Policies and Guidelines Governing Collection Development and the Selection of Library Resources

A. Statement of Purpose

The Board of Trustees of the Lincolnwood Public Library District has established the following policies and guidelines to govern the selection of and provision of access to those materials and resources which, as a group, constitute the library collection. (Selection refers to the decision that must be made either to add a specific item or certain types of materials to the collection or to retain material already in the collection).

The guidelines and policies set forth herein are aimed at systematically developing a broad, balanced and useful collection which, within the limits of space and budget, fairly and effectively serves the diverse needs of as many citizens as possible. The goal in this regard is to select, organize and preserve resources in a variety of formats and make these resources readily available to the people of the community to assist them in their pursuit of information, education, research, recreation and culture, and in the creative use of their leisure time.

In order to fully meet its commitment to this goal, the Library Board affirms, endorses and adopts as its own the principles articulated in the appended Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, the Freedom to View Statement, and the American Library Association Code of Ethics.

This document will be reviewed by the Board at least biennially.

B. Responsibility for Selection

Ultimate responsibility for the selection of all print, non-print, and electronic resources rests with the Library Director who operates within the framework of policies and goals established by the Library Board. At the Library Director's discretion, the actual process of selection may be shared with or delegated entirely to qualified library staff.

C. The Selection Process

Selection is not a process that lends itself to the easy application of fixed and well-defined rules. Selectors must carefully evaluate the relative merit of all resources, always keeping in mind the general objectives articulated above the Statement of Purpose.

D. Criteria Influencing Selection

Criteria influencing selection include, but are not necessarily limited to, those listed below. It is not possible for the library staff to personally read and review the large number of books and other resources produced each year. The information and impressions gathered from aids to selection including reviews, standard bibliographies and indexes generally serve as the basis for applying these criteria and for judging the merit of a work.

Intrinsic value or quality of the work, relating to such considerations as factual accuracy and authoritativeness of content, comprehensiveness of treatment, style, clarity, effectiveness of expression and creativity.
Significance, relevance or timeliness of a work's subject matter.
Scope, depth of coverage or approach of a work. For example, highly technical materials and scholarly studies of limited value to the community at large generally will not be added to the collection.
Importance of a work in adding balance to or filling gaps in the collection.
Community demand, whether expressed or anticipated. Demand may be for specific titles or for material and resources covering certain timely subjects or in certain formats.
Compatibility of the subject, treatment or style of a work with its intended audience. This criterion pertains especially to materials and resources being considered for the Youth Services collection.
Supplementary reference value. This criterion applies especially to magazine and newspaper subscriptions and to titles being considered for the library's circulating non-fiction collection.
Authority, reputation and standing of the author. However, an author's work will neither be added to nor excluded from the collection solely because of his or her personal history, political affiliation, race, sex or cultural background.
Availability of the same or similar material at neighboring libraries or through interlibrary loan.
Cost of the material or resource.
Suitability of the physical form of the material for library use, including the quality, durability and general usefulness of the format.
Ease and practicality of providing effective physical and bibliographic access to the material or resource.

Selection criteria will apply in varying degrees and in various combinations, often overlapping or overriding one another. A title may fall short in one or more categories yet still be selected.
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E. Materials Not in Our Collection

A work may meet one or more of the selection criteria yet be passed over in favor of another item or resource that the selector feels is of greater relative value to the collection as a whole. Should a library patron wish to borrow or use any material or resource which is not in our collection, the staff will make every reasonable effort to locate another library that owns this item and, if appropriate and permitted, obtain it through normal interlibrary loan channels.

F. Timeliness of Selection and Purchase

Long delays can diminish the value of material or information to the library user. Selectors must remain sensitive to patrons' needs in this regard and, to the extent possible, strive to purchase materials in a timely fashion. Toward this purpose, it is important that demand be anticipated as well as responded to quickly when expressed.

G. Staff Commitment to Selection Responsibilities

The Library Board expects selectors to adopt these basic and minimal practices as a prerequisite to effective selection and collection development:

Become familiar and comply with the policies and guidelines articulated in this document.
Diligently examine and keep abreast of reviews, prepublication lists, publishers' catalogs and announcements, standard bibliographies and other sources that provide the foundation for responsible selection.
Develop and maintain a familiarity with, and regularly and systematically assess, the strengths and weaknesses of those sections of the collection that fall within their respective areas of responsibility. Selection of individual titles must take place within the context of purposeful collection development.
Communicate and cooperate with other selectors to ensure that the combined effort is integrated, comprehensive and balanced.

