Steps to developing a sports collection in your library

​Sooner or later the moment will come when you have to decide if you will get into the game of building your sports collection.
Since money doesn't grow on trees, you may have to convince people that this is a worthy investment.  Most librarians simply have to convince themselves that it is a worthy investment!
What I laid out are a few steps to consider as you develop a plan.  Many points are questions I ask librarians when they request collection building help in sports.
There is no "field of dreams" for collection building, where you can just buy a bunch of sports books, throw them on a table, and expect them to magically find readers.
There is a method to the madness of selecting the right stuff, being sure you play to your audience, and getting the support of the key people in your community.
​Here are a few things to consider.

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Motivations.  Why Invest?

Why should anyone care about a good sports collection?

• Sports is a common societal language
• Sports are popular and always will be
• Many boys connect with sports; many boys are tough to motivate to read
• Breaking through stereotypes
• Compelling situations and plots
• Why invest in nonfiction instead of fiction?

                       -variety
                      - credibility
                       -less cliched

Evaluation of current collections

Consider the following items when evaluating your collection

• What do you have?  Look up your material percentages, circ stats, and age of sports collection.
• Is your sports material more reference or story based?
• Are gender, culture, and time represented?
• What materials are currently being checked out in your 796 section?
• Talk to students about what they are interested in.

Develop a plan-research

Once you have evaluated, it is time to plan for improvement!

• Realize "what" sport is, and look to represent all sports, not just the big ones (football, basketball, baseball)
• Set a goal of collection diversity
• What sports are a huge part of your school?
• What sports are important in your community or region?
• What is the athletic history of your district?
• Talk to students
• Talk to the coaches
• Involve teachers and administrators.  Many can cite influential sports books.
• Seek out some local sports legends