1. Introduction
Bury Council’s Library Service (Bury Libraries + Archives) is responsible for stock management in its libraries. This document aims to give a clear and concise account of our stock management policy. It will be amended as circumstances change. The effective starting date for this revision is August 2026.
2. Background
Our policy for managing stock has to operate within, and be informed by:-
- Corporate priorities
- Published standards and guidelines
- The legal framework
2.1 Corporate priorities
The Council’s key priorities are covered in the Let's Do It! Strategy, and they are:-
- Improved quality of life
- Improved early years development
- Improved educational attainment
- Increased adult skill levels and employability
- Inclusive economic growth
- Carbon neutrality by 2038
- Improved digital connectivity
2.2 Standards and guidelines
The library service is guided by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals’ (CILIP), Managing Safe and Inclusive Public Library Services 2023.
2.3 The legal framework
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 (section 7) states: “It shall be the duty of every library authority to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons desiring to make use thereof”.
Many other areas of legislation have a direct impact on stock provision and policies:
- Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964
- Equality Act 2010
- Obscene Publications Act 1959, amended 1964
- Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 and other relevant H&S legislation
- Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
- Race Relations Act 1976 and (Amendment) Act 2000
- Video Recordings Act 1984
- Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, Copyright (Visually Impaired Person's) Act 2002 and Copyright Act Guidelines 2003
- Local Government and Housing Act 1989
- The Children Act 1989
- Local Government Act 1992
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- Human Rights Act 1998
- Protection from Harassment Act 1997
- Terrorism Act 2006
2.4 Censorship
We will consider for purchase any publication which has not incurred penalties under current UK legislation. Items which have not been proscribed by law are not excluded from consideration for selection purely on the grounds of their political, religious, sexual, or moral content, or because they are considered ‘controversial’ or potentially so.
3.0 Selection of stock
3.1 Pre-selection
Before stock can be selected, it is important for staff to have a comprehensive picture of what is required to satisfy the needs and demands of all sections of the community. Local knowledge, user and community profiles all play a part in this. Previous issue performance is also a factor, and system-produced reports are used as part of the evidence-based stock management process.
3.2 Selection methods
Most library stock is acquired from specialist library suppliers, but other selection methods include:
- Via specialist suppliers of community language material;
- Reader requests and suggestions, both written and electronic via OPAC (online public access catalogue)
3.3 Supplier selection
We contract our main suppliers to select a significant proportion of our lending stock for us. The advantages of this arrangement are that the supplier has specialist, professional staff who are in day-to-day contact with publishers and the book supply market, and that it frees our staff to work directly on promoting the stock and helping the public to find and use it.
To work successfully this system relies on detailed and clear specifications, drawn up by ourselves, on which the supplier bases their selections - these are reviewed and revised every year. The success of the system can be measured by public and staff reaction and feedback, and by our issue figures.
We are a member of the North West Libraries Purchasing Consortium - the choice of main supplier for the various categories of stock is the collective decision of the Consortium and follows a rigorous tendering process; but the principles of supplier selection remain the same.
3.4 Monitoring
Monitoring of the supplier’s selections is done continually by daily contact between our Resource Services section and the supplier. Amendment to specification is done annually.
3.5 Interlending
The service operates an inter-lending service with other library authorities – this enables us to borrow books that are requested by the public that are out of print, that have been withdrawn from stock or that have not been bought for stock. This also includes talking books for visually impaired library members.
4.0 Acquisition
4.1 Categories of stock
The stock of public libraries ranges far wider than just books, although books, for lending and for information are still the basis of our collections. Decisions have to be made as to what stock will/will not be purchased as the Service does not have either the space or the money to purchase everything that is published. We currently acquire stock in the following categories and formats:
- Adult fiction: hardback and paperback;
- Adult non-fiction: hardback and paperback;
- Large print books, both fiction and non-fiction, hardback and paperback;
- Junior fiction: hardback, paperback, board books and picture books;
- Junior non-fiction: hardback and paperback;
- Books in foreign languages, including appropriate local community languages, hardback and paperback;
- Specialist books (eg British Sign Language, Braille, Skills for Life);
- Local history materials: books and ephemera relating to Bury and the surrounding area;
- Archives are collected via a separate and specific Collection Policy in line with National Archives guidance.
4.2 The acquisition process
he whole acquisition process is coordinated through Resource Services section where the purchasing of stock follows the following process: orders are created, when the stock arrives it is receipted, processed and sent out to the libraries.
Orders are created in several ways:
- Supplier Selection
- Where appropriate - requests, stock gap items, written stock suggestions, OPAC suggestions/e-mails, missing items of stock and last copies on the system
Receipting items of stock:
- All orders that arrive have invoices; these are checked against the items supplied for amounts & price;
- Urgent orders are prioritised; all orders are receipted on the acquisition system;
4.3 Donations Policy
It is our policy to accept appropriate donations from members of the public. Once donated, all rights to the material pass to the Service as representatives of the Authority; our decision as to then stocking or disposing of each item is final.
We do not accept donations with conditions attached; nor will we accept ‘anonymous’ donations.
In deciding whether to put donated items into stock, staff will consider the following guidelines:
- age of the book (normally not more than 5 years since publication unless of local historical interest);
- physical condition (must be in at least very good, preferably new/mint condition);
- relevance to stock requirements (non-fiction to be useful/needed according to stock profile; fiction to be useful/likely to issue well);
- suitability for library stock (i.e. size not too small or too big; quality of production
- as processing donated stock is time-consuming, only ‘essential’ donations will be processed and stocked.