H. Areas of Limited Acquisition

Selection for certain areas of the collection will be limited in scope:

Textbooks. Generally, the library will not purchase textbooks needed by students for course work, although arrangements may be made with local schools for the library to receive, and provide in-house access to, copies of textbooks being used for courses. The library collection will include many materials supplemental to various courses of instruction.
Religion. The library will endeavor to build a collection that offers a broad spectrum of information on the texts, doctrines, history and leaders of major religions and religious philosophies. Toward this purpose, the library will ordinarily purchase or accept as gifts only resources of broad general interest. Materials released by church-owned or church-sponsored publishers or organizations will be purchased or accepted only if they meet the guidelines and selection criteria articulated in this document.
Professional and Scholarly Publications. Generally, the library will neither purchase nor otherwise acquire specialized resources (e.g., journals, proceedings, festschrifts) needed for professional or scholarly research. If possible, interlibrary loan service will be used to meet such needs.

I. Gifts

The library gratefully accepts donations of books and most other materials, but it does so with the explicit understanding that such materials will be added to the collection only if they are needed and meet the standards of selection that apply to regular library purchases. For practical reasons, the library neither solicits nor accepts gift subscriptions to individual magazines and newspapers, although we welcome suggestions from patrons. In all instances, the library reserves the right to utilize gifts as it sees fit and to dispose of gifts which are deemed to be unsuitable for or unneeded in the library collection. Special or memorial collections are generally not shelved as separate physical entities. Such collections are only accepted with the understanding that they will be integrated with other materials.

When the library receives a cash gift for the purchase of materials or other resources, whether as a memorial or for any other purpose, the general nature or subject area of the item(s) to be purchased may be specified by the donor. Selection of specific titles, however, will be made in accordance with the needs and selection policies of the library. Similarly, all such gifts will be processed in accordance with administrative procedures developed by the library.

Additional information about the library's gifts program and policies, including donor recognition guidelines, is provided in a separate document, Policies Governing the Acceptance and Recognition of Gifts to the Library

J. Withdrawal of Materials

To ensure that the library maintains a vital collection of continuing value to the community, materials and other resources which have deteriorated, become dated, or have otherwise outlived their usefulness relative to other materials will be withdrawn.

K. Censorship

It is the library's responsibility to serve the entire community and the variety of people who comprise it, not to promote - and, above all, not to censor - any particular political, moral, philosophical or religious opinion or conviction. In accordance with the selection criteria and policies articulated above, selectors will endeavor to build and maintain a balanced library collection.

The Library Board believes that no one, especially those associated with a public library, has the right to decree what another individual may or may not read or hear. It holds censorship to be an individual matter and declares that while anyone is personally free to reject materials of which s/he disapproves, s/he cannot exercise the right of censorship to restrict the freedom of others.

With respect to the use of library materials and resources by children, the decision as to what a minor may read is the responsibility of that child's parent or guardian. Selection will not be inhibited by the possibility that materials may inadvertently come into the possession of minors.

L. Questioned Material and Resources

Librarians attempt to read various reviews and to select materials and resources appropriate to the needs of the community. They cannot, however, personally read or review in depth most of the items added to the library collection. The Library Board recognizes that someone may find a work personally objectionable and wish to question its inclusion in the collection. When this happens, individuals should feel free to bring their concerns to the attention of the Library Director, either by way of an informal discussion or through a formal reconsideration of library materials and resources process. Those who wish to use the formal reconsideration process are referred to the following section and to the appended Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials or Resources.

M. Formal Process for Reconsideration of Library Materials and Resources

Following the receipt of a formal request for reconsideration, the Library Director, the appropriate selector and one other librarian appointed by the Library Director will review and discuss the item in question. If this item falls within the selection area of the Library Director, two librarians will be appointed. The Library Director will then make a decision regarding the retention of this material and will promptly notify the individual who submitted the request of this decision. The Library Director will also inform the Library Board President and the Chairperson of the Board's Library Services and Community Relations Committee about any formal request for reconsideration and the decision as to whether or not to retain the item in question.

