Prompt Response Week 5

Ebook only books, which are increasingly popular (especially in the romance genre) see little to no reviews in professional publications unless they have a big name author. How does this affect collection development?

Since reviews are such a huge way librarians find books to purchase, ebook exclusives are unlikely to make it into many libraries' collections unless specifically requested by a patron. Even on request, it's not a guarantee that book will make it into the collection. Many of these ebooks are also only available through Amazon or KindleUnlimited, making not just unlikely, but impossible for libraries to purchase for patron use. This can lead to frustration from patrons that the books they read aren't available at their library, and they may turn away from their library altogether.

Two reviews of an ebook only romantic suspense novel, one from a blog and one from amazon. Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

I think these reviews are valuable in their own right, but not enough to buy the book for my library. It's nice to see how readers who are drawn to the book feel about it, and the reviews are a good marker to see if people who like this niche of books enjoyed this one in particular. However I would not buy the book, especially just going off these reviews alone. With the grammar mistakes in the reviews, I can't be certain on the quality of the writing of the book either. If a patron of my library requested the book for purchase, I'd be more likely to consider it, but I would still be hesitant.

The other document contains some reviews of Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, an incredibly popular memoir. These reviews are all from professional publications, feel free to find more on your own I just nabbed a few from the Book Review Digest database for you. How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela's Ashes to your collection?

Now these reviews are selling the book! The reviewers are clear on why not only they like the book (like is an interesting word given the contents of Angela's Ashes), but on why readers as a whole would benefit from the memoir. They give good detail on the narrative of the book, while also pinpointing what makes it special from the "powerful, exquisitely written debut" (Kirkus) to "a vivid, wonderfully readable memoir" (School Library Journal). Several of the reviews also mention that it will be in high demand (Booklist) and that it's "recommended for readers of any age" (Library Journal). All that together, and that these are coming from professional review journals, makes me inclined to purchase the book for my 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? How does this affect a library's collection?  And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate? 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 think its a problem that certain books get more flowers than others. There's value in all kinds of books, and there's readers for anything. Especially in a public library, there will be plenty of people that will choose the Christmas romantic suspense over Angela's Ashes, and there's nothing wrong with that. As public librarians, it's our job to curate our collections to meet the needs of our patrons, not just stock it with books we think are best for whatever arbitrary reasons. 

While it's rare that I'll end up buying a book with a slew of negative reviews, I don't think it's appropriate to not publish negative reviews. Negative reviews can be just as helpful as positive reviews, if not more so. It's a kind of censorship, in a way, and can prevent certain types of books from ever reaching review journals.

I purchase for several non-fiction collections in my library and we heavily rely on professional reviews to make our buying decisions. This is super easy for some of my sections, like cooking, business, and religion, but extremely challenging for some others, careers in particular. I can find a business book with great reviews no problem, but that careers section hardly ever has books reviewed specific to it. Our budgets are adjusted for the size of the collection, but relying on reviews, and never buying self-published, makes us miss out on a lot of content. Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus are my favorites for personal and work, but I also like flipping through Library Journal and Booklist.