The PMI Victorian History Library Inc. is a small independent library in Melbourne which specialises in Victorian history. It is the only for loan collection of its type anywhere in the world. Ellen Coates is the Collections Librarian and Volunteer Coordinator and throughout 2022, with input from the PMI’s Board, she wrote the library’s most comprehensive collection policy to date. The previous policy, which she also wrote, dates to 2018. The new policy, which came into effect in 2023, will shape the library and its collection into the future. Its emphasis on minority voices will, hopefully, ensure that the all of Victoria’s multifaceted history will be collected in all forms. The updated policy reflects the current state of the library and what it is collecting, but it is also aspirational, as it explores areas where collecting is currently difficult, while leaving them open for examination and application in the future.

The presentation will begin by exploring the collection itself, what the PMI currently collects and why. It will expand to examine what goes into the development of a collection policy, with particular focus on how they apply to a small independent library, and how important these policies are in driving the future of the collection. This presentation will then explore the nuance needed in writing a policy and will specifically examine the parameters required when dealing with a thematic collection. The presentation will focus on the building blocks of the policy, how it was developed and especially the importance of the integration of minorities at the heart of the policy, including a specific minority voice clause. It will also underline the importance of the exchange of ideas that go into the creation of a policy. While Ellen is the primary author, it was not the work of one person alone. 

Finally the presentation will examine Ellen’s learning curve from writing the first collection policy in 2018 to the current policy. It will examine what is new and different and what the new policy will mean for the 169 year old collection moving forward. It is hoped that this presentation will demystify the process of managing collections and collection policy development, as well as underlining the important principals. It will give NLSX participants the chance to see beneath the hood of a dynamic and specialised collection and its development, to explore new ideas, and to expand the idea of what collections can be and the exchange of ideas that go into building them.