Prompt Response: Book Reviews and Collection Development

Different Types of Reviews and Collection Development

Nowadays, there are so many review resources to turn to when considering purchasing a book for your library's collection or just looking for one to read. We have Goodreads, Amazon, Blogs, and StoryGraph, as informal resources, but also professional review sources like Library Journal and Kirkus. I also think that we (as regular readers and librarians) have to take into account social media. TikTok has changed the publishing landscape and if you can go viral online with your book, people are going to buy it (I'm looking at you, Rebecca Yarros). If books are going viral on TikTok, I can guarantee that a patron will request for us to purchase those titles. The general rule at our library right now is that if a patron requests a title that we do not own, we will most likely purchase it. The exception to that rule is self-published titles, we do not acquire those for our collection per our policy. If an author reaches out directly we let them know that they are welcome to donate a copy of their book but there is no guarantee it will be added to the collection after a librarian reviews it. There are countless resources to turn to when trying to decide what books to purchase for a collection, but it can be hard to find reviews for books only available as e-books. I also feel like a lot of e-books are exclusive to Amazon too, so that makes it difficult for librarians to keep up with similar titles. Now it is so easy to self-publish and have your book available on Amazon, but it can be difficult to get reviews if it is only available as an e-book. Because of this, it would be difficult for a book only available as an e-book to be added to a library's collection.

Romantic Suspense Novel

The reviews on both platforms give you a good idea of how the book has been received by readers. I often look to Amazon just to get a general sense of how people feel about a book. Personally, I feel that both reviews are reliable, but I would seek more reviews too. I often look to Goodreads just because so many people use the platform and it is easy to see a variety of reviews. This would probably not be purchased for my library - it looks like it may be an Amazon-exclusive e-book. It is also not a top seller, so in terms of circulation, I do not think it would get checked out enough. It would probably end up on a "dead" list at my library. We go through dead items every month which means those books have not been checked out in the last three years. Most of the time they all get discarded.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

The reviews for Angela's Ashes convince me that this memoir is worth adding to our collection. The professional reviews gathered are overwhelmingly positive. The Kirkus review states that it is an "extraordinary work in every way" and Library Journal even says that "almost impossible to put down, may well become a classic" so those specific reviews are enough for me to add it to our collection.

Do you think it's fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage?

No, it isn't fair but it is hard to get books into the hands of readers who will enjoy their works. I honestly think that using social media is key to getting books out there and getting reviews from readers. Like, Colleen Hoover has been reviewed to death, and in my opinion, her books are just okay. I enjoy one of her books every once in a while as a great way to get out of a reading slump. Then there are authors like Mindy McGinnis, who is just prolific and writes fantastic young adult books, but I do not see her books getting as much coverage. She has written across several different genres and her books captivate me every single time I read one.

How does this affect a library's collection?

We are going to be stocking what is popular and what our patrons ask for. Even though an author may have an excellent novel, but not enough coverage, we may not add it to the collection. If we are not seeing it in professional review sources, there's a slim chance we'll see it. It is unfortunate, but it's policy.

And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate?

I honestly had no idea that Booklist would not publish negative reviews. If a book is not written well, that should be in a review. It almost makes me feel like they are not reliable and not telling the truth if a book just plain sucks. It's not appropriate for a professional review source to not publish negative reviews.

If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

I am a Public Services Librarian and I take care of the non-fiction section through 599.99999 (mammals), but I am in a weird position at the moment. I share this section with a co-worker who is getting ready to move, so I have been shadowing her since I started in October. She had started in March and when she took over the section had been neglected for years. We are also preparing to close the entire Public Services and TeenZone for the next phase of construction. No materials will be available for browsing during this time, so we are getting rid of all dead items as much as we can before next week. We are really just trying to clean it up right now and get rid of old materials, dead, and grubby ones. Sometimes I look at reviews within Baker & Taylor when I am considering reordering a grubby book (one that is kind of old and gross but still has good circulation statistics). I also check to make sure that a newer edition is not available and that the information is still accurate.

I often check out reviews on Goodreads and StoryGraph before buying books. I blindly bought Nothing But Blackened Teeth last January, and I thought it was awful. The Goodreads reviews did not lie on this one. I still read it because it was so short, but it is just a habit now. I know that Goodreads is infamous for review bombing, so I usually check multiple places.