NLA/MPLA Joint Conference

Many library professionals carry expertise that extends far beyond their institutional walls — and their communities often need exactly what they have to offer. This session explores how technical services librarians can apply professional collection skills in volunteer, consulting, and community settings, drawing on real experience working with public libraries, faith communities, and civic organizations across the region.
Presenters will share practical frameworks for approaching community collection work, including collection analysis and catalog assessment, layout and space consultation, development policy creation, and cataloging and processing for under-resourced collections. The session uses a congregational library project as an anchor case study — walking through building an online (and free) catalog, through collection analysis and withdrawal recommendations, to a formal collection development policy — while situating that work within a broader pattern of pro bono and consulting practice.
Attendees will leave with transferable tools and strategies for bringing their own expertise to the communities they serve, and with a clearer sense of the professional value that flows both ways.
Learning Outcomes — Attendees will be able to: • Understand the steps in building an online and free catalog •Apply collection assessment and development methodologies in small or under-resourced community library settings •Develop or adapt collection development policy frameworks for non-institutional contexts •Identify opportunities for pro bono and volunteer collection work within their own communities