Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to serve as a guide for the selection and withdrawal of library materials and to inform the public of the criteria the Wolcott Public Library uses to accomplish these. The Wolcott Public Library supports intellectual freedom and subscribes to the Library Bill of Rights, The Freedom to Read Statement, and related American Library Association documents.
General Selection Policy
The library seeks to serve the general user by building and maintaining an excellent and well balanced collection within the limitations of budget and space. The Wolcott Public Library selects materials in accordance with guidelines stated by the American Library Association in the Library Bill of Rights and The Freedom to Read Statement.
Authority and responsibility for selection of materials is delegated by the Library Board to the Library Director and the Director’s designated staff. Materials shall be considered in terms of their merit and the audience for whom they are intended. The goal is to satisfy the informational, recreational, and educational interests of the community by being inclusive, not exclusive, in developing the collections.
Sources for Selection
Reviews in library and publishing industry periodicals are primary sources for materials selection. Reputable bibliographies such as Public Library Core Collection: Non-Fiction, Fiction Core Collection, and Children’s Core Collection, booklists by recognized authorities, and the advice of competent individuals and/or entities in specific subject areas may also be used. Suggestions from library staff and the general public are also given serious consideration.
Criteria for Selection
Library materials are varied in topic, format, and other characteristics. Each type of item must be considered in terms of its own merit and the audience for whom it is intended. No single set of selection criteria can be applied to all cases.
In general, the selection of books and other library materials will take into account the following criteria:
- the appropriateness of the item to the needs and interests of library patrons and the community as a whole
- the timeliness and accuracy of the information
- the quality of the presentation
- the contribution of the item toward strengthening the existing collection
- suggestions from library staff and the general public
- the value of the item based on literary or scholarly excellence and other inherent qualities, considered without regard to popular demand
- availability of material in other library collections
- budgetary and space limitations
It is the library’s goal to build a balanced collection composed of materials of current popular interest as well as materials of permanent value. Popular demand items play a major role in material selection. There are also many great works of literature that are keystones of modern knowledge and culture that may not necessarily be high demand items. It is the library’s policy to select popular demand items as well as materials of permanent value, regardless of whether or not they will be widely used.
Materials for Children and Teens
As a rule, the children’s collection contains materials best suited to the abilities and interests of library users from birth through grade 6, while teen/young adult materials are those best suited to the abilities and interests of library users from grade 7 through grade 12.
Children’s and teen materials will be selected with the same care and judgment and following the same criteria as are adult materials.
Providing textbooks is the responsibility of the schools. The library’s role is to provide supplementary materials to enrich the resources available to students and teachers through the school system. Selection of materials for children and teens should not be made to duplicate school texts, but rather should consider the usefulness of the items for general library purposes. Textbooks may be purchased if such items constitute the best available source of information on a subject. Multiple copies cannot be purchased in response to student demands which the schools should properly be expected to meet.
Choice of Library Materials by Minors
The role of the parent or legal guardian in supervising the reading, listening, and viewing choices made by a minor child is recognized by this library.
The library staff and Board are charged with the responsibility of providing free and equal access to library materials and services to all eligible people. Moreover, it is impossible for them to know or predict the opinions of parents and guardians regarding the specific borrowing selections made by minor children.
Therefore, it is the policy of the Wolcott Public Library that parents and guardians, not the library staff or Board, are responsible for monitoring and approving the selection of materials made by minor children. It is the parent or guardian who may restrict their children – and only their children – from borrowing specific library materials. Parents or guardians who wish their children not to have access to certain materials should accompany or otherwise advise their children. The library staff and Board cannot and do not act in place of the parent or guardian.
Selection of materials for the community as a whole cannot be inhibited by the possibility that specific items of an advanced nature may come into the possession of minor children.
Withdrawal
A current and reliable collection can be maintained only by purchasing and retaining appropriate materials, and by removing items that are damaged, outdated, inaccurate, duplicated or no longer useful. The collection should be evaluated by authorized and qualified staff on a systematic and continuous basis to identify materials that should be withdrawn.
Gifts
The library accepts gifts of books and other materials without commitment as to their final disposition. It assumes unconditional ownership of all items donated and retains the right to use or dispose of them as it sees fit.
Gift items must meet the same selection criteria as purchased materials. Items in poor physical condition or written in will not be kept. Duplicate copies of items already in the collection will be added only if needed. Gift materials will not be accepted with restrictions or conditions that require special housing, processing, or treatment.
The library cannot give a dollar valuation for gifts of materials, but it will provide donors with a statement verifying the number and type of materials donated and accepted, upon request.
Collection Maintenance
An up-to-date, attractive, and reliable collection is maintained by purchasing, retaining, and replacing useful materials, and by removing, on a systematic and continuous basis, items that are damaged, outdated, inaccurate, duplicating, no longer in demand, and/or otherwise no longer useful.
Requests for Reconsideration of Materials
Any patron who wishes to object to the presence of a particular item in the collection may do so by completing the Request for Reconsideration of Material form. After reviewing the complaint the Library Director will present the complaint to the Library Board with his/her recommendation. The Library Board will review the complaint and the recommendation and will authorize the Director to issue a timely and final response to the user.
Balance and Neutrality
Public libraries have a responsibility to provide books and other materials presenting diverse points of view on the problems and issues of our time. It must be understood, therefore, that ownership of library materials does not constitute an endorsement by the library of the ideas or viewpoints expressed within those materials.
Selections of library materials are not made on the basis of any anticipated approval or disapproval by specific individuals or groups, but solely on the merits of the works in relation to building the collection and serving the needs and interests of library users and the community as a whole. While aware that one or more persons may take issue with the selection of specific items, the library is not required to remove from the collection items purchased in accordance with the criteria specified above. Nor will materials be marked in such a way as to indicate official approval or disapproval of viewpoint and content. Items are not separated from the general collection except for the purposes of protecting them from damage or theft. In all cases, the quality of resources will be judged on the content as a whole, not by detached excerpts.
Approved by the Wolcott Public Library Board of Trustees, September 8, 2008
Amended, June 2, 2014, August 1st, 2022