What training for collection development and management needs to happen in MLIS programs? How much of what we do in collection development can be taught vs must simply be learned on the job? From concepts to practical skills to subject knowledge to current issues in formats and licensing, what are your priorities? How much expertise and background do you expect new librarians to have in collection development, and what do you prefer to teach them once they’re on the job? There’s a great deal of student interest in learning collection development, and this course is one of the most heavily-enrolled electives in the MLIS program at the University of Washington Information School, with both online and face-to-face sections filling quickly. While I often receive feedback from the students after they’ve landed a professional job involving selection, what I’m looking to gather from the Charleston audience is what you are seeking in new selectors or entry-level librarians, to create the most useful curriculum possible. This is also an opportunity for participants to share their experiences with hiring and training selectors—whether those are freshly-minted MLIS-holders, or librarians who happen to be new to a selecting area. My courses are based on what really happens in collection development, built off my experience as a subject selector with a tiny to middling budget, as a disciplinary bibliographer with the responsibility to predict user content needs several decades out, as a mentor to new and mid-level selectors, and as a project consultant to libraries and consortia. I look forward to hearing what you’d like to see in your new hires, and how I can help provide you with well-prepared, enthusiastic selectors and collection managers!
