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The service uses supplier selection for both adult fiction and adult non-fiction for a proportion of its purchases. Lists of ‘Supplier Selection’ titles for both adult fiction and adult non-fiction books are received three months ahead of publication.
To ensure that the supplier selects the appropriate stock a strategy and a specification has been written for them and it is reviewed annually. This is then sent back to Essex for review and modification before order fulfilment.
When making the final decisions about which books to buy, and in what quantities, there are several criteria to consider:
Factors to consider include the performance of previous titles by same author, the popularity of the genre, the scale of the promotional campaign, the rating from the supplier, and, to some extent, the price. Hardback fiction should only be bought when a waiting list is expected for the title. For new authors, little-known or less anticipated titles, the hardback would not be bought, and we would wait for the paperback edition to be released.
CollectionHQ and data from our Library Management System is used to inform buying choices to ensure we are buying the stock that satisfy existing and new customer demand.
A title’s predicted popularity will influence how many copies to buy. Books likely to be very popular will be bought for every library. Other titles will be bought in smaller numbers and are available via reservation and circulated around smaller libraries. Certain ‘must-have’ titles will be bought in multiple copies for the largest libraries. At all times our stock should offer a great range of titles, while managing demand and ensuring waiting lists for very popular titles are manageable. The influence of the media can lead to some titles experiencing extremely high demand. In these circumstances the service will purchase more copies than usual, providing access to the newest and most popular titles.
Material is provided in a range of languages where a need is identified.
Factors to consider include the performance of previous titles in a series, the popularity of the subject, how specialist the material is, quality and appeal of the book, the currency and, to some extent, the price. There is a national trend in the decrease of use of non-fiction, and buying will reflect this.
The service aims to provide a comprehensive selection of material in both fiction and non-fiction.
For fiction this encompasses new titles, classic and perennially popular titles, backlist titles and titles out of print. We stock popular bestsellers and minority interest titles, and actively support new authors.
We stock works in translation and books written in English but from other cultures, and provide books in their original languages where there is local need.
For non-fiction this includes a full range of non-fiction up to but not necessarily including undergraduate level. It includes leisure reading, and titles to support both formal and informal learning.
We stock books reflecting different political views and opinions, and different views on issues where there is debate.
The range of stock we provide should both reflect and celebrate the diversity of the population.
These are not stocked in Essex Libraries:
This is done in various ways