{"id":10493,"date":"2021-03-01T16:01:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T21:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-clarivate-innovative.pantheonsite.io\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=10493"},"modified":"2021-04-29T15:19:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:19:22","slug":"the-mission-collection-connection","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mission-Collection Connection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">How many of you can rattle o<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">f<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">f the mission statement of your place of employment?\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Since I have worked in public libraries most of my career, most public library mission statements focus on the needs of the community. In my not<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">-so-<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">random sample of some\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">public libraries, most\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">included words about connecting the community, information<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0needs<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, fostering life-long learning, etc.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Too often there is a disconnect between that mission and the boots on the ground decisions. Each library is unique to that community. Each library has a target audience\/user. No one library can be expected to be filling all the needs of every single unique individual.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Missions are the starting point of every everything we do in a library.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">I have spent nearly two decades trying to pound this concept of mission and collection into the brains of librarians. Public library collections are about the general public. University libraries are about students, faculty, and research. The\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Library of Congress<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Smithsonian<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0have missions that are primarily about conservation and preservation. This isn\u2019t difficult. However, at the core, when it comes to adding or weeding a particular item, all of a sudden<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0these differences aren\u2019t clear.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">My partner in all things library and I have been lucky enough to be hired to talk to many librarians on some of these very issues. Let me\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">share some examples of the disconnect:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A small\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">public\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">library<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0in suburban Ohio<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0(about 50,000 physical items) was gifted a 20 volume set of\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. It was a beautiful set of books. It also took up 2 stacks.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0It hadn\u2019t been used once by any patron for as long as it was in their collection.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">My partner and I got into a heated discussion with a librarian from a small public library in rural Minnesota<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, about a biography of Lincoln published in 1945. He insisted\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">it was important to researchers and should be preserved.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0No one, except the librarian, had checked it out.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A small library in Michigan where the librarian spent 80 dollars on a coffee table book on the rare birds of Hawaii.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233279&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Notice that the books themselves weren\u2019t the problem. Content was not the issue. These were choices best suited to other libraries. The 20 volume set of Grove, was a more appropriate choice in a university or professional music collection. The small public library was tight on space for the new materials and this unused set was taking up valuable real estate.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Lincoln biography may very well have been an important biography for researchers. However, researchers didn\u2019t tend to go into the middle of nowhere to access this biography. They probably had access to a university collection. If this library\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">actually\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">NEEDED to get a copy of this particular biography, they could\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">interlibrary loan<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0it from the universities and larger public libraries.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Finally, the rare birds of Hawaii coffee table book seemed out of place in Michigan.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">C<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">offee table books<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, regardless of the topic, were losing popularity with users.\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Yes, it was a beautiful book and there might\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">be some interest in rare birds of Hawaii<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, but was this particular purchase<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0the best\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">use of collection funds?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">I encourage you to revisit your mission statement regularly as all library activities flow from that directive. Our communities are changing along with world events (<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">t<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">hanks COVID-19)<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. No doubt COVID has changed priorities in libraries. Mission statements help keep libraries focused on what they can do and not waste time trying to be all things to all people. Make that mission statement your mantra for all things in library service.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guest blogger Mary Kelly reminds us about the importance of aligning your collection with your library mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10494,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10493","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Mission-Collection Connection - Innovative Interfaces Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Mission-Collection Connection - Innovative Interfaces Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest blogger Mary Kelly reminds us about the importance of aligning your collection with your library mission.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Innovative Interfaces Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-29T19:19:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1054084876-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/\",\"name\":\"The Mission-Collection Connection - Innovative Interfaces Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iii.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1054084876-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-01T21:01:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-29T19:19:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/whats-new\/the-mission-collection-connection\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1054084876-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.iii.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/GettyImages-1054084876-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Keep focus on wooden blocks. 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