Monitor reported library reach
Save useful library evidence
When a library catalog publicly shows something notable (many copies, many branches, a long hold queue, a staff pick), save a dated screenshot and the link as evidence you can cite later.
Why it matters
Library demand is one of the few forms of reception that is visible, verifiable, and independent of sales figures you may not have. Captured at the time, it becomes evidence for the next award form, the next grant, and the next book. Uncaptured, it is gone in a week.
Your part
- What you do
- Do it. You normally do this yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author. Author captures; only public catalog information
- When
- Ongoing, whenever a catalog shows something notable (Monitor reported library reach: quarterly after publication, then once a year)
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Public library catalogs show more than whether a book is held. Many display the number of copies, which branches have them, how many are checked out, how many holds are waiting, and whether staff have tagged the book as a pick or put it on a list. Digital lending apps show similar things: copies licensed, holds, wait times. None of this is private, and all of it disappears from view as the catalog changes.
The task is to capture the notable moments: a system that bought twelve copies for its branches, a hold queue that shows demand, a staff recommendation, a placement on a library's list. Take a screenshot that includes the library's name and the date, save the link, and note it in your Book Identity Sheet. Do this when you see it, because the next time you look the holds will have cleared or the list will have rotated.
This evidence has practical uses. Award entries and grant applications ask for reach and reception. A proposal for the next book benefits from 'the first book was held by every branch of the county system and had a forty-person hold queue in its first month'. Library outreach to a new system is stronger when you can show what neighboring systems did. And publicists, agents, and publishers rarely gather this for you.
On every path this is the author's habit. Only capture what is public, cite it accurately, and never describe it as more than it is.
Common mistakes
- Noticing a long hold queue and not screenshotting it.
- Screenshots without the date or library name, which cannot be cited.
- Overstating what the evidence shows.
- Asking library staff for internal circulation figures they are not able to share.
- Quoting a holdings count without the date you checked it, or as though it were a sales total. WorldCat shows holdings reported by participating libraries. It is useful evidence, but it is incomplete, can lag by months, and may count institutions or systems differently from branches. Do not treat it as a sales total or a complete adoption count.
What done looks like
- Dated screenshots with the library's name showing copy counts, branches, holds, or staff picks, saved with the link.
- Notes in the Book Identity Sheet summarizing each item in one line.
- Only public information captured, described accurately.
- The evidence used, with dates, in award entries, proposals, and library outreach.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- No single official page for this step.
- Last checked
- Not checked against its source yet.
- How confident we are
- Verified