Tips for Collection Development

Set an annual goal for your poetry acquisitions, and then display your new purchases.  Poets House publishes lists of poetry books recommended especially for libraries in the Sourcebook.

Poetry books in the collection "sell" each other. The collection should include a mix of anthologies and volumes of poetry by a single author.  Poetry journals renew themselves regularly, sometimes for the same price as a single volume.

The Directory of American Poetry Books, the country's most complete listing of new poetry books, is now available on this site. Each citation on this free, searchable database includes excerpts of published reviews. 

Poetry on tape and video reinforces all of the other poetry activities in a library, allowing visitors to hear pieces in the poet's own voice.

Audiotapes can be obtained from:

• Poets' Audio Center: 6925 Willow Street, NW #201, Washington, D.C. 20012
• The Academy of American Poets: 584 Broadway, Suite 1208, NY, NY 10012
• Modern Poetry Association: 60 W. Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60610

Free videos of poets reading their work are available from:
Lannan Literary Videos

For detailed information on building your library's poetry collection, as well as lists of titles recommended especially for libraries, order the PITB Sourcebook.