Prompted by Marie’s post Building a Better Home Library, and my own on being a Domestic Librarian, I felt compelled to come up with a mission statement for both.
Are you considering the same? Have you done so already? If you have, please share and let others find inspiration through your efforts.
My home library:
- will be representative of my preferences
- will contain materials that offer personal enrichment and pleasure.
- will meet my personal, educational, and professional needs.
- will contribute to knowledge, offer enlightenment, and promote an enjoyment of reading.
- will be a balanced collection of literature that offers the diversity of a world culture, not just my own.
As a Domestic Librarian:
- I will be accountable to the funds I acquire and spend on books. While it is allowable to make some purchases on a whim, the majority of books acquired will be planned for and part of a budget.
- I will use what space is available to me wisely, creatively, and effectively.
- On a regular basis, all books will be taken down, cleaned, and re-evaluated.
- Books will be culled for the following reasons:
- A poor quality copy is being replaced by a better quality one
- It has been on the shelf for more than two years and it is unlikely it will be read in the next year
(Books of this nature will first be put on “probation” – they will be put on a special, highly visible shelf.) - A newer edition is available and replacing the older edition is necessary. (Primarily those required for educational or professional needs)
- Culled books will be donated to my local Friends of the Library, or be sold to my local used bookseller.