A Balancing Act: User Demand versus Programs Driven Collection Management at a Small, Regional Academic Library.

Regional and/or small off-campus academic libraries are seeking effective collection development practices in order to serve their diverse students and faculty needs. Should materials requested by users carry a significant weight in the selection process of the library's collection? This paper describes a collection development study conducted at the Shady Grove Library, a branch of the University of Maryland Libraries. A "Hold Shelf Study" was used to gauge the incoming books by subjects, thus measuring the user demand by subject categories. This article reports the outcomes of the study, which include some predicted trends as well as unpredicted results for high demand in minor subjects/discipline areas. This research project may assist regional and/or off-campus education center libraries in designing a more "customized" collection development plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]