Collection Development Policy

Purpose:
The mission of the Peoria Public Library is “to develop the library as an informational and cultural center for the community, in order to promote and provide access to a wide range of quality library services and materials, in response to the expressed needs of the citizens of Peoria, Arizona.”

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance for staff in collection management and to inform the public of the principles upon which the library makes decisions regarding the selection and maintenance of the collection.

Authority and Responsibility
The Library Manager may delegate authority for selection of materials to selection team staff. Other staff members may help in the selection process. Selection of library materials follows a system-wide approach, allowing for the most effective and efficient use of staff time and funds.

Selection Criteria
In general, materials are selected to support the mission stated above. Materials are considered according to the following guidelines:

General Criteria

• Suitability, effectiveness, and durability of physical format

• Present and potential relevance to identified community needs

• Suitability of subject and style for the intended user community served

• Literary, artistic, and/or technical values

• Relationship to other materials already in the collection

• Reputation and/or significance of the sources, as well as skill and purpose

• Critical reviews and/or public expression

• Availability in other libraries

• Price

• Judgment of the work as a whole

• Representation of important movement, genre, trend, or national culture

Selection aids may include

• Reviews in professionally recognized periodicals and journals as a primary source for selection (see Appendix A for representative titles)

• Standard bibliographies

• Lists by recognized authorities

• Advice of competent people in specific subject areas

• User requests—all requests from users for specific titles or subjects will be considered. Whenever there is enough demand or interest in an item or a subject, an item with unfavorable reviews may be acquired unless it comes under the Supreme Court’s definition of obscenity.

Collection Goals

Materials are selected to:

• Provide a collection that is responsive to, and meets the demands/needs of, the community and library users

• Support the democratic process by providing materials in a balanced collection, for the education and enlightenment of the community.

Collections of materials in the library are selected with these goals in mind. Specific guidelines for collections are set forth in Appendix A. Included are the general statements of type of materials selected, appropriate age levels, formats, and considerations unique to the specific collection.

Limitations and Priorities

Controversial issues
The collection will represent all points of view relating to a variety of problems and issues. It is the responsibility of the parent(s) to monitor the materials that their children use and to select material appropriate to the children’s age, maturity, or reading level.

Sex and Morality
Selection will be based on the work in its entirety and not on the presence of words, phrases, or situations which in isolation might be objectionable. Works that have writings or illustrations to appeal to the prurient interest will be avoided.

Politics and Religion
Selection will be aimed at providing a collection that is representative of modern politics and global government. Basic documents of materials on the major religions of the world and areas of the world will be selected. Materials representative of various denominations, works of religious leaders, non-sectarian, expository materials, and reference materials will be included.

Occult and related subjects
Materials on astrology, numerology, witchcraft, and other related subjects will be selected to meet public demand and will be limited to the best, most reasonably presented.

Medicine and Law
In general, only materials of broad medical and legal interest (conveyed in lay terms) will be included in the collection. Medical and health materials may relate to common conditions, diseases, and traditional as well as alternative treatments. Law dictionaries, tax information, and materials pertaining to various facets of consumer legal interest (e.g., business, family, estate, tax law) will be included. Additionally, information about cases of contemporary or historical interest and/or significance may be chosen for the collection.

The Peoria Public Library endorses the Library Bill of Rights (see Appendix B), as adopted by the American Library Association, amended 1996.

Gifts/Donated Materials

Gifts to the library will be judged on the same criteria as purchased material. Gifts added to the collection will be assigned an estimated replacement value. Please see separate “Donated Materials” policy for more information.

Evaluation and Assessment

The collection will be continually evaluated in order to ensure that the library is fulfilling its mission. Statistical tools such as circulation reports, collection turnover rates, fill rates, reference fill rate, shelf allotments, and volume counts will be studied to determine how the collection is being used and how it should change in relation to usage. The library’s holdings will be checked against standard bibliographic tools, such as catalogs and lists, to ensure that recommended materials are being purchased for the library. Collection materials will be evaluated for their physical condition and use frequency. User input and community surveys may also be used to assess the collection. Through ongoing quantitative and qualitative methods, staff members will monitor the collection to see whether or not it continues to serve the needs and desire of the public.

Collection Maintenance (“Weeding” or De-selection)

The Peoria Public Library System will maintain an ongoing weeding (or de-selection) program in order to make a conscientious and organized effort to maintain a collection that continues to support the mission. As materials become dated, damaged, or lost, the appropriate staff member will use the following de-selection guidelines to determine whether an item should be replaced:

• Item availability and condition

• Historical value

• Another item or format might better serve the purpose

• There remains sufficient need to replace that item

• Updated, newer, or revised materials to better replace a given item

• Another agency could better provide that or a comparable item

• Extra copies are being used

• Appropriateness for collection—secondary to community standards

Reconsideration of Materials

The policy statement “Reconsideration of Library Materials” deals with the procedures that the library will follow when presented with a request to reconsider materials, which have been found to be objectionable.

Cataloging and Classification

Each item in the collection will be attached to the online catalog via a MARC record. Items considered “ephemera” will not be cataloged, but will be maintained as individual components of a pamphlet file. A cataloged item will either be copy cataloged (when a suitable record is available already) or originally cataloged by library cataloging personnel or designated outsourcing vendors.

The Peoria Public Library bases it procedures for original cataloging of all items on the most recent edition of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. (AAC2R)—for bibliographic description— the most recent edition of the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)—for subject classification—while deriving the non-fiction class number from the most recent edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification.

Fiction materials will follow the above guidelines, except that there will not be a class number. The item will be identified for accessibility by the main entry.

Appendix A

Selection Guidelines

Popular materials and fiction: Titles of current interest and demand, which meet the general guidelines for selection, will be a priority. Some fiction and popular reading which is below the library’s quality standards may be selected to satisfy popular demand. Multiple copies will be acquired when 1) high demand is expressed or anticipated, 2) a title is of local interest and may go out of print, or 3) a title is the definitive title on a particular subject. The library will attempt to keep its holds per copy at 2 to 1 by acquiring additional copies through the leasing program.

Nonfiction: Highly specialized and esoteric materials are not normally acquired. The collection is intended to yield information useful for basic research in most fields of knowledge and not intended for in-depth research or scholarly work. It includes basic works in major fields of knowledge and is intended to reflect the interests of its users. Materials that meet the de-selection criteria will not be acquired unless they meet a specific continuing need that can not be covered by new materials. I.e., class assignments.

Paperbacks: Paperbacks will be selected to meet the demand for popular materials, easy portability, inexpensive reading material, duplicate copies of popular hardcover titles, and additional copies of materials for school reading lists.

Non-English Language: The non-English language collection serves students and native speakers of non-English languages. This collection will contain titles for recreational reading, informational resources, and titles that increase fluency of languages. English works translated into other languages, and works in native languages will be included. This collection will include all age and reading levels.

Children: The children’s collection will contain picture books, beginning-to-read titles, fiction, nonfiction, audio-visual, magazines, and non-English language materials written for reading levels up to 6th grade.

Young Adults: The young adult collection will comprise fiction written for reading levels 7th-12th grades. There will not be a separate YA non-fiction collection. Materials appropriate for Young Adults will be part of the Adult non-fiction collection

Reference: The reference collection will include materials to fulfill the daily informational needs of the user. Virtually any item in the collection may be designated reference if staff members judge that it is desirable to have the item consistently available. Some titles may be included in both circulating and reference collections.

Large Print: The large print collection will include fiction as well as nonfiction titles of current or recent interest.
Parent/Teacher: The parent/teacher collection will provide materials about parenting, child development, reading, and other areas specific to the educational and recreational needs of young children.

Visual Materials: The visual materials collection will include feature, informational, how-to, and children’s videos. The library will purchase public performance rights when available. Feature films rated PG-13 or R will be selected based on individual merit using the selection criteria previously indicated. Dubbed materials are preferred over those that are subtitled. The library will purchase highly recommended and award winning films that are not rated. The library will not assign a rating unless a rating is given on the item itself.

Music: The music collection will include items for children, young adults and adults. A core collection of musical works including classical, jazz, movie/TV, rhythm and blues, and popular items will be selected. Additional items will be selected to meet popular demand.

Audio Materials: The Audio Materials collection (CDs) will represent popular reading materials, both fiction and nonfiction. Unabridged formats are preferred over abridged formats, unless abridged titles are the only available format.

Newspapers: The newspaper collection will include titles of both local and national interest. When publications are similar in coverage, staff may evaluate and select the title that best represents the wants of the community.

Magazines: The magazine (or periodical) collection will include titles of both local and broad interest categories. Current issues will be non-circulating. Back issues of selected titles will circulate. Non-circulating titles will be kept on back file for periods of time as determined by library staff members.

Electronic Resources: The electronic resources collection will include informational databases. Internet access will not be part of this policy. Information databases will be purchased using the same guidelines as reference materials.

Local History: The library will acquire materials relating to local and state history that meet the library’s basic selection standards. All materials on the history, description, and development of the City of Peoria (AZ) will be collected. Some background materials of the surrounding areas may be included, particularly those covering localities and events closely related to the initial development of Peoria.

Representative Selection Aids

Current source lists

• Books in Print, Amazon.com, etc.

• Vendor inventory lists

Advertising, catalogs, promotional materials

Recommended titles, core lists, subject bibliographies

• Recommended or “best book” lists

• Award winners

• Subject bibliographies from various sources: encyclopedia articles, bibliographic databases, class reading lists, etc.

Cardholder suggestions

Reviewing sources:
Professional journals such as: Booklist, New York Times Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Horn Book, School Library Journal, KLIATT, VOYA, Science Books & Films, & online reviewing sources

Bookstores

Librarians and other libraries’ collections

Availability from established vendors

Appendix B

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community that the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

4. Libraries should cooperate with all people and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

5. An individual’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
Source: American Library Association,
www.ala.org/work/freedom/lbr.html

Appendix C

Reconsideration of Library Materials

Peoria Public Library recognizes that the community comprises people of different cultures, backgrounds, moral convictions, and philosophies. The library also recognizes that materials acquired for the library do not always meet the needs of the community. As such, a process to reconsider materials is provided.

Any user who wishes to have a title reconsidered for inclusion in the collection, regardless of format, may request the form “Request for Reconsideration” (see sample attached) available at all public service desks throughout the system. Users provide personal information, such as name, address, and phone #; specific information about the material, such as title, author, and format; and information regarding what s/he found objectionable. Users are requested to be as specific as possible. Only one title may be included on any form, unless the title is part of a set.

These requests will then be sent to the Collection Development Librarian who selects 3 librarians to serve as a review committee. Each librarian will be required to review the material being questioned. The committee members will meet and present their findings to the Library Manager and the Library Management Group, who will inform (or delegate another staff member to inform) the user of the committee’s decision.