At the Library 4/16/26

 The life cycle of a library book

New books ready for checkout

by Marissa Reisen

Have you ever wondered just how the book that you check out at the library got to the point where you can check it out? Today I’m going to walk you through the process!

Our librarians are responsible for a designated section, and they have many resources available to them to help decide which new books to purchase for the library. They take into consideration what our patrons are most likely to read (and we do even take requests) as well as what reviews are saying about particular books. Some adult fiction authors are automatically ordered when they have new books come out (think James Patterson, Nora Roberts, etc.).  Each section has a budget that they have to stay within for the year; we have multiple vendors who we order books from, and libraries usually don’t pay cover price for the books.

Once ordered, books arrive anywhere from a week later to a few months later. Upon arrival, they are checked for damage and, just like with any order, we make sure that what they sent is what actually arrives in the box. Books are checked in and marked with the date they arrive, as well as the company they were ordered from and the price. Next up is cataloging! This is when all the important information about the book gets entered into our system and an ID number is assigned to the book. Every book is labeled with their call number (for non-fiction books, this means their Dewey number, and fiction books are labeled with the author’s name and their section). At this point, we also put subject and other identifying stickers on the books, so that you have as much information as possible before you even pull the book off the shelf.

For some books, they are ready to head to the shelves at this point, but others need some cosmetic touches! All hardcover books with a dustjacket are covered in a protective plastic, and we use special tape to attach them, so that we do as little damage to the book as possible. Paperback books get clear tape along the edges to protect from all the potential wear and tear that could happen. 

At this point, books are ready to make their debut on our shelves! All new books are identified with a sticker that has the date one year from the month they arrived - they will stay on the “NEW” shelf for one year before they’re relocated to what will become their home shelf for the rest of their life here at WPL. 

Of course, in order to make room for all the wonderful new books, we do have to get rid of others along the way. Our librarians evaluate many things, like how many times a book has circulated and its condition to determine when it’s time to weed them out. But this isn’t the end! Our books have the opportunity to continue bringing joy to readers as they make their way to ReBook, where you can buy them at a steep discount.

Books waiting to be catalogued