Collection Development of Genre Literature

Abstract

For readers' advisory librarians, genre literature can prove to be difficult collection management areas. The literature itself has rarely been defined in anything but the negative (“not great literature,” “not of lasting quality”) and yet it makes up a good deal of the attraction for many patrons to the public library, and gives great circulation support to their collections. Percentage‐wise, it gets the least attention for the most benefits. Many budgets are based on circulation figures, and much of the commendable relationship with the public is based on readers who devour genre literature. Why is it that genre readers are given such short shrift for their loyalty and devotion? Some of the problem lies in the traditional view of genre literature and the rest in the new view of collection development.

Citation

Futas, E. (1993), "Collection Development of Genre Literature", Collection Building, Vol. 12 No. 3/4, pp. 39-44. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb023342