In case of doubt, staff should consult the Resources Officer.
Donated items not required for stock will be dealt with in the same manner as withdrawn stock, i.e. will be offered for sale or, if not suitable for sale for any reason, will be disposed of.
5.0 Stock maintenance
5.1 Repair and maintenance of stock
Our policy is to keep all stock in as good a physical condition as possible, with the aim of providing clean, attractive books to the public. Individual items eventually reach a point where physical condition is too poor for inclusion on public shelves. At this point the stock editing and stock disposal processes come into play.
5.2 Reserve Stocks
The authority’s lending Reserve Stock is housed at Bury Library. It is indicated as such on the catalogue, and can be reserved and borrowed in the normal way. This stock is also used to satisfy inter-library loan requests from other library services.
To be considered for inclusion in Reserve Stock, books should have a long-term value to the service. Examples would be local history; subject specialisations; classic out-of-print fiction; and significant and useful out-of-print non-fiction.
5.3 Stock editing
Stock is continuously edited to remove items which, for one reason or another, are no longer suitable for the public shelves. This process creates space for newly acquired stock. Stock editing procedures should create a balance between existing and new stock so, ideally, the public shelves are never too empty or too full.
Different categories of stock may require different criteria for the stock editing “decision”. For example: Adult Fiction will generally have a shorter shelf-life than Non-Fiction; some Adult Fiction may be regarded as “classic”, and so may be kept in stock even though it does not issue very often; some Adult Non-Fiction books may be kept because there is little or nothing else available on the particular subject; children’s picture books will tend to have a relatively high turnover.
Stock will not be withdrawn for sale in response to requests by members of the public.
Bearing these points in mind, staff have to consider the following factors when making the stock-editing decision:
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Condition
Check the physical condition of the book. Is it dirty? Is the binding damaged? Is it worth repairing? Does the plastic jacket need replacing? Is it suitable for Reserve Stock? If it is to be withdrawn, is it suitable for book sale?
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Currency
Is the information out of date? Check the publication date; for some subjects, it may not matter that a book is relatively old; for others, (e.g. electronics), it could be actually dangerous to have outdated information on the shelves.
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Quality/Accuracy
Is the book reliable? Could the information it contains be misleading? Although these are factors normally considered at the time of selection, it is possible that such factors arise for items already in stock.
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Lack Of Use
How regularly has an item issued? We aim to identify a target level of use for all categories of lending stock. If, for example, a Non-Fiction book has not issued at all in a twelve month period, it should be seriously considered for withdrawal or transfer to Reserve Stock. A Fiction book would normally be expected to “earn its keep” by issuing regularly. Any Fiction book (with the possible exception of classics) which has not issued in a six-month period should be automatically considered for withdrawal or transfer.
These are guidelines only and are not intended to be overly prescriptive. Care must be taken when considering for withdrawal, for example, relatively new and expensive books which have issued poorly. In such cases transfer of the books to another location should always be considered before withdrawal. Staff will seek guidance where necessary. It should also be borne in mind that the rate of issue will vary between different service points.
In the case of Reference stock there is no loan record to judge the frequency of use; in this case staff will use their own knowledge backed up by information provided by, for example, user surveys.
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Unnecessary Duplication
Do we have more than one copy of the same title? Are these needed? Can duplicates be better used elsewhere? Is it a Bestseller, thus requiring extra copies? Relatively new and/or expensive duplicates should always be considered for transfer rather than withdrawal. In case of doubt refer to a senior member of staff.
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Unsuitable Format
Again, this would normally be dealt with at the selection stage but, sometimes, books are ordered and subsequently prove to be in a format which is in some way unsuitable for library use. Examples might be books in the form of ring-binders, or books that are exceedingly small or large.
7. Changes in Needs, Policies, Community Profile
Staff need to keep up to date with the profile and characteristics of their library’s community, with a view to a selection of stock which reflects the needs of the community within the overall stock policies and specifications. Similarly stock may be needed to reflect council and departmental policies – currently, for example, the council is promoting Health and Wellbeing as a high priority. Also different formats of material, for example, may go out of fashion or be superseded by new technology, and be no longer required as stock items. An example would be music cassettes/Talking Book cassettes.
5.4 Disposal of stock
If, after the preceding criteria have been checked, stock is to be withdrawn, the following points are taken into account.
Wherever possible, all withdrawn stock should be sold to provide income. The exceptions to this are:
- the item is in poor physical condition or is dirty/soiled;
- in the case of audio-visual material, the item is faulty or damaged;
- certain items, usually reference material, are ephemeral and unsuitable for book sales.
Items which are not to be sold should be disposed of in an appropriate manner.
All withdrawn items to be sold are stamped “Withdrawn From Stock”. Such items are then offered for sale to the public. Prices of withdrawn stock will be determined by staff responsible but, in the main, will be relatively cheap to attract a quick and steady turnover (as there is very little storage space for withdrawn stock). In the case of potentially more valuable items, prices will be determined according to the approximate second-hand value of specific titles, but usually at a significantly lower level than a typical retail price.
5.5 Stock loss
When an item is accepted as lost or missing, it should be withdrawn according to current procedures, and consideration given to a replacement copy if appropriate.
6.0 Review
This policy will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.