Taking Inventory...

This past week I have been trying to take the time and opportunity to recognize what I have accomplished thus far for this library development project. And in the midst of this process, I have realized that there were a few hiccups that occurred in the project that have played a role in its progress as well as its transformation. I will attempt to provide a play-by-play below. I will list each significant step, stage, or accomplishment and I will also provide the obstacles and detours that influenced each next step.

1. Organizing ALISS Book Drive at IUPUI
-No real obstacles here, just collaborated with the rest of the ALISS officers and agreed on a time frame to collect books from the community
-Total books collected summed to 1,064 in number!

2. Taking inventory of existing materials
-The first challenge here was taking a complete inventory of books already housed at Theodora House (the in-house collection began with about 800 books)
-Next there was the obstacle, or task of merging the donated books with those that were already at the facility...and employing creative use of the space provided and allotted for the library itself...very challenging

3. Weeding and Redistributing
-This process has been both easy and difficult for various reasons. Materials that were in the poorest condition were pulled from the collection first (easy), then those that were not consistent with the mission of Theodora House or Volunteers of America were reconsidered (difficult). Some of the materials have been destroyed due to severe damage and frailty, while others have been re-donated. This leg of the project is still ongoing, and has also sparked another task...

4. Creating a Collection Development Policy
-It was only natural to create a collection development plan in order to explain the selection and deselection process of the library development project. It was based solely off of the mission statement adopted by the facility.

5. Creating the Theodora House Library Online Catalog
-The catalog has been created and on LibraryThing; an open source online library catalog application. LibraryThing can be used for either your personal, or organization's collection :-).
-Though the entire collection has now been added to the catalog, there is still some tweaking needed in order to finalize it.

6. Classifying, Shelving, and Organizing
-The classification process is simple; based on genre of each material. Though many of the materials speak to more than one genre, they were classified based on the primary themes and contextual concepts.
-Shelving and organizing has been governed mostly by space and access, and has been a community effort. Members of ALISS, as well as other volunteers from the community have played a key role in completing this portion of the project.

7. Organizing the Theodora House Library Grand Opening (Tentatively scheduled for Sat. April 30)
-A work in progress... However, this will serve as our opportunity to invite staff and residents to embrace their new community library, and present the benefits of its addition to the Theodora House facility.


Though there are plenty of details that contribute to the project's progress, these happenings are the ones that have shaped the journey, as well as my personal attachment to the facility as a whole. And oh what a journey its been :-)...almost to the finish line...