1.1 Audit findings and opinions
1.1.1 The situation in the processing of newly-acquired books
In order to enrich their library collections, public libraries would increase collections and introduce new information by the means of purchase, donation, exchange and legal deposit, to ensure that the collections meet the community needs. For an effective management mechanism, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (hereinafter referred as “IC” according to Portuguese abbreviation) should follow up and monitor the processing of books from the procurement procedure. In March 2016, IC changed the computer system of public libraries, and the new system has a module for managing the procurement. However, IC did not take advantage of this module to manage the book orders and the work of checking upon the receipt of books, which not only wasted public resources, but also failed to track the processing status of the newly-purchased books. What is even worse is that, IC never made good use of the information about books status recorded in the new and old computer system in order to follow up and monitor the processing of the books. This not only caused a higher risk of omission of processing the books received, but also made it more difficult to ensure each book can be processed in time for the readers.
CA found that by the end of May 2017, there were around 100 thousand library items under the “registered but not catalogued or in the process of being shelved” status in the new computer system of public libraries, in which most of them were in this status for more than five years, while some were even for 17 years. Compared with the current collections of public libraries of IC, these 100 thousand items are sufficient to set up a new library. This reflected that the number of unprocessed items and the time they have remained in this status is astonishing, and IC even did not follow up the progress of processing.
The chaotic situation and the lack of management in the processing of books in IC were mainly caused by the management’s attitude. They not only failed to take advantage of the computer system, but also tolerated the situation that there were books being processed for 17 years, which is unacceptable in the current computerized era or the past manual era. Although IC spent millions of public funds to constantly acquire new books every year, it was unable to complete the processing procedures and shelved them for public use in a timely manner; when the accumulation of newly-acquired books became larger, it required a longer processing time, causing an increased waste of public resources.
1.1.2 The environment for preserving books in storage areas
IC has two storage areas located in two industrial buildings, in which the books were found to be placed in poor hygienic conditions for a long time without good preservation, failing to ensure that these collections were serviceable.
For the Central Storage Area, a large number of mice droppings were found on books and in the aisles. Although CA had reflected this problem to the relevant department, the poor hygiene problem in the same places was unchanged after several months. The report also indicated the recurrent problem of water seepage from the walls of the storage area, which shows that the improper daily preservation work led to the increased risk of damage to library collections.
For the Ocean Storage Area, CA noticed that the indoor air quality was poor with a musty smell, and the books on shelves were covered by a thick layer of dust. Besides, a considerable number of books were found to pile on the floor instead of placing on empty shelves, making a stark contrast with the abandoned computer equipment which was orderly arranged on shelves.
The damage to the service life of library collections in these two storage areas reflected that IC, as a department for the management of public libraries, failed to perform the preservation work of library collections in a serious and professional manner, which not only caused damage to the collections, but also had negative health impact on the staff of IC and the users of public libraries.
1.1.3 The criteria for selecting books
It took almost eight and a half years for IC to compose the Collection Development Policy of public libraries and receive its approval. It explained that there had been no legal foundation before the new Organic Law came into effect. Therefore, the Policy was implemented in draft form. However, CA disagreed with this explanation since all acts related with the public libraries management are within the responsibility and authority of IC.
Besides, IC expressed that even though each staff had different criteria in the books selection, their supervisor would check their choices with the draft of the Collection Development Policy. However, it must be pointed out that IC indicated that it was impossible to retrieve data on the collections due to the old computer system problems, and thus there was no statistics relative to the proportion of the subject and language type of books. Therefore, even if IC established an expected goal for the library collections, it was impossible for the staff to purchase books accordingly without having a good understanding of the current situation of the collections. Furthermore, the data in the computer system was found to be incomplete as some columns were blank and not filled in; therefore, the statistics were unreliable even though they were retrieved from the system.
The above situation reflected that IC did not give necessary attention and consider seriously on how to outline the perfect composition of library collections with a view to building high-quality collections, and for this composition, what is the direction of book acquisition to fill the gap in collections.
1.1.4 Other management problems
In this audit, CA noted that IC did not back up the data and take inventory of library collections according to the established arrangement. However, IC immediately implemented these works after the audit began.
After the installation of the new computer system, IC did not ask the supplier to make a backup of data into a plain text format as it was already paid and stipulated in contract. Until CA conducted on-sited audit, IC began to study how and when to do the work with the supplier.
IC agreed that only taking inventory can identify the actual status of library collections. However, in fact, between 2010 and the end of 2016, IC took inventory of library collections only three times, while each time only checked one library, justifying that the old system was outdated and had a risk of unstable operation. However, although the new system had put into operation for more than half a year, IC did not take any inventory until the beginning of this audit in early 2017.
1.2 Audit suggestions
IC should:
Establish a mechanism to ensure timely processing of all newly-acquired books in order to promptly release for public use, and build up a mechanism to accurately follow the status of collections in public libraries and the place they are kept.
Endeavor to preserve the library collections, to ensure that the collections in storage areas are properly stored on shelves and conserved in hygienic conditions, so as to reduce the risk of damage as much as possible and prolong the service life of the collections; moreover, IC should have a serious and professional attitude to the preservation work. Besides doing the general cleaning well, IC should arrange trained personnel to clean up book shelves with suitable tools, so dust can be removed instead of spreading around.
Study and develop a sound Collection Development Policy that can meet the actual needs of the community, and after the establishment of policy, IC should continue to improve and fully implement it.
Set up a mechanism to ensure the supplier would fulfill the duty in the contract both in quality and quantity, and take inventory of library collections in a regular basis in order to continuously update the actual record and status of collections, so that the information corresponds with the actual situation.
