The Library Acquisitions budget is assigned by the University each year and the funds are allocated among academic departments and programs in accordance with a formula endorsed by the Senate Library Committee. The formula considers several factors, including:
The Library budget year runs from April 1 to March 31. Spending begins with outstanding orders from the preceding year with the objective to expend 90% of remaining funds by December 31.
On average, there is a six week gap from the time an order is received by the Library until the book arrives and is made available to borrow. Publisher or shipping delays could prolong this interval. Items ordered after January 31 might not be received in time for payment from the current year’s budget and will be carried forward to purchase in the next budget year.
The Library collects materials primarily to support courses taught at the University. Each academic department or program participates in the collection process by appointing a faculty member to act as Library Representative. Representatives solicit recommendations from their colleagues and work with designated Collection Liaison Librarians to select library materials to be purchased for a department or program. Requests for materials should be approved by the Library Representative for the department/program. Orders are placed by Collection Liaisons.
Collection Liaisons and the University Librarian are responsible for the administration of Library purchasing guidelines.
Visit the the Library Collection Liaisons page on this guide to view a full list of Faculty Representatives and Library Collection Liaisons.
Criteria considered when selecting new books include:
For more information, see the Library's collections policy.
Books ordered as RUSH requests are given priority processing. Books available in electronic format may also be ordered as RUSH requests. The requestor will be notified by e-mail when the book is available.
The Library offers a notification service to let Faculty know when a book they have requested becomes available to be borrowed. Faculty may also request a hold be placed on a book they have requested. Faculty will be notified by email when the book is available or is placed on the Hold Shelf.
To take advantage of the notification service, please contact the department/program’s Library Collection Liaison.
To allow for purchasing books and other materials, it is recommended that no more than 75% of a department/program's library budget be committed to serial and standing order subscriptions. Subscriptions should be reviewed periodically to ensure subscription costs remain at or below this level.
When new serial and standing order subscriptions are requested, ongoing funds must be identified to support them. A department/program may need to cancel existing subscriptions to leave funds available for book purchases.
The University Librarian has final approval of all requests for new serial subscriptions and subscription cancellations.
In addition to budgets, several factors are considered when making a decision to order or to cancel a subscription:
For more information please consult the Library collection policy.
The Patrick Power Library's gift policy can be found on our policies webpage. Please note that the Library is not currently accepting book or journal donations.
Recommend a book you think would make a good addition to the Library's collection using the form below.
For more details about Library collections, please contact Joyce Thomson, Collections Librarian (joyce.thomson@smu.ca / 902-420-5549).