If the Library Director's decision does not satisfy the individual who submitted the request, that individual may formally appeal the decision in writing to the Library Board. The Board President will then appoint a committee of library trustees to review the matter. This committee will make its recommendation to the Board, which will then make a final determination.

The Library Director and Library Board President will make every effort to expedite all stages of the formal request for reconsideration process, but not at the expense of day-to-day library operations or other pressing business to which the Board must attend. At the Board President's discretion, an extended timetable may be developed for the review of any request. The Board President may also determine the procedures and ground rules to be followed whenever an appeal is considered by the Board or one of its committees.

N. Retention of Challenged Materials or Resources

Challenged material or resources will be retained in the library collection throughout the reconsideration process.

APPENDICES

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.

Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Material should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
A person's right to use the library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background or views.
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 groups requesting their use.

1 Adopted June 18, 1948. Amended February 2, 1961, and January 21, 1980, inclusion of "age" reaffirmed January 23, 1996, by the American Library Association (ALA) Council.

Freedom to Read Statement

It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.
Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what books should be published or circulated.
It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept with any expression the prejudgment of a label characterizing it or its author as subversive or dangerous.
It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people's freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.
It is the responsibility publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a "bad" book is a good one, the answer to a "bad" idea is a good one.

1 Adopted June 25, 1953; revised January 28, 1972, January 16, 1991,July 12, 2000 by the American Library Association (ALA) Council and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) Freedom to Read Committee.

Freedom to View Statement

The FREEDOM TO VIEW, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. In a free society, there is no place for censorship of any medium of expression. Therefore these principles are affirmed:

To provide the broadest access to film, video, and other audiovisual materials because they are a means for the communication of ideas. Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.
To protect the confidentiality of all individuals and institutions using film, video, and other audiovisual materials.
To provide film, video, and other audiovisual materials which represent a diversity of views and expression. Selection of a work does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content.
To provide a diversity of viewpoints without the constraint of labeling or prejudging film, video, or other audiovisual materials on the basis of moral, religious, or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker or on the basis of controversial content.
To contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public's freedom to view.

This statement was originally drafted by the Freedom to View Committee of the American Film and Video Association (formerly the Educational Film Library Association) and was adopted by the AFVA Board of Directors in February 1979. This statement was updated and approved by the AFVA Board of Directors in 1989. Endorsed by the American Library Association (ALA) Council January 10, 1990.
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American Library Association Code of Ethics

As members of the American Library Association, we recognize the importance of codifying and making known to the profession and to the general public the ethical principles that guide the work of librarians, other professionals providing information services, library trustees and library staffs.

Ethical dilemmas occur when values are in conflict. The American Library Association Code of Ethics states the values to which we are committed, and embodies the ethical responsibilities of the profession in this changing information environment.

We significantly influence or control the selection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information. In a political system grounded in an informed citizenry we are members of a profession explicitly committed to intellectual freedom and the freedom of access to information. We have a special obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present and future generations.

The principles of this Code are expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making. These statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.

We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests
We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.
We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.
We recognize and respect intellectual property rights.
We treat co-workers and other colleagues with respect, fairness and good faith, and advocate conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions.
We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions.
We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.
We strive for excellence in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and skills, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers, and by fostering the aspirations of potential members of the profession.

Adopted by the ALA Council June 28, 1995

Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials and Resources*

Dear Library Patron, If you wish to request that the library reconsider an item or resource that is in our collection, please do so in a letter to the Library Director addressing the following points and including any other information you wish to provide:

Please identify the material (author, title, etc.)
How was this book** brought to your attention?
Have you read the entire book?
What do you approve of in the book? Citing specific pages and paragraphs is helpful.
To what do you object in the book? Citing specific pages and paragraphs is helpful.
If possible, please recommend another book that will convey as valuable a perspective on the same subject or theme.
Are you representing yourself or a group?
Please provide your name, address and telephone number.

Following receipt of your letter the Library Director and two other librarians who select materials for the collection will review and discuss the item or resource to which you have objected. The Library Director will then make a decision regarding your request. You will be informed of this decision in writing.
Lincolnwood Public Library District Board of Trustees * Please refer to Sections K through N of the preceding policy statement. ** If the material in question is not a book, please modify your responses accordingly.
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