Collection Development

Know & Go: College Students Actually Do Read

Two library teams partnered to challenge the assumption that college students don’t read and to amplify underrepresented voices through community-driven collections. By examining what students want to read and how they engage with library materials, the project revealed that this perception and the push to elevate diverse voices are deeply connected. This collaboration between the Student Learning and Engagement team and the Acquisitions team combines expertise in outreach, instruction, and collection development, supported by faculty, staff, and student employees.

AI Prompting with Purpose: Building, Refining, and Testing AI Prompts for Library Work

As artificial intelligence tools become increasingly integrated into library workflows, the ability to craft effective prompts is essential. Develop practical strategies for building, refining, and testing AI prompts tailored to real-world library scenarios. Explore how prompt structure influences responses and learn techniques to improve clarity, relevance, and usefulness. Through guided activities, experiment with prompt variations, compare outputs, and evaluate whether results are appropriate for contexts such as instruction, collection management, communication, and creative projects.

Collections Reflect Communities: An Amigos Online Conference

For the library to be a living organism it must constantly evolve – adding new materials and resources, pivoting to meet new needs, and changing with its community. In the areas of collections and technical services, that move to be a living organism requires responsible flexibility as we consider new formats and organize and make collections discoverable. Collections, classification and cataloging, weeding, and storage practices all represent the heart of each individual library to their communities.

Know & Go: Bedbugs in the Library

Bedbugs remain a constant concern for libraries and other public spaces – and more and more it seems like a question of when, not if. Learn how bedbugs affect library facilities and collections today. Equip library staff and facilities managers with the training and strategies necessary to protect their library collections, patrons, and staff from the disruptions posed by bedbug infestations.

Collection Management: Selection and Acquisition

A vibrant and relevant library collection doesn’t just happen – there are strategies and techniques behind this work. Taking in the evolving landscape of digital acquisitions, open-access materials, and subscription models, this course will review the principles and methods for collection acquisition and selection with careful consideration of resource allocation and budgets. Balancing the information needs of library users with the diversity of formats and acquisition models, libraries can build collections that work for their communities.

Introduction to Library Acquisitions

Are you responsible for acquisitions at your library, but feeling like you don't know where to start? Or just looking to learn more about this area of library work? Acquisitions work, which involves ordering, receiving, and paying for library materials, is a very important factor in getting library patrons access to the resources they need. Topics covered include goals and methods of acquisitions, budget management, and relationship building with vendors and publishers.
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