prompt #2 (week 5)

 Ebook only books, which are increasingly popular (especially in the romance genre) see little to no reviews in professional publications unless they have a big name author. How does this affect collection development?

              While I don’t know much about collection development, I can recall from previous classes that reviews, certainly professionally published ones, matter a great deal when choosing books to purchase for a collection. I imagine that reviews are a primary way for collection development staff to be notified about new and/or popular books, so without any kind of formal review written up in a trusted source, the odds of an exclusively online book being selected for inclusion would be pretty slim. Therefore, an entire subset of books is essentially overlooked or ignored in favor of those popularized through traditional methods. It’s an interesting conundrum because so many collection development policies revolve around being able to provide works that are relevant to and in the interest of their patrons, but many eBooks could fit these criteria, too. For example, St. Louis County Library’s collection development policy states: “Collection development and management decisions are based on the merit of the work as it relates to the Library's mission and its ability to meet the needs and interests of the community.” Based on this, many eBook only books would fit into the library’s collection, but without being publicized through conventional means like professional reviews, they’ll continue to be overlooked.

Look over the reviews for the eBook only romantic suspense novel - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

              Both reviews for The Billionaire’s First Christmas feel authentic and genuine, leaning heavily on the writers’ subjective opinions about the plot, characters, and other elements of the book. I am inclined to believe these reviews are accurately reflective of the writers’ feelings toward the book, but I wouldn’t consider them reliable resources for professionally determining whether the eBook would merit being a good addition to a collection. Unfortunately neither is particularly well written or even really formal, but their enthusiasm for the book is clear, and their descriptions of the plot elements and characters general traits are consistent enough that it would probably be easy enough to classify the eBook within a collection. I’m not entirely sure how likely I’d be to buy this for a library; it would probably depend on the library’s collection development policy, how many other Christmas-themed romance novellas are currently owned by the library, and maybe even the time of year. If it seemed like Christmas-themed eBooks always circulated heavily during the holiday season, it might be worthwhile to invest in this “light and cozy” eBook. However, if holiday romances don’t see an uptick in popularity and there are already several existing paperback/Harlequin reads with these themes offered, then I’d probably skip it.

How do the reviews of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt make you feel about the possibility of adding this book to your collection?

              All the reviews for Angela’s Ashes are laudatory, remarking about the vivid depictions of a brutal childhood but also the love and humor that flows through the book, describing it as “extraordinary,” “wonderful,” and “wonderfully readable.” It is also suggested by multiple reviewers that it has broad appeal, being recommended for readers of any age and expected to be in high demand due to word-of-mouth recommendations. Given the consensus of these professional reviews, and my own knowledge about the lasting popularity of Frank McCourt’s works, it would be an easy decision to include this book in my collection. Assuming my library hosts a popular collection (like many public libraries do), it could be viewed as being incomplete without a book like this one that is essentially professionally guaranteed to be popular and appeal to such a wide range of readers.

Do you think it's fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage? How does this affect a library's collection? 

              There is certainly a disparity in the types of books that are professionally reviewed versus those that aren’t. Presumably, the ones more likely to be covered are those that are published traditionally, acquired by big name publishers/publishing houses with enough sway to ensure their books will be formally reviewed anywhere and everywhere they see fit. This generally means that those books that are published less traditionally (i.e., self-published) are much less likely to be reviewed in ways that grow their popularity. Of course, now there are other methods through which non-traditionally published books can make their way to the public eye (BookTok, notably), but this is word-of-mouth, subjective coverage from the everyday person instead of formal reviews. As previously mentioned, libraries with popular collections are definitely more inclined to select books guaranteed to be popular with their patrons, so books that are covered more thoroughly are more likely to be in higher demand. This means a library would be more likely to carry something that their patrons have potentially heard of over something that was little-covered and lesser known. Sometimes a book breaks through in spite of its lack of traditional publishing or reviews (for example, my library acquired the Ice Planet Barbarians series after it went viral and therefore greatly increased demand), but it is usually the exception and not the rule.

And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate?

              This is a tricky one, I think, especially since I know very little about review sources and therefore may not understand entirely how they work. Obviously, I can understand popular and reliable review sources wanting to use their pages and influence to encourage readers to read something that’s going to be a guaranteed hit. It makes more sense to push excellent material to their readers in order to keep that relationship strong instead of using time and resources to publish a negative review and dissuade readers from a certain book. On the other hand, I always think it’s strange (and often disconcerting) when reputable sources refuse to acknowledge or allow multiple perspectives. Without allowing room for negative reviews, the review source runs the risk of being seen as dishonest, biased, or promoting censorship. Luckily, I do think it is easier now than ever for readers to gain multiple perspectives on a book before they read it. Sites like Goodreads or Storygraph allow for the average person to rate a book and explain their reasoning, positive or negative, which, to me, can be more helpful for deducing a reading experience than a formal book review anyway. These reviews won’t always be well-written, unbiased, or even rational, but it can be useful to learn what other readers liked or disliked about a book in their own words.

If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

              I do not buy for my library, but I would say that I don’t really consider reviews much for personal reading (though in all fairness, I’m lawless and rarely look at reviews for, like, anything at all). If I’m going to read a book, chances are it’s been recommended to me by a friend or colleague I trust, blurbed by an author I already like, or I saw it on the shelf and it seemed like something I’d enjoy. I mostly only interact with Goodreads as a review source, though I rarely use it that way. The only time I can actually recall utilizing it as a proper review source was when picking out books to read in the genres I’m entirely unfamiliar with for this class. When picking out a western, I scoured Novelist for something that sounded interesting, then headed to Goodreads to read the top reviews, look at the star rating, and see if any of the low ratings addressed things about the novel that would also be turnoffs for me. Otherwise, I tend to avoid reviews because I don’t want my reading experience to be influenced by anything I’ve read.