COLLECTION MANAGEMENT POLICY1
The Collection Development policy of the Rocky Mountain Public Library District supports the mission of the District to provide outstanding and personalized service to everyone seeking access to the world of information and ideas, by promoting intellectual freedom, literacy, and lifelong learning.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District entrusts the selection, evaluation and removal of materials in its collection to designated staff members. It is understood that such trust is a specific delegation of authority from the Library Director, who retains ultimate responsibility to the Board of Trustees for the overall operation of the Library District.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District regards its collection as one shared collection, distributed among various library facilities and developed to meet the educational, recreational, cultural, and informational needs of the Library District community. These needs are determined by circulation statistics, community demographics information, surveys, patron requests, and by professional judgment based on events and trends within the community.
• Materials collected include print, non-print and electronic formats.
• Materials are generally purchased from mainstream publishers and distributors. Exceptions are made when demand and other selection criteria warrant.
• The vast majority of materials acquired are in English. Materials in other languages are acquired according to thresholds for service based on demographics.
• The Rocky Mountain Public Library District participates in various regional, national and local cooperative agreements which may impact collection policy.
The Library District collection provides materials reflecting a variety of viewpoints, as availability allows. The Arapahoe Library District supports free and open access to information and ideas as stated in the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read, and the Freedom to View policies of the American Library Association. Parents or legal guardians are responsible for monitoring materials used by their children. Selection decisions for the adult collection are not influenced by the possibility that the materials may be accessible to minors. 2
A formal process has been developed to assure that requests for reconsideration of library materials are handled in a consistent manner (Refer to Reconsideration of Challenged Materials Policy and form).
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District does not generally add donated items to the circulating collection, due to the high cost of having RMPL staff evaluate, process and catalog donated materials. Patrons and authors can suggest titles to be purchased for the collection and suggestions are evaluated according to the same criteria included in the selection guidelines.
The exception to this rule is the donation of new or “like-new” paperback books on the understanding that these donated items will be put on the take-and-go-reading shelves and not cataloged.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District is committed to ongoing analysis and review of the demand for and adequacy of its collection. The District supports the continuous removal from the collection of any materials that no longer serve the needs of its community.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District entrusts the selection, evaluation and removal of materials in its collection to designated staff members. It is understood that such trust is a specific delegation of authority from the Library Director, who retains ultimate responsibility to the Board of Trustees for the overall operation of the Library District.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District regards its collection as one shared collection, distributed among various library facilities and developed to meet the educational, recreational, cultural, and informational needs of the Library District community. These needs are determined by circulation statistics, community demographics information, surveys, patron requests, and by professional judgment based on events and trends within the community.
• Materials collected include print, non-print and electronic formats.
• Materials are generally purchased from mainstream publishers and distributors. Exceptions are made when demand and other selection criteria warrant.
• The vast majority of materials acquired are in English. Materials in other languages are acquired according to thresholds for service based on demographics.
• The Rocky Mountain Public Library District participates in various regional, national and local cooperative agreements which may impact collection policy.
The Library District collection provides materials reflecting a variety of viewpoints, as availability allows. The Arapahoe Library District supports free and open access to information and ideas as stated in the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read, and the Freedom to View policies of the American Library Association. Parents or legal guardians are responsible for monitoring materials used by their children. Selection decisions for the adult collection are not influenced by the possibility that the materials may be accessible to minors. 2
A formal process has been developed to assure that requests for reconsideration of library materials are handled in a consistent manner (Refer to Reconsideration of Challenged Materials Policy and form).
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District does not generally add donated items to the circulating collection, due to the high cost of having RMPL staff evaluate, process and catalog donated materials. Patrons and authors can suggest titles to be purchased for the collection and suggestions are evaluated according to the same criteria included in the selection guidelines.
The exception to this rule is the donation of new or “like-new” paperback books on the understanding that these donated items will be put on the take-and-go-reading shelves and not cataloged.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library District is committed to ongoing analysis and review of the demand for and adequacy of its collection. The District supports the continuous removal from the collection of any materials that no longer serve the needs of its community.
The Rocky Mountain Public Library Collection Purchases
The Librarians at RMPL will make purchase decisions that are the most beneficial to the collection. Materials may be purchased from Baker & Taylor, Scholastic, Full Circle Books, etc. but no collection will depend entirely upon one distributor. Most RMPL purchase decisions are made on an as needed basis at the discretion of the Librarians; as operating within the overall budget.
The general criteria listed below apply to the selection of all materials for the Rocky Mountain Public Library.
Materials are evaluated as complete works and not on the basis of a particular passage. Selection decisions for the adult collection are not influenced by the possibility that the materials may be accessible to minors. A work will not be excluded from the library's collection solely because it represents a particular aspect of life, frankness of expression or because it is controversial. Not all titles selected will meet all of the criteria listed, but will meet at least one of the following:
Materials are evaluated as complete works and not on the basis of a particular passage. Selection decisions for the adult collection are not influenced by the possibility that the materials may be accessible to minors. A work will not be excluded from the library's collection solely because it represents a particular aspect of life, frankness of expression or because it is controversial. Not all titles selected will meet all of the criteria listed, but will meet at least one of the following:
- Public demand and interest
- Timeliness and/or significance of the subject
- Reviews in professionally recognized sources
- Local or community relevance
- Authority and competence of the author and/or reputation and standing of the publisher
- Contribution to diversity, depth or breadth of collection
- Effectiveness and suitability of format, durability and ease of use
- Replacement of lost or worn copies or updating of outmoded information
- Availability of information in other format(s)
- Cost/impact on materials budget
- Support of library's mission roles
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC LIBRARY WEEDING POLICY
The weeding or deselection of items at the Rocky Mountain Public Library is an essential element of collection development that ensures the library’s materials are useful and accessible. Even our new library’s collection is limited by the space available to house it, and collections should change over time to reflect changes in the community, society-at-large, and the library’s goals. Our weeding will be both a periodic and continual evaluation of resources intended to remove items that are no longer useful from the collection. The overall weeding process of the collection is done at the discretion of the RMPL librarians the withdrawal of materials will be decided on a singular basis.
