The collection consists of, but is not limited to popular best-sellers, critically-acclaimed first time authors, short stories, translations of novels from other languages, historical fiction, adventure, spy/espionage, thriller/suspense, horror, and classics. The collection also houses the following genre collections shelved separately:

• Mystery consisting of, but not limited to the whodunit, mystery-suspense, crime/caper, private eyes, and detectives.
• Science Fiction consisting of, but not limited to stories of hard science, science fantasy, alien beings, ecology, galactic empires, the fourth dimension, immortality, lost worlds, extrasensory perception, robots, space travel, time travel, computers and automation in space, sword-and-sorcery, and mythology.
• Western consisting of, but not limited to stories of adventure, mountain men, wagon trains and early settlements, Indians, cowboys, range wars, sheep men, cattle drives, romance, lawmen, the Army in the West, railroads, mining, doctors, and preachers.
• Romance consisting of, but not limited to historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic-suspense, Gothic romance, period romance, and family saga romance.

Development Plan

The primary goal of this collection is to provide leisure reading materials and literary classics to adults and senior high students. Classics are those titles that have an enduring quality and have withstood the test of time. Classics form the foundation of the fiction collection for student assignments and the reading pleasure of others. In order to meet this goal, the Library:

• strives to provide a broad range of reading materials to meet the variety of likes and tastes of all patrons.
• strives to provide a balanced collection of popular reading materials found in all genres and a core collection of classical literature.
• evaluates patron requests either through book reviews or knowledge and popularity of the author. Patron requests are given serious consideration and added to the collection as warranted and as budget allows.
• makes an effort to provide all titles in a series.
• purchases multiple copies of popular titles when there is a waiting list of five or more patrons and as budget allows.
• purchases all fiction titles appearing on the New York Times best-seller list without the benefit of a review knowing that there is a heavy demand for these titles.

Influencing Factors

Fiction circulates well in the community. Short stories generally appeal to a small audience, so the selection of such titles is restricted to major authors or award-winning titles. The vast majority of this collection is purchased in English language only. A very limited number of translations are purchased (translations appeal to a small audience). Purchases and buying patterns are determined in large part by:

• best seller listings, award winning selection lists, and general journal publications.
• circulation statistics.
• shelf space.
• budget constraints.
• patrons' requests.
• availability of titles in hardback binding. (Paperbacks are purchased when hardbound is not available).

Retention/Weeding

Materials generally retained in the fiction collection consist of:

• titles in a series.
• titles in popular demand.
• regional authors.
• literary classics.
• titles listed in the Fiction Catalog.

Materials generally weeded from this collection consist of:

• books in poor condition.
• titles that have not circulated in three years.
• duplicate titles