Reserving and requesting books at your local library

Let me paint you a picture. You hear that JK Rowling has decided to write another Harry Potter book and it is going to be called “Harry Potter and the never ending high school”. You jump online, visit your library’s website and check their catalogue. It’s not there yet. Of course not – it won’t be published until December. So you figure, maybe they’ll order it in November sometime. You check in mid-November and there are already 75 reserves on it. Aaarrggh.

Here’s the tip: as soon as you know about a new book coming out, if it is not on your library catalogue, ask if you can request it. Even if you know for sure that the library will be buying the book anyway, this gives you a better chance of getting your name near the top of the list. Of course, all libraries are different so your mileage may vary. However, when a new book by an author like Rowling is announced, one which the library will obviously be buying, they will most likely be adding a record to their catalogue as soon as they know about it and know for sure what the title is. So get your name in early. Maybe you’ve stumbled on the information before the librarians have got around to adding the record. Let them know. Ask if you can reserve it now.

Another scenario: you see a book in a shop, on a blog, or in a newspaper review and it sounds great. Once again, your library doesn’t have it. But this time it’s not an upcoming book, it’s been out for 6 months. Maybe they’re not going to get it? Well, the best way to increase your chances is to ask them to buy it. Yes, put in a request. Did you know you can do this? If the book is still available from the publisher and it fits the library’s collection development policy, then they will consider buying it. Obviously I (and they) cannot guarantee they will get it, but it’s worth trying.

While I’m talking about reserving books, here’s another tip. I often have people come in on Monday afternoon or Tuesday or later in the week wanting to reserve a book they read about in the Saturday paper. That’s no problem, and they go on the list. But if a book got a good write up on Saturday, chances are it has already gained a bunch of fresh reserves by Monday or Tuesday. So jump online Saturday and get your reserve on early if you want to get higher up the list.

So in summary, if you see or hear about a book you would like but your library doesn’t have it, ask them. It’s that simple really.

Let me know how you go. What is your library’s policy on requests?