What’s an AcqCat and what does it do?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you had your birthday every day and you were showered with boxes upon boxes of gifts? This is a little glimpse of what working in the Acquisitions & Cataloging (AcqCat) department is like. The AcqCat department (in some libraries described as Technical Services), is housed in the back of the Lawrence Headquarters Branch. 

Acquisitions is defined by the American Library Association (ALA) as “the department within a library responsible for selecting, ordering, and receiving new materials and for maintaining accurate records of such transactions.” The ALA defines cataloging as “the process of creating entries for a catalog. In libraries, this usually includes bibliographic description, subject analysis, assignment of classification notation, and activities involved in physically preparing the item for the shelf, tasks usually performed under the supervision of a librarian trained as a cataloger.” Put these two together and you’ve got the wonderful world of the AcqCat department!

The Mercer County Library’s AcqCat department is currently staffed by 6 professionals who make sure all of these functions happen. The first is a Supervising Acquisitions Librarian (the top dog or “cat” in this case), who oversees the entire physical and financial process of books and materials processing. Next there are 2 catalogers who makes the important collection decisions.  Along with these staff members, there are experienced library professionals with diverse backgrounds/degrees in Education, English, Computer Programming, Music and Culinary expertise, who order, receive, process, label, invoice and deliver large volumes of materials to the branches daily.  

Let’s take a look at the journey library materials take to become part of the Mercer County Library’s collection. This journey is a detailed process sometimes described as “organized chaos”. The busy-ness, mountains of books, audiovisual materials (A/V), and often quiet buzz in the department is something which is actually pretty exciting. 

On an ongoing basis, the Supervising Acquisitions Librarian conducts a great deal of research, reading many reviews and library journals in order to determine the titles which should be ordered. At the same time, he works with the vendors to establish customized lists of titles that are sent to him regularly to review and prepare for our selectors.  The department also works closely with vendors to utilize their customized library services for processing A/V.  From this research, shopping carts are created on vendor websites, which are then shared with selectors at the library’s nine branches. Next, an ordering due date is set. Branches can also submit miscellaneous carts to fill their individual demands. On the order due date, the Supervising Acquisitions Librarian inspects and closes the carts, checking to make sure branches are ordering within their financial limits and noting which titles may or may not have been selected. 

Next, the Acquisitions staff takes over. Carts are thoroughly checked for accuracy, ensuring no duplicate copies are ordered and appropriate codes are used. Attention to detail is crucial here. The order is submitted to the vendor and a file is downloaded into the library’s catalog, creating a purchase order and on-order record. The vendor immediately receives the order and in-stock titles are efficiently prepared and shipped.  A similar process takes place for A/V materials.  However, once the A/V materials are ready for shipment, the vendor sends a file with full cataloging and item details, which we download into our catalog a few days before they even arrive.  

Everyday, AcqCat awaits the arrival of the UPS truck at our back door and the shrill buzz of the doorbell. No matter what we are doing, we can actually feel the vibrations within our bodies when the truck pulls in. We actually jump up in Pavlovian fashion to meet the driver at the back door before the doorbell rings! 

Here’s when it begins to feel like a birthday party every day. The department receives countless boxes of books and A/V, each of which weigh nearly 40 pounds. The largest number of boxes we ever have received is around 80 in a single day!

AcqCat “birthday” gifts 

Each box must then be physically lifted up, organized on a table by packing list, and opened.  Books/A/V need to be inspected for damage and placed on carts in alphabetical order arranged by packing list. This is repeated daily and, if the boxes can’t get opened that day, a backup occurs.

Next, barcodes are adhered to the back of each book. Books and A/V are then received one by one into the computer system.  Items which have patron holds are placed on carts for RUSH processing. Fiction and non-fiction books are separated. Since most A/V items use our vendor’s customized library services, they come fully cataloged but must be closely inspected for damage since they are not as sturdy as the books.  Discs are counted, branch names are written on every single disc, and data is checked for accuracy. 

Once received, the books are then passed on to the catalogers. The catalogers build the bibliographic record in the proper format and create a fully cataloged record. A/V items can skip this part of the process. 

After cataloging is completed, acquisitions staff processes each item with the proper holding codes. This enables accurate searching to locate titles within our public catalog.

Spine labels are then printed and affixed to every book and the A/V boxes are locked. Once complete, all are put in bins and are ready to be delivered to the branches.  Our library driver makes deliveries to each branch daily. Once received at the branches, the items are ready to fulfill holds or be put out on the shelves for our patrons.   

The process is involved and repetitive but our staff is exceptional in handling this “organized chaos”.  Each staff member is trained to help out with each function of the process, allowing for a good flow with minimal backups. 

The AcqCat staff enjoy that birthday feeling of being showered with boxes daily.  It is even more enjoyable to see our work reach the branches for our patrons to utilize and enjoy. Happy reading, listening and viewing. 

Below a view in front our desks        

- by Lisa, AcqCat Department