Here’s a few threads that may or may not help.

20 Faces to start a designers career
To buy or not to buy? (Adobe Type Library)
commercial font starter pack?

I would recommend you find a foundry that has a nice collection and tell them your budget and the type of work you do and see what they come up with. This will help you start a long-term relationship with a foundry and maybe save a few dollars in the long run.

Are you sure this is the right approach?
Do you have a lot of stuff you’ve bought because you liked the packaging/it was a good deal — but then never used?
The book unread, the shirt not worn?
I’d say “the best way to begin to build a typeface library” is on an ad hoc, per project basis. That way, no wallflowers.
But ditto Tiff on working directly with indie foundries.

This really depends on what type of work you’re doing. I would recommend you spend 3/4 of your budget on “workhorse” sans and serif families, and get a few script and display faces as well. There are a lot of good suggestions on the lists posted above. I would encourage you to really think about usage, and to look carefully before purchasing. I’ve bought more than a few type families that I just couldn’t resist, that have yet to be used.

“I know there are a bunch of type libraries and collections out there, but they all seem to contain many not so useful typefaces along side the great ones.”

Obviously, it’s useless to pick fonts without a use.
I think you need to start with your identity, and then move out from there.
So, what fonts do you want to represent your design service. . . ?

Cheers!

Thanks so much for your advice. I really like the idea of approaching a foundry with a budget and asking them assist in putting together some workhorse typefaces—and in the process begin a relationship with them. I hadn’t thought of that.

I appreciate the top 20 lists very much too. Although I notice that that many of the lists seem to come with caveats like ’these are workhorses, but most experienced designers end up using 5-6 faces over and over and get to know them really well’. Hmmm, this provokes the question ’What are your five or six favourites that designers keep coming back to? The typefaces you use that are not the classics or the workhorses? The faces that reoccur in the projects you love?

I increasingly recognize that perhaps my approach is flawed and am reconsidering. But am interested in learning of others’ favourites as possibilities to consider in the future when approaching particular projects. It sounds like a slow building process may be more desirable than a blanket expenditure. Thanks for invaluable input!

If you have $1000 for fonts, consider it your year’s budget for fonts. Buy a new family each time you have a real need for one; considering at each purchase how useful the family will be in the future. As your collection grows,