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Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes after you order a new
book for your library?
Here at Parkland Regional Library there's a dedicated team that orders
receives
catalogs and processes your library materials. Join us as we take you on the
journey of a new book inside PRL.
Hi,
Do you have any books on fast food and the obesity epidemic?
It's a pretty popular topic right now but let me see if I can bring something in for you.
Yes, I have something here. I can order it for the library and let you know when it comes in.
Great, thank you so much! Your welcome, Goodbye.
The library manager places the order and the request arrives
electronically in the PRL acquisitions department.
Once the acquisition clerk receives the MARC order she places the order with the
vendor.
Later, the order arrives at PRL and the
Acquisition clerk places the box on the acquisitions shelf.
(Small talk between delivery man and acquisitions clerk)
The shelf time for new purchases that aren't bestsellers can vary from a few days to several weeks depending on the current workload.
Bestsellers are pushed to the front of the queue. When the Acquisitions clerk
opens the box the book begins its journey at PRL
in the acquisitions department.
First, the acquisitions clerk check the book condition
Book is gooood!
then she writes the price in the book
barcodes the book,
and scans the book.
Then she checks off the invoice
and places the book back on the cart. When the acquisitions
clerk finishes the remainder of the items on a cart it is then sent to
cataloging.
The book lives on the card for about a week in the cataloging Department
each cart is dated and the earliest received material is catalogued first.
Since bestsellers are pushed to the front of the queue,
wait times on other materials can vary. The cataloguer creates a bibliographic
record
sometimes the cataloguer looks for data in an external source.
In other cases, she has to create the data from scratch by analyzing the
information presented
on and inside the book
She then inputs the data into Horizon.
Each book approximately 10 minutes to catalog
once the book is brought to the physical processing area by the cataloguer
processing may begin on the same day or up to a week later.
It takes a maximum of two days to complete.
Items are process in batches of 80. Each item needs it own label.
the processing clerk begins the label process by scanning each book
on the cart into Horizon. Information is imported into Excel
labels are designed in Publisher, printed, and attached to the items.
The physical processor completes this intricate task
for between 160 cue 240 items per day.
If a book has a dust jacket, a mylar cover is attached in order to protect it and
ensure longevity
if the dustjacket is larger than 10 inches it might be laminated.
Laminating is done once a week.
Each item is and unique
and the time can it spends at PRL varies depending on format and content.
Van Run day approaches. Each public library in the PRL system receives one van run a week.
The day before departure, the processing slerk prepares
the book
and the library's other items for travel by scanning their barcodes
into Horizon and preparing a packing slip.
The book is then tucked away into a travel bin.
the processing clerk takes the packing slips for the van run to the finance department.
Finance staff prints allotment reports or bill direct invoices.
Those documents are added to the bins.
Our trusty van drivers arrive
bright and early in the morning to load the bins and and hit the road.
Music by Jason Shaw. Title: Wheels
Parkland's van drivers make up to 270 delivery stops a month.
When the book arrives at the public library, its journey with PRL comes
to an end
but its journey in the hands of library patrons it only just beginning.