Following feedback from students, the library began placing the new books on shelves in the lobby, giving students quick access to the latest bestsellers and top titles. However, perusing these titles, one may wonder how the library decides which books to buy.
According to Susan Smith, Associate Director of University Libraries, faculty recommendations that are called "Firm Orders," since deemed needed by students and faculty, they come first. The next level is an "Approval plan," which is derived from a profile the library gives to book vendors.
"We say, 'These are the courses that are taught at West Georgia, send us books about these topics,'" said Smith. "The approval plan sends us between 70 and 100 books a week, so we have new books every week."
Smith says that the only subject that the approval plan does not cover is science, primarily due to the high expense of science books.
As for how students can recommend books they would like to see in the library, Smith said, "We have a button on the library homepage that says 'Comments,' and you can put your request in a comment." If they can't fulfill your request but you need the book badly for your own studies, Smith also tells students to ask their professor to request that book.
"Each department has an allocation of money, and so they can ask the library to buy books in their field," said Smith. Different departments have different allocations, however, because some subjects are more rooted in texts rather than other media.
Besides faculty recommendations, the Approval Plan and student requests, the library receives a list regularly that shows what are predicted to be the most popular books in a coming month. From this list, the staff chooses about $1000 worth of books per month to add to the acquisitions from other sources.
Altogether, Smith says the budget for library materials is under $1,000,000 per year, which includes the periodicals, electronic databases and books. The remainder of the budget goes to personnel and equipment. Because the budget for the library is tight, the budget has to be focused on books first, with not much left for furnishings.
As for the future, Smith says the library is looking into options for books on tape that could be downloaded onto MP3 players for students to listen to on their own devices. The primary problem currently with this technology is with finding universal compatibility with the diverse types of players students have.
Despite a tight budget, the library is constantly working to ensure that its technology keeps pace with students' needs, and constantly acquiring new materials to provide a broad base for research and learning.
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