Top+10+things+to+know

Top Ten things that you need to know about managing your library budget:
1. __Be creative!__ Many large ticketed items that you would like to see in the library won't actually come under the library budget, but the capital budget for the school. Often you can get furniture, and a/v equipment, or technology under different school budgets.

2. __Find ways to supplement your budget.__ Book fairs, grants, community programs, sell supplies, have a used book sale after weeding your library.

3. __Collaborate and Spend wisely__. Get information from co-workers, students, and the community on what they want and/or need in the library. Spend what limited amount of money you have on resources that people will use. These same people may have other ideas on how to get more money to supplement the budget, too. Talk to other TLs in your area to see how they operate their budget and how they manage to get by on whatever their budget is.

4. __Knowledge is powerful!__ Make sure you know what, if any, limitations are included in your budget. Is there a deadline by which your money must be spent? Do you have to use purchase orders or can you buy with your own money and be reimbursed? Can you carry over money from one year to the next or will you lose any money you don't spend?

5. __Create lists.__ Have lists of resources you or other staff would like to have. Continuously add to it whenever you, a student, or a staff member comes in looking for a resource that you don't have. These lists could include all necessary ordering information such as ISBN, author, title, and publisher, for example. The list will be there when you are ready to place an order and you know that the resource will be used! Keep lists of any books you've ordered, purchased, or sent away for cataloguing/processing. This will ensure that you don't duplicate any purchases.

6. __Keep Records and Historical Data.__ Make sure you have records of how much and where you've spent your money. Keep copies of receipts with these. This will ensure you spend your entire budget as well as help you to stay within your budget.

7. __Use Free Resources on the Web__. Free up your time to work directly with students and staff by using free resources such as collection analysis and ordering materials. Services like Follett's TitleWise delivers detailed reports that help you focus in on improving areas of your collection. To access these reports, all you have to do is complete a few easy steps and export your MARC records. ([]) Some school boards already have a subscription to Titlewise.

8. __Be Open to Donations (But be selective!)__ You may have people calling to ask if you accept book donations. Don't dismiss them immediately, as you can receive a lot of great resources this way!

9. __Remember - There are free resources!__ There are many free educational videos and books available online that you would normally need to spend money on. Check out what's available to educators through the National Film Board of Canada (http://www.nfb.ca/) and the Bell Aliant Learning Centre (http://learning.bellaliant.net/). All you have to do is sign up! There are free magazines (such as Verve Girl) available to schools, as well as online books. Take the time to search the internet... it will save you money that can be used on other things!

10. __Plan.__ Having a collection development plan with curriculum links in place helps to advocate for more money if there is some extra dollars floating around the school. Be prepared to present the plan to administration, in case it's necessary.