Collection Development Policy

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Collection Development Policy

The purpose of this Collection Development Policy is to help provide the highest quality service to the customers of the Anderson Public Library system in accordance with the mission and goals of the system. The service will be provided through the offering of a well-selected and well-maintained collection of library materials in a variety of formats and delivery methods.

Responsibility for Materials Section

Final responsibility and authority for the selection and maintenance of library materials rests with the Library Director acting within the framework of the policies of the Board of Trustees. Selection of specific materials is delegated to appropriate staff at the discretion of the Library Director. The library also receives, welcomes, and evaluates suggestions for library materials from the community.

Intellectual Freedom Statement

Anderson Public Library is dedicated to protecting every individual’s right to read, investigate, learn, think, and form an opinion. As such, in selecting materials, the library does not promote any particular belief or moral code. The Library Board supports the library’s effort to provide equal, open access to all materials. The library endorses the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights as enumerated on the ALA’s website; www.ala.org.

Circulating Materials (Adult, Teen, and Children’s)

Inclusions:

Criteria for inclusion of library materials include the following:

1.    Present and potential relevance to community needs.

2.    Timeliness and permanence of the material.

3.    Quality of writing, design, illustration, or production.

4.    Reputation of the publisher or producer, authority and significance of the author, composer, filmmaker, etc.

5.    Scope and accuracy of content of material.

6.    Potential and or known demand for or interest in the material.

7.    Relative importance in comparison with existing materials in the collection on the same subject.

8.    Suitability of subject, style, and level for intended audience.

9.    Attention of critics, reviewers, staff members, and/or the public.

10. Suitability of physical format for library circulation.

11. Price and/or budget availability.

Exclusions:

Unless there is a compelling reason for inclusion, items meeting the following criteria will be excluded from purchase.

1.    Out of print or otherwise unavailable items.

2.    Titles determined to be cost prohibitive.

3.    Items published more than ten years previous.

4.    Self-published adult non-fiction.

5.    Self-published children’s titles.

6.    Out-of-date formats such as cassettes and VHS.

Selection Tools

Selection of materials is accomplished from book reviews and descriptions in professional library and popular journals and magazines, subject bibliographies, annual lists of recommended titles, weekly or monthly best seller lists, publisher and supplier catalogs, and customer requests. Some of the standard selection tools available to staff include, but are not limited to: Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers’ Weekly, School Library Journal, Horn Book, Voya, Video Librarian, Black Issues Book Review, and AudioFile.

Maintaining the Collection

An up-to-date, attractive, and useful circulating collection is maintained by retaining or replacing essential materials and removing, on a systematic and continuous basis, those works that are outdated, in poor condition, of little historical significance, or no longer in demand.

Indiana Room Materials

The Indiana room attempts to maintain a good, high quality collection of local history materials. This includes those available on the history of Madison County and surrounding counties and all major works and as many local works as possible relating to Madison County genealogy.

The library is the chief repository of information on Madison County and Anderson and will therefore purchase or actively solicit donations of materials pertaining to Madison County. Items that are both hard to store and of marginal historical value may be refused. The library will also purchase or solicit donations of select materials pertaining to Madison county life and biographies of notable Madison County residents or natives. In addition, the Indiana Room will gladly receive donations of materials pertaining to Madison County’s Native American life, American history (especially the frontier and westward migration) as it relates to Madison County, and U.S. military history (especially the Civil War).

Inclusions:

1.    County regional and select general state histories, county vital records, census records, military and military pension records, court records, obituary records, passenger/immigration records, church records, journals, yearbooks, bibliographies, cemetery records, atlases and plat maps, research methodology guides, genealogies, name dictionaries, gazetteers, heraldic works.

2.    Indiana-related census data and Madison County newspapers available on microfilm/fiche.

3.    Maps of local and historic significance. Maps should contain enough detail to assist researchers in determining county boundary changes, location of extant and non-extant towns, settlements, and migration patterns, etc.

4.    Current local yearbooks and retrospective local yearbooks. The library will also accept donations of additional copies of local yearbooks and those from Indiana universities.

5.    Genealogy and history periodicals which meet the selection criteria above. The library will accept donations of periodicals only if they were published in Madison County or are Madison County related.

6.    Newspaper articles, magazine articles, brochures, programs, photographs, and other unbound information as it relates to Madison County are included in the vertical file collection.

7.    Select available materials by local authors.

8.    Photographs and postcards of local buildings and personalities.

9.    Photocopies of very rare works deemed necessary to the collection. Many types of historical works have been out of print for decades. The only method of acquiring the material is to borrow and photocopy them. Photocopying will only be done when the item’s copyright has expired or if permission has been received from the author or copyright holder to reproduce the work.

Exclusions:

1.    Cumulative works on Indiana Laws.

2.    Sheet music will not be purchased, but donations may be accepted for addition to the Wendell Hall sheet music collection.

3.    The library does not purchase family histories except in cases of exceptional local interest. The library will accept donations of these materials. Short and/or unbound items will be kept in the Indiana Room’s vertical file.

4.    Rare books unless the title has significant value as a reference item.

5.    Multiple copies of items already in the collection. (Exceptions may be made for local history related items deemed scarce.)

6.    Boxes or sacks of papers with no apparent order, including unorganized family records.

7.    Photographs of unidentified persons.

8.    Family Bibles; when a Bible is offered, copies of the family information may be made.

9.    Phonebooks or school yearbooks from locations outside Madison County.

10. Artifacts.

11. CD-ROMs.

Selection Tools:

Most traditional library selection sources are of help in finding only general items which pertain to the department’s collection. Department staff will actively scan genealogy and history journals and websites for book reviews and advertisements. The Indiana Room will also actively solicit flyers from pertinent publishers. Lists of prospective purchases will be checked against the Indiana Room collection and its on-order list to avoid duplication.

Maintaining the Indiana Room Collection:

Local history and genealogy materials are withdrawn if they are superseded by a more recent edition, found to contain material that is overwhelmingly inaccurate, or in such poor condition that repair is not cost effective. Unique items that are in disrepair will be preserved by whatever means necessary, including binding, rebinding, encapsulation, microfilming, photocopying, or digital scanning.

Gifts

The library accepts gifts of materials but reserves the right to evaluate and dispose of them in accordance with the criteria applied to purchased materials. As a general rule, the library does not accept artifacts. The library retains the authority to accept or reject gifts and to make all decisions as to their use, housing, and final disposition. Gifts which are not consistent with the library’s objectives and policies will be given to the Friends of the Anderson Public Library.

Reconsideration of Library Materials

The library will review the selection of a specific item upon request of a library cardholder. Whenever possible, complaints should be handled by the staff person to whom they are made, the Department Manager, and then the Director if further assistance is required. The form “Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials” may be used at this point with a written response sent to the cardholder making the request.


Review

This policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure that it is responsive to the changing needs of the library system and of the general community.



Adopted by Board of Trustees 1/98. Revised 6/98, 1/05, 1/07, and 1/18/12.

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