Southern Ontario Library Service

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EXCEL: A certificate programme in
managing a small public library

E6-Basic Collection Development

ASSIGNMENT 1

Submit this assignment to your tutor by the date given on the schedule accompanying this course.

Your assignment for this module is in two parts. The assignment should be no longer than one page. The most time-consuming part is likely to be finding the information.

Part one:

Describe your library and your community using whatever statistical data you can find. Try to use such sources as municipal records or Statistics Canada census information and studies done by other local groups and the town planner. Where data is not readily available, draw from your own knowledge. You should list your sources of information. Information given should include three of the following:

population data, including overall population and the largest age groups
levels of education and income
ethnic or language groups represented
types of industry present in the community
obvious interests of the community, based on studies done by other groups or on personal observation
local groups or clubs that are popular (e.g. garden club, historical society)

Part two:

Describe the implications for your library collection of the information you found in Part One of this assignment, for example,

few pre-schoolers in the community means little emphasis on picture books
the historical society or the popular computer club will need library support