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Teen Services Web

A professional development guide for Teen Librarians, Teen Liaisons, and anyone else fortunate enough to work with Teens in the Library.

YA Express Collections

What’s the goal of an Express Collection anyway?

The main goal of an express collection is to have titles that your patrons ask for repeatedly and you know the popularity will last more than one month. With this approach, when your patron browses the shelf and finds one of those items, they’ll think “This is my lucky day!”

Cultivating a great YA Express Collection is quite a rewarding project because you see results so quickly! Most popular titles are available in inventory already, and since they are in demand, they will check out super-fast. 


Getting started

  • Consider your shelf space
    • The space for Express does not have to be big or tight with books.
    •  A sign of a thoughtfully selected collection is that 2/3 of the books are always checked out.
  • Choosing titles
    • Look for titles in popular (and carefully curated lists) for young adults.
    • A few to try are listed here:
    • Consider if you need an entire series or just the latest release.
    • Is there a movie adaptation coming out? Request the book!  
    • Review required reading lists for your local school(s).
    • Visit another branch! What do they have on their YA Express Collection?
    • Most importantly, pay attention to what your patrons like/already check out. Request more of those things!

Cross-reference with Symphony

  • Cross reference your title with Symphony to see how many holds it has.
  • Also, see how many of those holds are for your location.
    • More than 4 holds per system copy? You probably have one on the way already from collection development. If not, just ask! (see below)

Requesting new items

  • Simply email Nohemi Lopez Rosdahl (YA Collection Development Liaison).
    • Please include: Title, Author, ISBN, # of copies requesting

Removing items

  • For condition (grubby or damaged according to CREW method):
    • Ask your holdings editor to withdraw it from the collection.
    • Consider requesting another copy if needed.
  • For general collection maintenance, consider factors as you would the rest of your collection:
    • Shelf and /or display space.
    • Circulation stats.
      • Has it been months since it checked out? 
      • Was the item on express because it was on a summer reading list and the new school year has begun?
      • Has the movie adaptation been out for over a year and there are no longer any system holds?
    • Ask your holdings editor to change the item to regular circulating status.
      • If that gives you more regular copies than you need, send an email to your Teen Services colleagues and see if they could use it at their location – or-  ask your holdings editor to mark the item as duplicate/overflow and send it to Collection Development at Central. 

Questions or concerns?

Contact Nohemi or speak with a fellow Teen Services Librarian or Liaison


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