A LOOK AT THE
While the average library patron never sees the Processing Department, that does not mean that it is out of the loop. As a matter of fact, Processing is involved with patron requests from the time they are made to the time the materials are released into circulation. Roughly 30,000 items per year make their way through the department, and that includes every new book, video, CD, book-on-tape, or other format item that the library purchases for its collections.
Without Processing, it would be a daunting task to find even the simplest of items. Processing's job is not only to ensure that materials are physically handled to identify them properly, but also to create cataloging records that enable library users to identify and locate what they are looking for on the computer, and then to find them on the shelves. In addition to cataloging records, the staff physically labels and barcodes items in order to individually identify every single copy that enters the collections. This allows for proper tracking of materials.
Other responsibilities of Processing include compiling and placing electronic orders with vendors, keeping track of collection development budgets, and checking in orders received. Beyond all that, the Processing staff takes care of mending and repackaging damaged items, and troubleshooting and fixing problems that arise in the computerized records.