Times They Are (Still) a-Changing’

Libraries of previous eras all had their dilemmas when it came to collection building. Comic books, music and movies, and potentially dangerous books have all been controversies de jour for your local library. More recently, whether or not to provide Internet access was an issue, and we still struggle with the best ways to carry e-books.

As long as libraries have the space and funding, they tend to include whatever this year’s controversial material is. Many are making that choice with self-published books. Though there are several practical issues such as funding (discussed recently by Public Library Online’s own Troy Lambert), this article is concerned with inclusion criteria for those libraries that choose to bring self-published materials into their space.

Writing Strong Policy

Including self-published works comes with many decisions, such as whether to include printed books, e-books, or both. The library will have to maintain a stringent inclusion policy that fits into their larger policies for selection of new material. This will make it easier to defend against people who say self-published books don’t belong, and also help deter authors of self-published materials the library doesn’t want.

Recognition of the Material

One easy way to add credibility to self-published books is to only accept those that are already recognized; for example, accepting e-books that are part of a publisher or e-book platform. If a patron can get the item on their Kindle, the library has less reason to say “no.” Contrariwise, if the library has an arrangement set up so that all books they adopt into their collection will also become available on an e-reading platform, it raises the stakes on inclusion decisions, forcing the library to be pickier.

Other criteria for determining the legitimacy of a self-published book can be even more simple. Is the author prominent in the local community? How many other books have they published? Is there a built-in readership for this book? These factors can all play into the selection process.

Vetting the Quality

A library may need to take extra steps to assess the quality of self-published books. Often genre books, such as romances or mysteries, are included solely on the basis of publisher recommendation or author. Without these pre-arranged tools, libraries may need to create a formal submission and acceptance policy that goes above and beyond their normal criteria, as well as task an employee or committee with making recommendations.

Is There a Reason We Shouldn’t Have Them?

Self-publishing has become a big industry. Certainly, it’s a way to provide a community access to the works of local authors, but there’s also a growing list of self-published authors who have attained success and popularity. Let’s not forget that Fifty Shades of Grey was originally self-published, and though it has had its own controversies in libraries, the vast majority of public libraries carry it and it circulates extremely well. Whether or not libraries choose to have a wide selection of self-published material and how far they wish to take their collections (consider Taken by the T-Rex and the other very NSFW Christie Sims writings , which have attained enough popularity to be available through BarnesAndNoble.com, be reviewed on Goodreads and are technically in the same genre as Fifty Shades) is something each library system will have to answer for itself. Soon, the question may not be whether your library should carry self-published material, but simply if, like Fifty Shades of Grey, it has the shelf space and can order them from Baker & Taylor.

If the goal of a library is to provide people access to information and books, and if self-published books fits all the criteria for inclusion, then the library should strongly consider carrying them. However, as much as we should have open policies relating to the items we accept, we also must be willing to do the work of curating our self-published collections. Space is limited, and every book we put on a shelf is a choice we’re making about how to use the space we have. If self-published books are coming to our libraries (and, really, why not?) we should be careful and considered in the way we choose them.

Sources:

Lambert, Troy. “Building a Bypass: Libraries, Amazon, and Indie Authors.” Public Libraries Online. December 08, 2015. Web. Accessed January 07, 2015.

Landgraf, Greg. “Solving the Self-Published Puzzle” American Libraries. October 30, 2015. Web. Accessed January 07, 2015.

Schwartz, Meredith. “Florida County Pulls Fifty Shades of Grey From Shelves.” May 11, 2012.,Web. Accessed January 07, 2015

The post Policies for Library Inclusion of Self-Published Works first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Author Jennifer Ellision, proves to be a rising New Adult talent, in producing the readable dark fantasy, Riot of Storm and Smoke. Released August 17th, the second volume in her Threats of Sky and Sea trilogy incorporates definitive genre characteristics.  Supernatural elements, characters engaged in epic battle, and imagined kingdoms of Egrian and Nereidium serve to achieve a final chapter that leaves readers awaiting book three.

In Riot of Storm and Smoke, political alliances are forged between a menagerie of nobles, acquaintances, commoners and family connections to gain advantage over dangerous tyrants threatening war.   The enlarged cast deploys weaponry including sorcerers, aliases, protective amulets, and disguises in a quest to safety. Ellison creates medieval-like kingdoms featuring musty hidden dungeons, filthy taverns of poison, and torture devices similar to those of that time period.  Readers will encounter underhanded trickery among bandits, informants, friends, thieves, and enemies escaping to refuge and hopes of proper ascension to throne. Tension escalates during the course of the brooding dystopian novel, while protagonists Bree, heiress to Nereidium, and Caden, an Egrian prince, advance the plot and secondary characters flee murderous kings and cohorts.

Recommended if you enjoy generous doses of horror, fantasy realms, and dashes of unexplored romance.

The post Review — Riot of Storm and Smoke (Threats of Sky and Sea Series, Vol. 2) By Jennifer Ellision first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Final year of college and Bliss Edwards  a) doesn’t know what she really wants to do with her life, b) is just sort of sliding through by studying hard and being a “good girl”, c) has two really great friends who not only push her boundaries but support her and d) is still a virgin for no particular reason. After major pushing from friend Kelsey, she agrees to at least chuck the V-card.

After a disastrous, failed, one-night-stand with a Perfect Stranger who still leaves her hot and bothered, she finds out that he is her new professor. From there on Bliss is no longer using her head but letting her emotions rule. As their illicit affair continues, Bliss finds that life gets a lot more complicated when you let emotions take over.

Girls in their upper teens may find this enjoyable since they are still exploring what it means to be an adult. While the characters are underdeveloped, they are basically likeable and share some, though not many, characteristics with people in the real world. The plot is thin and the romance has no depth, but it’s an easy, quick read and it is burning up the digital best-seller lists.

Digital Details

The post Book Review – Losing It by Cora Carmack first appeared on Public Libraries Online.