At a glance
Curating an inclusive collection at Evanston Public Library
A decade-long collectionHQ customer cut Dead on Arrival stock from 17.5% to 14.1% while lifting DEI representation from 21.9% to 24.9% — by promoting books rather than weeding them.
Population served
Items in collection
Reduction in Dead on Arrival stock
The challenge
What the library was up against
Before implementing collectionHQ, Evanston Public Library lacked an efficient process for carrying out regular collection improvements. Betsy Bird, Collection Development Manager, reported that the Non-Fiction collection was "huge and very old".
The library sought a solution that would empower staff to weed that collection efficiently and support a data-driven approach to collection development.
The solution
What they did
collectionHQ analyzes data from the library's ILS to establish how the collection is being used, then delivers action plans to help staff optimize it for readers based on demand. Evanston joined as one of the software's first early adopters and remains an avid user more than ten years later.
Promotion before removal
Rather than replacing or removing poorly circulating books, Betsy uses the action plans to identify opportunities to promote them in displays — every section of the adult fiction side now has a display per shelf, with Dead on Arrival items promoted first.
Protecting diverse and last-copy titles
Staff extend the number of years that items identified as diverse, equitable and inclusive have to circulate before being flagged as dead, and use the barcode search function to check whether any item is a last copy, DEI, dead or "grubby" straight from the shelf.
The results
What changed
Dead on Arrival stock, falling
Dead on Arrival stock fell from 17.5% in December 2022 to 14.1% in January 2024, making the collection budget go further.
DEI representation, rising
DEI representation rose from 21.9% in December 2021 to 24.9% in January 2024.
Space for accessible shelving
Increased circulation and a more refined collection created additional space for more accessible, lower shelving.
Charts that travel
Dashboard charts are used directly in board presentations, annual reports and local newspaper coverage.
“My goal is to try to make this much more of a bookstore experience. People love staff picks, and they love shelf talkers.”
Betsy Bird
Collection Development Manager, Evanston Public Library
More case studies
Other libraries, other pressures
Collection management
Rebuilding stock management after deep budget cuts
After service closures, a third fewer librarians and a change of LMS, South Gloucestershire used collectionHQ to re-establish a collection management process — and gave dead stock a second life worth 9,017 extra circulations.
South Gloucestershire Council Libraries
South Gloucestershire, UK
5 min read
DEI
Curating an inclusive collection at Oak Park Public Library
Manual tagging showed the diversity of new material but never the whole collection. DEI Analysis gave Oak Park a holistic view across twelve industry-respected DEI topics.
Oak Park Public Library
Oak Park, Illinois, USA
5 min read
Efficiency
A single platform to manage materials and gauge usage
A floating collection was pooling at certain branches, and diverse purchasing was tracked on spreadsheets. A methodical Collection Check rollout across ten locations changed both.
Marin County Free Library
Marin County, California, USA
5 min read
See what your collection data could tell you
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