Wilson's Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction (19th Edition, 2023) is designed for acquisitions librarians, reference librarians and catalogers. Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction is a reliable guide to building and maintaining a well-rounded collection of the most highly recommended reference and nonfiction books for adults.

The Core Collection is intended to serve the needs of public and undergraduate libraries and stand as a basic or “opening day” collection. The newer titles help in identifying areas that can be updated or strengthened. Retention of useful material from the previous edition enables the librarian to make informed decisions about weeding a collection.

What's New in this Edition?

This edition continues to emphasize equity, diversity, and inclusion, representing and reflecting a varied community in which many voices can be heard. Significant weeding is undertaken to ensure that older, outdated books are removed in favor of more relevant recommendations.

With more than 12,000 nonfiction titles appropriate to general adult readers as well as reference books and a selection of professional materials of use to librarians and library administrators, this 19th edition contains both new titles that reflect new topics of interest or new interpretations of traditional knowledge as well as older titles – sometimes in updated versions – that remain the best in their field.

As always, a star (★) at the start of an entry indicates that a book is an Essential title, our highest recommendation level. These titles are the essential books in a given category or on a given subject; while there are often a number of recommended titles, this designation helps users who want only a small selection. Non-starred entries represent Recommended titles, which provide a fuller list of recommended books.

Easy-to-use Arrangement

Arranged for ease-of-use by Dewey Decimal Classification, this helpful guide provides immediate access to over 14,000 highly recommended nonfiction titles. All areas of reference and nonfiction are covered. Plus, 2,200 starred entries highlight the “Essential” title within a particular subject area.

1. Science, Technology & Computer Science
2. Health & Medicine
3. Religion & Philosophy
4. Political Science, Economics & Law
5. Literature & Language
6. History, Travel & Biography
7. Arts & Architecture and so much more

Created for Librarians, by Librarians

Books included in this edition were selected by experienced librarians representing public library systems and academic libraries across the United States. With their helpful guidance, librarians nationwide rely on Core Collections for:

1. Collection Development
2. Weeding their collection
3. Curriculum Support
4. General Reference
5. Title Selection & Purchasing
6. Readers’ Advisory
7. Librarian Instruction

Information-packed Entries

In these pages, librarians can collect much-needed data on over 14,000 recommended titles. Entries include:

1. Complete Bibliographic & Cataloging Information
2. Price, ISBN & Publisher to aid in purchasing
3. Subject Headings and Dewey Classification
4. Content Descriptions and Excerpts from Reviews provide helpful information when evaluating books for selection and in determining which of several books on the same subject is best suited for the individual reader
5. Additional notes highlight sequels and companion volumes, editions available, awards, and publication history, plus information on electronic editions
6. “Essential” titles within subject areas are easily identified with a starred listing

In-depth Indexing

A highly-detailed Author, Title, Series and Subject Index provides easy navigation through the hundreds of subject areas and thousands of authors and titles in this informative resource.

The Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction is an essential resource for library and media specialists looking to enhance and enrich their collection with the most important and highly recommended titles currently available.