[Publib] bookmobile collections

[Erin Macfarlane]

Hell all,
 
I am relatively new to my library which has operated a bookmobile for
almost a year now. The bookmobile carries approximately 2,000 books, and
services five communities within our town. Loyal patrons to the
bookmobile are beginning to become bored with our small collection. We
want to meet the needs of our patrons, but are also constrained by our
budget woes in this tight economic time.
 
I am wondering how other libraries rotate their bookmobile collections.
We do not have a separate budget for the bookmobile, even though it is
treated as a branch in our cataloging system. I have enough in my budget
to order new material for the bookmobile, but some titles would need to
be removed due to space constraints. It seems wasteful to discard those
relatively new titles simply because they are not circulating on the
bookmobile. How do other libraries deal with this? Specifically:
 
Do you rotate titles on the bookmobile with titles in the main
collection? How do you manage this in cataloging?
 
Do you treat the bookmobile materials as an independent collection,
adding and discarding without regard of the main library's collection?
 
Any ideas would be helpful, as this is all new to me, and I am in a bit
over my head. Thanks!
Erin
 
Erin MacFarlane
Librarian
Buckeye Public Library
310 N. 6th Street
Buckeye, AZ 85326
623-349-6306
623-349-6310 (fax)
emacfarlane at buckeyeaz.gov
www.buckeyeaz.gov/library
 
Currently reading: Catching Fire by: Suzanne Collins
Currently listening to: The Last Days of Dogtown by: Anita Diamant
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