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A couple of weeks ago I asked about involving customers in stock selection and management. I had six replies; here as promised is the summary. Three authorities (Devon, Westminster and Dudley) had involved young adults / teens directly, by giving them a budget to spend and sending them to a local bookshop. Various 'tips' that came out of this included * Importance of selecting an enthusiastic and dynamic member of school staff to recruit the young people * Health & safety / safeguarding (staff/pupil ratios, CRB checking if volunteers are helping) * Can reward the young people with certificates when books arrive * Identifying the books themselves, with bookplates or a 'Teen Choice' sticker * If you use the supplier's website, selection can be done in 'outreach' settings such as youth clubs This exercise was normally associated with refurbished libraries and new teenage zones, but Dudley involves five different groups of young people every year in stock selection. Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea pioneered a variation of this approach, firstly with adults to improve the Healthy Eating section, then with the Children's Forum to select stock for the Central children's library. Now they are working with Kensington Palace staff to promote and select stock for their biography collection. They won the NAG Excellence Award last year and a seminar at the upcoming NAG conference will address this topic - see www.nag.org.uk/events/forthcoming-events/2012/06/nag-conference-2012<http://www.nag.org.uk/events/forthcoming-events/2012/06/nag-conference-2012>. RBKC included a handy list of the major benefits * Involves the community in selecting stock, creating a greater sense of involvement and ownership * Promotes better understanding and develops relationships with the organisations we work with * Proves that projects and skills can be transferable across the sector * Demystifies the stock selection process and showcases the skills used by acquisitions staff * Demonstrates to stakeholders the skills employed in selecting stock and the way we work with suppliers Another strand highlighted was magazine surveys / consultations. Walsall do this every year (with separate suggestions slips for adults, children and teens) and promote it with posters, press releases and social media coverage. Another, less 'proactive' initiative was that suggestions slips were made available for customers to recommend anything. Ken Chad - whose reply was duplicated to the list as a whole, so I won't recap in any detail here - drew attention to the fact that academic libraries and US public libraries are starting to experiment with 'patron driven acquisition' for ebooks. Best wishes Adrian Ure Audience Development Officer Essex Libraries Essex County Council Telephone: 01245 492758 | Ext: 30510 Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | www.essex.gov.uk<http://www.essex.gov.uk>