As the temperature outside begins to rise and the school year draws to a close, students get anxious thinking about starting their summer vacation . . . and librarians get anxious thinking about starting their inventory.
Although conducting an annual inventory of your library’s collection is essential, it’s not always easy. Most libraries have thousands of books in their collection–some have millions. The
Library of Congress carries over 36 million books. Can you imagine how long it must take to complete
their inventory?
It is next to impossible for libraries with massive collections to conduct a physical inventory on an annual basis. They are better off managing their catalog with regular random samplings to gain a clear assessment of the condition and relevancy of their books.
But no matter how big or small your library’s collection is, doing inventory is difficult and usually requires all hands on deck. So–the question is,
how can we make this seemingly insurmountable task easier for librarians to do? After all, they need a summer vacation too.
5 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Inventory
Thanks to the convenience of automated systems and software tools like
Alexandria’s Inventory Management, librarians are no longer required to take inventory by hand. However, not all library software automation systems are created equal. Alexandria has figured out a way to make doing inventory quick, easy, and extremely efficient. Here’s how: