Riverside Regional Library
Collection Development
and Selection Policy
Introduction This Collection Development and Selection Policy is
used as a guide to direct the Library Director and all branch librarians
and other employees in the various aspects of collection development,
including selection, acquisitions, and discarding of materials
Authority and Responsibility for Collection Development The ultimate responsibility for the selection of all library materials rests with the Library Director who operates within the framework of policies determined by the Board of Trustees. Under his/her direction, the library staff—qualified for selection of materials by reason of education, training, experience, and knowledge of the community served--make selection choices. Citizens are invited to offer suggestions for purchases.
Statement of Objectives The primary objective for collection development of Riverside Regional Library is to provide the resources and services necessary to meet the educational, recreational, cultural, and informational needs of the population served, in accordance with the broad service goals of the library.
To support the primary objective, library materials are selected,
organized, and made accessible in order to meet the diverse needs of the
citizens, industry, and government of Scott,
Branch collections are not as comprehensive as
that of the central library and resource center.
Material is selected according to the needs
of a particular community, and in relation to the collection as a whole.
Criteria for Selection
Availability, suitability, and quality of each
particular format of materials is considered along with the suitability
of subject, style and use by the intended audience.
Differences in criteria for adult and youth
collections are recognized.
Critics' reviews of materials and
information in professional selection aids and standardized lists and
bibliographies are recognized sources for consideration for addition to
the collection along with:
1. Need for balance of subjects within the collection.
2. Need for diverse opinions on a subject.
3. Reputation of an author, publisher, editor, or performer.
4. Public demand.
5. Community needs.
6. Individual merit of the item.
7. Cost and budgetary limitations.
General Guidelines The library offers a broad
selection of materials to communicate the full complexity of the culture
shared by the community.
The library collects materials which enable
children, adolescents, and adults to educate themselves continuously as
a vital supplement to formal education.
An item has educational value if it contributes to
the positive growth of a person, either as an individual or as a member
of society.
In addressing the cultural and educational
needs of the community, the library recognizes the importance of a free
society of aware and effective citizens, who are familiar with their
past heritage and with the essential issues underlying decisions for the
future.
The Library does not need to be, and cannot afford
to be, a storehouse of last resort for the world's knowledge.
The library recognizes that other libraries
function to satisfy specialized research needs.
But the library recognizes fundamental
informational needs of the public in an increasingly complex and
technological society and the unique community role that it plays in
providing practical and immediately useful public, personal, business
and governmental information.
The library provides reference staff and materials consistent with
budgetary restraints and makes use of specialized reference materials
and Internet resources through appropriate services such as interlibrary
loan and telecommunications.
The library recognizes the recreational reading
needs of the community.
Materials are selected not only for their
permanent value, but also because of community demand.
Citizens want to read novels, be familiar
with issues, view the video recordings, and hear the audio recordings
currently popular in the nation’s culture.
It is the obligation of their tax-supported
library to provide such materials, in sufficient quantity to truly meet
the demand.
Selection is a judgmental and interpretive
process, involving general knowledge of the subject and its importance;
familiarity with the materials in the collection; awareness of the
materials available on the subject; and recognition of the needs of the
community.
Items are selected for various reasons,
including permanence of value, currency of interest, diversity of
viewpoint, and creative merit, but all items selected should have a
reasonable probability of being needed and used by the local community.
Citizens’ needs are central to the selection
process.
With finite staff, funds and space, every
purchase is measured in terms of use by the public.
Procedures for selecting materials and
evaluating the collection focus quickly, accurately, and effectively on
anticipating public needs, as indicated by subject and title circulation
patterns, reserve and interlibrary loan requests, explicit patron
suggestions, observed failures in meeting requests for specific titles,
and other user‑centered measures.
Patron Challenges to the Collection
Within the framework of the Library Bill of
Rights, the Freedom to Read, and Intellectual Freedom statements, the
library will provide materials representing all approaches to public
issues of a controversial nature.
The librarians and trustees are aware that one or
more persons may take issue with the selection of any specific item, and
welcome any expression of opinion by patrons, but do not undertake the
task of pleasing all patrons by the elimination of all items purchased
under guidance of the policies herein.
To provide a resource where the free
individual can examine many points of view and form their own decisions
is one of the essential purposes of the library.
Provisions have been made and procedures
established which will insure consideration of any request for
restriction or removal of any item in the library's collection.
However, until such an examination has been
made, and a decision reached by the library director, no such
restriction or removal
shall take place.
Since all political, religious, and social
opinions may be represented in a public library, no group or individual
will be permitted to impose partisan emphasis upon the library's
collection.
Frankness of language will never, in
itself, be considered sufficient justification to restrict or remove
library materials.
Each book, or other item, just as each
human being, must be judged on its own individual merit.
Citizens unwilling to accept the library
director's decision may appeal to the board of trustees, who have the
responsibility to determine, by majority vote, the final decision.
See "Request for Consideration of Library
Materials" form.
Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials
Author:
_____________________________________________________________________
Title:________________________________________________________________________
Publisher or Producer:
________________________________________________________
Request initiated
by:_____________________________________________________________
Address:____________________________________________Phone___________________
Do you represent: (check one)
______Yourself
______Organization or group (give name)
____________________________________________________________________
Item to be considered: ___Book
___Magazine
___Pamphlet ___Audio
___Video
Specifically, to what do you object? (cite pages, frames, sections,
etc.)
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What do you feel might be the result of reading, hearing or seeing this
material?
____________________________________________________________________________
Is there anything good about this material?
________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Did you read the entire book or examine the entire item? ___yes ___no
If no, which parts did you read or view?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What do you believe is the theme of this work?
_____________________________________
Are you aware of the judgment of this work by professional critics? ___yes___no
What do you want the library to do concerning this material?
___Return it to the staff for reevaluation
___Other Explain:
_______________________________________________________________________
In its place, what work would you recommend that would convey as
valuable a
picture and perspective of the subject
treated?_______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Signature
Date
Specific Considerations
A.
The library recognizes the purposes and resources of other libraries and
institutions in the community and does not needlessly duplicate
functions and materials.
B.
The
library does not attempt to acquire textbooks, journals or other
curriculum and professional related materials, except as such materials
also serve the general public.
C.
Because the library serves a public embracing a wide range of ages,
educational background, reading and viewing skills, it provides
materials of varying complexity.
D.
The library attempts to respond to the special characteristics of the
community in determining the public need for specific subjects and types
of materials.
E.
The library provides materials in any format that
helps meet its objectives.
Formats may include, books, periodicals,
pamphlets, newspapers, audio recordings, video recordings, and
computerized databases.
F.
Materials that are no longer useful are systematically removed from the
collection and disposed of according to the policy for disposition of
library materials approved by the Board of Trustees.
G.
The library depends upon a variety of resources in
evaluating materials to be added to the collection, including reviews,
patron recommendations, award lists, media trade information, and
bibliographies.
Bestseller lists, and other indicators of
potential interest are used to anticipate popular demand.
H.
The library emphasizes expedient purchasing and
processing so that materials are available when public interest is high.
I. The selection criteria described in this policy are used in the evaluation of gifts of potential library materials, within the framework established by the gifts policy approved by the Board of Trustees.
J.
Items
locally published or produced are evaluated by the same criteria as
other acquisitions, such as probable citizen interest and permanent
value.
Locally created items may be given special
consideration because of their community interest, at the discretion of
the librarian.
K.
The
library does not accept individual items or collections, whether
temporarily or permanently, for the convenience of members of particular
organizations rather than for the use of the general public.
The only exception which may be made is for
local genealogy.
L.
The library maintains separate collections on the
basis of format, function, and age of audience.
M. The library will not attempt to replace school libraries, but merely supplement that function on a limited basis.
Collection Maintenance
Weeding
Reassignment
Materials that are no longer in active use at a location may be
transferred to the central library or another branch at the discretion
of the library director.
Gifts
Gift materials, regardless of format, are accepted
with the understanding that they will be used or disposed of as the
library sees fit.
