Librarians May (Not) Decide: The Purchase of Books for Libraries in the Last Three Years

Abstract

The paper indicates the significance of the annual purchase of publications for public libraries in Serbia financed and supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia. Moreover, it points to the downsides of the procedure altered during the last three years, starting from 2017, when the propositions of the Concours for purchase of publications for libraries were changed. The compulsory titles (the titles with an „asterisk“) appeared on the list, and the Commission for the field of literature (creativity, translation) got the right to evaluate, select, and mark the titles that must be purchased by all public libraries, regardless of the needs and the status of the collections in those libraries. This reduced the acquisition librarians’ possibility for free selection by 30% (in 2017) and 40% (in 2018 and 2019) of the total budget, and the repercussions of that change depended on the category of a library, as well as the limits allotted to that category. Examples given in the paper as illustrations of the facts related to the purchase of publications for libraries refer to the practice of the Public Library Bor, which is clearly indicated in the text so that the mistakes based on the lack of acquaintance with the collections and practices of libraries from other categories can be avoided.