The New York Times posted a list of the 100 Notable Books of 2012 without popularity rankings. Editors of The New York Times Book Review selected the books. The list is broken down into the general categories of Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction.  A sampling of the selected books include, Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother? A comic drama, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz, and Far From The Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon.

Goodreads issued the Choice Award Winners list as well. This list differs from The New York Times Notable Books list in the sense of “choice” – users of the Goodreads website vote for the books that they believe were the best of 2012. Goodreads broke the list into a variety of categories for the ease of voting, which included Fiction, Mystery &Thriller, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Horror, Memoir & Autobiography, History & Biography, Nonfiction, Food & Cookbooks, Humor, Graphic Novels & Comics, Poetry, Goodreads Author, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, Middle Grade & Children’s, and Picture Books.

Upon looking at the results for both lists, there is a noticeable difference in the books selected.  The New York Times list contains fewer books that library patrons have requested this year. Diaz’s This Is How You Lose Her, mentioned on The New York Times list, made a big splash with readers this year, but E.L. James’s Fifty Shades series has left an irreversible mark on pop culture, which is evident with winning the Goodreads’ Romance category.

One titan that spans both lists is Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up The Bodies. Although not the official “winner” of the Historical Fiction category for Goodreads, Bring Up The Bodies snatched a close 6,516 votes to the 6,918 votes of M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans. 1.1 million votes were cast in the Goodreads Choice Awards and the top vote earners overall were The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (37,438), Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (27,502), and Insurgent by Veronica Roth (23,827).

Additionally, The Atlantic and The New Yorker posted their best books lists as well. Their lists provide reviewer insight on why the books are the “best.” The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, even threw their hat into the ring of lists and compiled a list of notable children’s books for 2012 sorted by general age level. All three lists are recommended for additional 2012 book reviews.

Year-end review lists can be overwhelming. They can also be excellent tools for readers advisory. Certainly the lists of The New York Times and Goodreads are not exclusive. Perhaps the reader of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild from Goodreads list would also be interested in Kayak Morning by Roger Rosenblatt from The New York Times list. Readers advisory resources are plentiful in the digital era and none should be snubbed based on “standing.” Now, let the 2013 book releases begin.

What were the most popular books of 2012 at your library?

What books are you looking forward to in 2013?

The post Best Books 2012 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

We have heard it all before, “Where are the books about animals?” and “Where are the cookbooks?” We have done our best to section out popular parts of the fiction and non-fiction collections, like mysteries and career development books respectively, but patron needs’ still demand division in children and adult collections alike. Several libraries across the country have explored alternatives to traditional numeric and alphabetic classification systems.

In 2007, the Maricopa County Library District (Ariz.) opened the Perry Library with a classification system now coined as “ShelfLogic.” Utilizing logical, plain-word language, patrons in Maricopa search for materials in a scheme similar to searching for materials in a book store – by subject and genre. This “Deweyless” library allows for easy browsing while not sacrificing searching by specificity. This classification system was adapted from the book industry’s Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC).The community’s response to this change has been so overwhelmingly positive that the Maricopa County Library District has opened every new branch since with ShelfLogic and they are in the process of retro-converting the existing libraries’ holdings to this model.

Inspired after a visit to Maricopa, librarians from the Rangeview Library District (Colo.) reconsidered their classification system . In 2009, the Rangeview Library District (also known as Anythink Libraries) was the first library system to adopt a BISAC-based model at all of its libraries. The District modified the system a little though. They use a hierarchical system similar to the Dewey Decimal System coined as “WordThink.” Spines are labeled with a broad categorical title and a narrower term. For example, a book about drawing would be found under the category of “Art” in the subsection of “Drawing.” Books are then shelved alphabetically in their subsections.

The Darien Library (Conn.) reorganized their collection in a small, but meaningful way. Upon receiving patron feedback, the library reorganized their children’s collection to be more empowering to youth and adult patrons alike. The First Five Years collection breaks resources down into nine, color-coded sections: Favorites, Stories, Growing Up, Transportation, Rhymes & Songs, Concepts, Celebrations, Folk & Fairy Tales, and Learn to Read. Patrons found the reorganization to be very user-friendly, and staff found that, as a result of selecting under which category books would be housed, they were able to deliver more effective reader’s advisory.

Beyond the children’s room, the adult non-fiction collection at Darien is a hybrid of Dewey’s findability and the bookstore model’s browability. Breaking down the inherent barriers in Dewey that separate language and travel, for example, patrons can browse for similar materials in connected “glades” or “neighborhoods.” Armed with the positive feedback of reorganizing the children’s non-fiction, Darien Library is now in the processing of planning to reorganize the children’s non-fiction collection as well.

When considering a new classification system though, always return to one of the fundamental collection development: what do the patrons want? Users’ experience and input was critical to each reorganization. While the Deweyless movement is still young, it is no less important to the concern for access. In the ever-growing landscape of collections, ability to access materials is key to a user’s experience and motivations should be well-founded before reorganization.

What classification systems does your library use?

Has your library thought of implementing an in-house classification system?

The post Is Dewey Dead? first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Unique collections, collections that offer materials beyond books and media, offer patrons the chance to take their interests off the page. At the Central Mississippi Regional Library (LA), patrons can check out scrapbook kits that include stencils, punches,  die cutters, and dies. Want to try out a new instrument? The Lopez Island Library (Wash.) has patrons covered with their collection of violins, ukuleles and keyboards, offered through collaboration with the dean of the Lopez Island School of Music Advocacy Foundation. In addition to checking-out books on home improvement, patrons can also check-out power and hand tools at the Oakland Public Library (CA) – aiding patrons in crossing items off  their to-do lists!

Unique collections also offer unique community partnerships and programming opportunities. Telescopes for Libraries is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to promote scientific literacy by providing libraries with easy-to-use to telescopes. The P.D Brown Memorial Library (MD) not only offers a cake pan lending library, but cake decorating programs as well. A very unique collection is the Human Library. Initially started as project in Denmark, Human Libraries allow patrons to “check-out” a human book – a volunteer from the community who publicly represents a certain group. The mission of the Human Library is to promote communication in a community, encourage understanding, and provide answers from primary,  human sources.

Keep in mind that unique collection development follows the same notion of general collection development – invest in what the community wants or will find use in. Surveying patrons and the community would be the best way to gauge the interest for a unique collection.With some creative thinking, public libraries will continue to meet the needs of their communities and stay relevant in the 21^st century.

 Does you library have any unique circulating collections?
What unique collections do you think your community would be interested in?

The post Can I Check This Out? : Circulating Collections Beyond Books, CDs, and DVDs first appeared on Public Libraries Online.