer copy, the library has to question the value of that book for the community. The decision has to be made to remove less popular titles to make way for newer and more popular ones. Rather than throw these culled items away, we give the community an opportunity to buy the item for their own collection.

So how much does it cost for you to buy one of these Book Sale items? We do not set a price, but ask that you consider the quality and condition of the item.How does the money get spent?

Book Sale money goes directly to the purchase of new items for the Library. Our staff selects items based on the reading preferences that we observe. We love reading as much as our patrons, but we can’t read minds…

If you have a suggestion for a title or author that is not already in our collections we welcome your suggestions. Please write down your recommendations and put them in the box at the service desk. We will do our best to put the money towards purchasing your suggested titles.Remember, this is YOUR Library and YOUR collections!