To follow up on the letter published in the newspaper The duty of March 25, under the title Books from here are not all equal in the librarythe Corporation of Professional Librarians of Quebec (CBPQ) wishes to react and provide some clarifications.
The development of quality collections is a fundamental part of library activities, and this task is assigned mainly to librarians. These professionals are responsible for choosing the documents to be included in the collections.
It should be remembered that librarians hold a master’s degree in library science and/or information science, degrees awarded by two renowned Quebec universities (University of Montreal and McGill University). Their programs are periodically evaluated and accredited by the American Library Association. A course on collection management is taken by future librarians interested in this aspect of the profession.
It should also be noted that libraries have collection development policies, which govern processes such as acquisitions. These are therefore operations guided by criteria, established by librarians and monitored by librarians, in particular the quality of the works available.
Several sources can be consulted to develop collections (specialized journals, publishers’ catalogs, book reviews, etc.). In Quebec, think particularly of the bibliographic databases Memento and ChoixMédia. For children’s books, the selections offered by Communication-Jeunesse are enlightening.
Librarians also ensure that they know the needs of their audiences well, among other things through acquisition suggestions, but also through statistical analyses.
Librarians responsible for collection development are accustomed to visiting bookstores on a regular basis to make selections. They are then supported by community booksellers, who know both their holdings and new publications. Books by Quebec authors are presented, as well as those by foreign authors. Librarians are the resources best placed to make the choice of appropriate works for libraries, whether in the educational, municipal or specialized environment.
Finally, it should be noted that for more than 50 years, professional librarians have been constituted as a corporation. The CBPQ, whose role is to protect the public and promote the profession, puts forward rules of ethics and promotes values such as access to information, intellectual freedom and inclusion with his members.