During November, Booth Library gathered a total of 708 new titles to its collection.  These new titles can found near the new title shelves located by the reference desk before they make their way to their proper location.

Elizabeth Heldebrandt, the public relations director, said the library is always looking to bring in more variety to their expanding collection.

“The Library continually purchases new titles. Some books are available for purchase for a short time or in a limited supply,” Heldebrandt said. “We strive to stay current by purchasing items that are useful and of interest to our patrons.”

The Booth Library has a budget, which helps the library gather more material for each fiscal year; the new library materials are funded through that budget, Heldebrandt said.

Booth library’s collection contains over 1,801,519 different items, ranging from books, microtexts, periodicals, media, electronic materials, maps, special collections and other items.

Within the total collection, there are over 39,577 electronic journal titles along with 170 current print journal titles.

Karen Whisler, the head of collection management services, said the new titles available at Booth are posted monthly. While Booth does manage a large collection of titles, there are cases when the staff has to discard titles.

“We don’t discard titles very often. When a book is damaged or lost, we will remove it from the collection,” Whisler said. “ If the content is still useful, we would try to replace the title or get updated content.”

Whisler said Booth does receive titles quickly; however, it quickly depends on the supplier.

She also said between choosing print or electronic journals, it can depend.

“I think it depends on what information as student needs,” Whisler said. “Print books will contain more information in more depth than electronic journal articles. Electronic journal articles are readily available both on and off campus, but usually focus on a narrow aspect of a subject.”

Heldebrandt said the library does its best to make sure that their collection is up to date to help students the best way possible.

“The library continually purchases new titles. Some books are available for purchase for a short time or in a limited supply,” Heldebrandt said. “We strive to stay current by purchasing items that are useful and of interest to our patrons.”

Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or lpmartinez@eiu.edu