The Magic of Discoverability at Your Seminole County Library

Although the Seminole County Library offers enriching educational programs for all ages and a wide array of electronic resources, the opportunity to borrow physical books continues to be a major draw for families visiting our library branches.

Perhaps you swung by the library recently to pick up a new mystery to help you unplug amid the holiday stress. Or maybe the kids chose a stack of books to enjoy over their winter break. Our community loves books, but have you ever wondered how those books end up on our shelves? In this issue, we’re spotlighting the library’s Technical Services Department and its crucial work behind the scenes to guarantee that the latest bestsellers are ready for you to borrow.

First, let’s talk about the library catalog. You’re probably familiar with the public-facing version of the catalog, which you can search from our website. For a book to appear in that catalog, our Technical Services team must create a detailed electronic record for it in our library’s back-end database. Each book is also assigned a barcode and a call number for its spine label, which translates to a specific location where users can find it in the library building.

The Technical Services team makes sure each catalog record contains all the data about the book, the barcode numbers of each copy we own, and the call number and location for each copy. Then they confirm that each physical copy of the book has the correct barcode and spine label affixed.

Guy Colvin, Technical Services Senior Librarian, says his cataloging work is important to him because it ensures the discoverability of books. The catalog records he creates and maintains are the contact point between each book and the library’s staff and users.

Central Branch Library’s reference desk, putting into practice the skills she is learning in her master’s degree program. Shirley’s fluency in Spanish has also been a major asset to the library’s team as we serve the local Spanish-speaking community. Not only does Shirley help tie all the back-end data to real, discoverable books, she also helps users find what they’re looking for when they call or visit the library.

It’s easy to take for granted that every record in the library catalog corresponds to a physical copy of a book, and that those books are labeled and organized in a way that allows us to locate them on the shelves. But if it weren’t for our dedicated Technical Services Department team, you almost certainly wouldn’t be able to find the book you’re looking for.