Library and Information Science

The present paper describes the situation and problems of book selection for the collection of the children's room of a public library.

The paper consists of the following three parts:

1. The purposes or principles of book selection and underlying various factors are described.
2. Nine public libraries in the Tokyo metropolitan area are chosen and examined in terms of book selection manuals, community cooperation, acquisition policies, etc. Further, the collections in these libraries are checked in order to find out characteristics and tendencies of those policies at each library. Those books which have been recommended in more than two of 12 book lists and/or some book reviews are listed up. Then, it is examined whether or not each library has those books.
3. The influence of Sentei tosho mokuroku (List of recommended books), prominent publishers and well-known writers to book selection policies is examined. Further, the author examines the present characteristics and acquisition tendencies of non-fiction books, prize-winner books, comic pictures, “Kadai tosho” (books recommended for assigned readings for school children) and popular books, all of which are usually considered in Japan difficult to be selected.

As a conclusion based on the surveys, the author recommends some policies for selection of popular and non-fiction books, and critisizes the present policy for selection of “Kadai tosho”. She also recommends to modify book selection standards according to the locality of the library.