Week Five Prompt

How do the different types of reviews affect collection development?

It is important for the person in charge of collection development to understand the differences in each of these publications so that they know what to expect out of the review. Knowing that Romance novels are not often reviewed in professional publications should prompt staff to actively seek out other sources of reviews. Knowing that they may come across a negative Kirkus review may prompt them to seek out a Booklist review where only the books strengths will be highlighted.  Having a well-rounded impression of a book will help the purchaser in making the best collection decision for the library. If the collection development librarian is unaware of these differences and is not actively seeking out reviews for unrepresented genres, certain sections in the collection could potential be neglected.

From the reviews on The Billionaire's First Christmas by Holly Rayner - Are they reliable? How likely are you to buy this book for your library?

I tend to gravitate toward reviews by readers versus professional reviews to get a truer sense of a book. Many readers give raw unadulterated opinions and usually I can find a review from all points along the spectrum from "hated it" to "loved it." I think the important thing is that the review mentions aspects of the book that are important to readers like, "clean," "light read," "too Christmassy", etc. Light, clean, Christmas reads are actually very popular at my library, so at first, I entertained the thought of adding it to the collection. I also searched Goodreads for additional reviews, and found many comments about the books many grammatical errors. It is also free through Amazon. Based on these two factors, I would not consider adding this book to my library's collection. 

How do the reviews on Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt make you feel about the possibility of adding this to your collection?

Sold. “Exquisitely written,” “extraordinary work,” “may well become a classic,” expect demand,” and “wonderfully readable” are just some of the praise this work received in these reviews. There is no doubt that this book will circulate and should be included in the collection. These reviews are really well written by so-called book experts who create hype and demand for a book. Collection development librarians should take note and prepare for it.

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? How does this affect a library's collection?  

I think that this is one of the reasons that readers turn to sites like Goodreads and personal blogs for recommendations. They want to hear whether the book was good or bad by someone who had a genuine interest in reading it. Word of mouth is so important these days because we don’t know who to trust or what is motivating people to give their opinion. Referencing someone's blog or Goodreads not only feels more authentic and honest, but is more accessible. Many bloggers post their content on social media as well, increasing their reach. If readers look to professional sources for reviews and never see the books they are interested in, they simply will stop going there.

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

I think it is important to know that a source will not print negative reviews but I do not think there is anything wrong with it. I think it is important to focus collection development plans toward procuring material that patrons will want to check out. As Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science states: "Every reader, his/her book. Every book, it's reader." These are important things to remember as librarians – we are not here to judge content but to share it and make it available.

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 do not make purchasing decisions for my library but I do love to read reviews. I look for reviews through Goodreads, bookstagrams and reading blogs. My favorite places to find reviews are: Brain Pickings, Book Riot, authors I admire on Instagram like Patti Smith, and through bookstagrammers like Theguywiththebook – Faroukh (Saudi Arabia), Thelostlibrary – Ula (UK), Afinekettleofbooks – Ismini (Athens, Greece)