In his March 25 opinion piece, writer and literature professor René Lapierre paints an inaccurate portrait of the management of collections and conveys an erroneous image of the work of public library staff. The Association of Public Libraries of Quebec (ABPQ) wishes to express its deep disagreement with this plea.
Collections management is a critical and rigorously supervised process within public libraries in Quebec. At the national level, all the steps are specified and clarified by the Guidelines for public libraries formulated by the ABPQ, Bibliothèques et Archives nationales du Québec and the Réseau BIBLIO du Québec.
It refers to several tools to measure the composition of a collection and the interaction of users with it. Examples include the annual acquisition plan, turnover or refresh rates, or the mobilization of audits. All of these tools demonstrate that collections management is a meticulously organized strategic operation and not a nebulous process or mysterious mechanics.
The fundamental instrument remains the collection management policy, which users can find out from their libraries. In particular, they will learn that the selection, acquisition, evaluation and pruning respect clearly stated criteria in accordance with the values of intellectual freedom and the regulations in force governing the purchase of books. Beyond the notoriety of the authors, the intrinsic value of a work is an essential index to support the selection of a document.
Qualified staff
To achieve this, libraries call on qualified personnel. But who exactly are these people and what is their expertise? asks Mr. Lapierre. These are not only librarians, but also documentation technicians. Just as architects need a master’s degree to build a project or business managers need to have completed an MBA, organizing and maintaining a collection is knowledge recognized by obtaining a degree.
For decades in Quebec, recognized and accredited educational programs in the library sector have offered quality training up to a master’s level. The requirement for such a level of qualification justifies the expertise of staff in the acquisition of documents and the management of collections.
He therefore has all the necessary skills to find and compile the information necessary for these operations. We will understand that the image of people “making choices based on personal preferences concealed under boilerplate orientations” is at odds with the professional framework governing Quebec public libraries. The ABPQ is convinced that our colleagues demonstrate discernment and will be able to clearly describe a process that they master.
We should add that the management of collections must remain the prerogative of the local library, which above all serves the community of citizens of its territory. Collection development policies are in fact based on the interests of users and the needs of the community. No offense to Mr. Lapierre, this operation is based on consultation between local, regional and national networks. It is in no way subject to the exclusivity of national guidelines. It is up to the discretion of each institution to define, adopt and ratify collection management policies in a spirit of intellectual freedom.
In light of these remarks, the ABPQ unfortunately notes that jobs in public libraries are still unknown to the public. With this response, the Association hopes to contribute to a fairer representation of the work of its colleagues and members.