If items are:
Condition: If a book is in poor condition, items shall be considered for de-selection, repair, or replacement.
Frequency of Use: The majority of the RMPL collection is weeded as needed however; some sections need to be weeded at least every four years. If an item has not circulated in seven years, or has circulated less than five times in more years then the item shall be discarded. (Exceptions shall be made in the Colorado/regional history collection and at RMPL librarian’s discretion.)
Multiple Copies: RMPL may have more copies of an item than current usage demands. Especially in the case of past best sellers (both fiction and nonfiction) that are no longer being put on hold and are actually sitting on the shelf do not need to be kept. Keep the best copy and put the other copies into storage until the next community book sale.
Currency/Accuracy: When evaluating currency, the key issue is relevance. History books may not be especially current, but if they are still relevant they should be kept. Materials on computers, law, science, technology, health, and travel on the other hand, need to be current to be useful.
The goal of the Rocky Mountain Public Library is to offer balanced coverage while preserving Intellectual Freedom and meeting the needs of the community. While the overall weeding process of the collection is done at the discretion of the RMPL librarians on an as-needed basis items in the collection that are in poor condition or those which do not circulate shall be withdrawn from the collection.
If an item is being withdrawn for condition: the item should be considered for mending or replacement before withdrawal.
Updating the Catalog
It is crucial to the Rocky Mountain Public Library’s mission that the OPAC reflect library holdings therefore at the time of an item’s withdrawal from shelves it must be removed from the library catalog
It should not be forgotten that circulation plays a crucial role in understanding if RMPL is meeting the community's needs.
This document is an updated and RMPL focused version of the ASLAPR collection management document and refers to Larson, J. (2008). CREW : a weeding manual for modern libraries (Revised and updated.). Austin, TX: Texas State Library and Archives.
The weeding or deselection of items at the Rocky Mountain Public Library is an essential element of collection development that ensures the library’s materials are useful and accessible. Even our new library’s collection is limited by the space available to house it, and collections should change over time to reflect changes in the community, society-at-large, and the library’s goals. Our weeding will be both a periodic and continual evaluation of resources intended to remove items that are no longer useful from the collection. The overall weeding process of the collection is done at the discretion of the RMPL librarians the withdrawal of materials will be decided on a singular basis.
If items are:
- Misleading and/or factually inaccurate: (this includes items that fail to have the substantial periods of time not represented because of the age of the material)
- Ugly (worn out beyond reasonable mending or having been poorly repaired in the past):
- Superseded by a new edition or a better source; (keep in mind the use of the Web as a better, more up-to-date source in many cases)
- Trivial (of no discernible literary or scientific merit & without sufficient use to justify keeping it);
- Irrelevant to the needs and interests of your community; (not used even though we may find it “interesting”!)
- Elsewhere (the material may be easily borrowed from another source or found on the Web)
Condition: If a book is in poor condition, items shall be considered for de-selection, repair, or replacement.
Frequency of Use: The majority of the RMPL collection is weeded as needed however; some sections need to be weeded at least every four years. If an item has not circulated in seven years, or has circulated less than five times in more years then the item shall be discarded. (Exceptions shall be made in the Colorado/regional history collection and at RMPL librarian’s discretion.)
Multiple Copies: RMPL may have more copies of an item than current usage demands. Especially in the case of past best sellers (both fiction and nonfiction) that are no longer being put on hold and are actually sitting on the shelf do not need to be kept. Keep the best copy and put the other copies into storage until the next community book sale.
Currency/Accuracy: When evaluating currency, the key issue is relevance. History books may not be especially current, but if they are still relevant they should be kept. Materials on computers, law, science, technology, health, and travel on the other hand, need to be current to be useful.
The goal of the Rocky Mountain Public Library is to offer balanced coverage while preserving Intellectual Freedom and meeting the needs of the community. While the overall weeding process of the collection is done at the discretion of the RMPL librarians on an as-needed basis items in the collection that are in poor condition or those which do not circulate shall be withdrawn from the collection.
If an item is being withdrawn for condition: the item should be considered for mending or replacement before withdrawal.
Updating the Catalog
It is crucial to the Rocky Mountain Public Library’s mission that the OPAC reflect library holdings therefore at the time of an item’s withdrawal from shelves it must be removed from the library catalog
It should not be forgotten that circulation plays a crucial role in understanding if RMPL is meeting the community's needs.
This document is an updated and RMPL focused version of the ASLAPR collection management document and refers to Larson, J. (2008). CREW : a weeding manual for modern libraries (Revised and updated.). Austin, TX: Texas State Library and Archives.
ADOPTED by the RMPL Board of Trustees 2010 1
REVISED 2011 2 (This section of the RMPL Collection Development Policy is based on the Arapahoe Library District CDP )
REVISED 2011 2 (This section of the RMPL Collection Development Policy is based on the Arapahoe Library District CDP )