Stock quality health check

Stock quality health check

The adult fiction Stock quality health check (SQHC) allows your library to assess the diversity and representation of your adult fiction collection.  The SQHC provides you with a spreadsheet containing a checklist of 500 inclusive and diverse titles across nine genres developed in collaboration with a project team of NSW public library staff. The spreadsheet calculates a score indicating which areas of your adult fiction collection require development.

Based on methodology developed by Opening the Book in the UK, the model has been adapted for NSW public libraries. The SQHC tool for NSW public libraries was first developed in 2011, then updated in 2017 and 2023. 

Adult fiction SQHC 2023 

All NSW public libraries are invited to participate in this project to assess their collections and contribute their data to develop an overview of the diversity of adult fiction collections across NSW.  All titles were in print when the list was finalised in January 2023.  

How can my library participate?

  1. Download the 2023 adult fiction stock quality health check spreadsheet
  2. Save the file, include your library name as part of the file name
  3. Read the instructions on the Read me first tab  
  4. Complete each of the 9 tabs on the spreadsheet
  5. Email the completed spreadsheet to Ellen Forsyth ellen.forsyth@sl.nsw.gov.au by 6 April 2023.

How can my library use the adult fiction SQHC to improve my collection?

  • Check the summary sheet on the final tab, this shows results for your library for each genre as a percentage
  • Are you surprised with the results? Why/Why not? 
  • What might be some of the reasons the score is low/high in each genre/category? 
  • What will you do to improve your collection in this genre/category?  Consider adding titles from this genre to your collection.

Classics and popular authors are still important to include in your library collection. These have not been included in the 2023 SQHC list as its purpose is to help you increase the diversity of your collection by adding recent publications to your current holdings.

Further information about the 2023 adult fiction SQHC

The 2023 adult fiction SQHC list has titles from 9 genres: Action adventure, Contemporary, Crime mystery, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Romance, Science fiction, and Thriller suspense. Genres such as Westerns and Military were included within other genres, but not separately identified.

Information has also been included about the diversity of the author including First Nations, cultural background, gender and sexuality. The First Nations country or nation is provided, if known. CALD authors are described in terms they use to describe themselves, for example African American is used for writers from the USA, while Black is used for writers from England.