Library 

Over the past several weeks, the Library staff have been working on a number of projects. I would like to report on one of them; the two new collections that the Library is developing. However, first I would like to share with you a snapshot of the existing collections and their loans.

Below is one month's loans of the Library’s main book collections and the number of books in each collection. In order to make a comparison of popularity of collection with different sized holdings we use a measure known as the 'turnover rate', which shows how ‘hard working’ a collection is in comparison to another.  The 'turnover rate' is the number of materials circulated divided by the number of physical materials held.

From this we can see who the heavy hitters are. 'Graphic novels' are by far the best performing collection. However, many of the 'Japanese Manga Graphic Novels' of course, are fairly quick reading even if they do focus on zombies and apocalypse!

'Horror', 'Animals' and 'War' are small collections which have benefited from being put into their own genre collections, which has made them easier to find. They have also benefited from having a lot of new books bought recently in order to bulk them up. 'Love', of course, is a perennially popular subject matter for our students and some of our most popular series are in this genre.

The 'Classics' collection is still in need of loving cultivation and so it is quite pleasing to see that it has a respectable turnover given that many of the books in it may be perceived as being ‘difficult’.  We are always looking at new ways to ‘sell’ books – and this observation about the 'Classics' gave rise to a realisation that we were missing a couple of very marketable collections; namely books published over the past ten years that have won Young Adult Literary Awards in the English speaking world, and similarly books that have won Adult Literary Awards. Certainly we had a number of these books, but there were many omissions and the books were hidden in other collections and often have no notification on their cover that they have won an award.

The books for these two new collections have been identified and ordered and are coming in as fast as COVID supply chains allow.  We have also ordered two new ‘swivel’ bookshelves: one for each collection. The Young Adult Literary Award Winners will be placed near where the younger years congregate in the Library while the Adult Award Winners will be placed near the study area where VCE students sit and where teachers often come past to use the photocopier.

The following literary awards have been identified for purchase:

Young Adult Award Winners collection

• Children’s Book of the Year Award (Children’s Book Council of Australia)
• The Newberry Medal 
  (American Library Association)
• Printz Award
  (American Library Association awarded for books which exemplify excellence in young adult literature)
• The YA Book Prize 
  (U.K. and Ireland launched in 2014)

Adult Award Winners collection

• The Booker Prize 
  (U.K. award for books written in English)
• The Booker Prize International 
  (books translated into English & published in the U.K. or Ireland)
• Pullitzer Prize (American writers only)
• Miles Franklin Award
• National Book Award
  (For United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but they are awards 'by writers to writers').

Interestingly – the Nobel Prize for literature has not been included as a selection criterion as it is awarded to the author and not specifically to one book – although one book may be the tipping point for that author gaining the recognition. This means that after being awarded the Nobel Prize, the author may place their award on every book that they have written!

Angus Pearson

Library Coordinator