It has been interesting to read this week about the different processes for obtaining books for the library. Our school library uses the Agile Order from Book Curator in addition to Wheelers, Lamont and a local bookseller, Torquay Books.

What I like about the Agile Order is that each book on the list has a really detailed book and content review. I use those reviews to select the books and the library tech uses them to know things like where in the library it belongs (we have a K-12 school), keywords to include, etc. Several of our teachers have used the reviews to help select a class read-a-loud. The downside is that you can only select from their list!

Lamont and Torquay Book bring in tubs of books for me to select from. If I give them topics I would like books on, then they will source and bring those along. It is difficult to choose quickly from the tubs of books when I don’t know anything about the content beyond what I can read on the back cover! I will often look online for reviews, usually on goodreads.com to determine the book’s suitability. I also have to be careful I don’t overspend on these books. It is easy to want to keep them all!

We use Wheeler to buy the majority of the books that do not come in the tubs. Often these are the ones that most directly meet the curriculum needs. They are also more likely to be non-fiction. Booko.com.au has been a great source for locating the harder to find books and getting the best price.

If anyone is reading this, I would love to hear where you are located and how you go about selecting and ordering books for your library. Most of these procedures were established before I started working at my current library.