The same criteria used for the purchase of
new materials will be applied to the inclusion of gift materials into
the collection.
The library does not provide a monetary
evaluation of any gifts for tax deductions or other purposes.
Replacement The
library does not automatically replace all materials withdrawn from the
collection.
The need for replacement is judged by the
age of the material and the existence in the system of more current
coverage of the same subject; availability of more recent and/or
comprehensive materials, or similar material in different format; number
of additional copies available in the system; public demand for the
title; cost.
Disposal of withdrawn materials
AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA
The AV department collects, maintains, and
circulates nonprint cultural, educational, informational, and
recreational materials.
The collection includes formats that
communicate through listening, and/or watching.
Although written materials occasionally
accompany the audiovisual items, the media materials are largely
nonprint and most require electronic equipment to use. The AV department lends to patrons presentational audiovisual equipment such as slide projectors, overhead projectors, opaque projectors, and projection screenss
Formats presently collected by the department
include movies and films on VHS and DVD, books and spoken word on audio
cassette tape and CD, and music on audio cassette tape and CD.
Because of the long‑term investment required to establish a collection
in a new format, and the risk of investing in a format which might prove
commercially unsuccessful, the decision to add a new format is made
neither frequently nor lightly.
For media selection, heavy consideration is given
to patron requests, particularly if those requests reflect current
trends in audio-visual materials usage.
The AV department emphasizes the currency
of its collection in accord with budgetary considerations.
Criteria for selecting media titles
includes whether or not they meet the needs of the intended audience,
popularity and timeliness, patron suggestions, favorable reviews,
appropriate format for the subject matter, cost, and contribution to the
collection. The visual collection is composed of nonfiction/instructional/educational films, as well as theatrical feature films both current and classic.
General Guidelines The library acquires and circulates audio-visual materials in order for people to educate and inform themselves and also to support their cultural and recreational needs.
The library will purchase audio and video
materials for the collection for the same reasons it selects and buys
books and other nonbook items.
The goal of the AV collection is to build a
distinctive well-rounded collection of materials that appeal to a broad
range of interests and ages.
As such, attention will be given to the
following types:
Musicals, plays, and dramatizations of classic literature
Film classics
Local and regional topics
How-to materials
Children’s films
Feature films
Self-help/improvement materials
Comedy and comedic expressions
Science fiction/Adventure
Westerns
Mysteries
Travel series
Biography History
Specific Considerations
The following guidelines will be used for selection:
A.
The library will not purchase audio or visual
materials designed specifically for classroom use unless the general
public also has a use for them and are interested in the materials.
B.
Single
or multiple copies of a single title may be purchased, depending on
patron requests, popularity, and need.
D. AV materials that require more than simple repairs should be discarded. Repairs that take longer than five minutes should not be attempted, nor should parts be purchased or stored for major repairs of AV materials.
E. Emphasis will be on less expensive, consumer oriented, home-view-only materials. Programs with public performance rights will be purchased if they are affordable and meet our selection criteria; these programs will be labeled on the container as public performance videos.
F.
Subject matter should be either timely or timeless
and material should be presented in a manner suited to its content.
Materials should be considered an art form
and as such judged on artistic merit, taking into consideration style,
imagination, originality and aesthetic qualities, while possessing
exceptional technical qualities such as imaginative photography, sense
of movement, superior sound, imaginative narration or dialog, and good
color (black & white included).
G.
The principle of intellectual freedom applies to
the selection and retention of all library materials.
Special interest materials, such as
religious films, are acquired when they are of good quality, acceptable
to many denominations, and explanatory rather than persuasive in nature.
H.
Gifts are accepted only if the library may dispose
of them in accordance to the same gift policy as books and other library
materials.
They will be evaluated by the same
guidelines as new purchases.
I.
Titles are considered for addition to the
collection on their individual merit and are neither purchased nor
excluded because of their MPAA rating.
Any rating information included on the
packaging is left as is, and the library does not rate or add any other
type of rating labels other than for location purposes. |