Library Collection Composition
The Lamar Public Library exists to serve the reference and recreational reading needs of a diverse community and to provide access for all citizens to public information.
The collection of library materials will be developed and strengthened in order to meet those information, research, educational, cultural, and recreational interests.
The generic term “library materials” includes, but may not be limited to: books (hardcover and paperback), other printed materials, periodicals, audiovisual materials; including cassettes, compact discs, digital and downloadable formats, maps, computer software, and computer access to free and purchased online databases.
Library Materials Selection
The General Collection includes adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction and reference works. Materials are purchased in formats that meet the need being served and the audience for whom they are intended. Materials in special formats are subject to the selection criteria specified in that section.
The day-to-day work of evaluation, selection, and deselection is the responsibility of the staff of professional librarians. The individual librarians are assigned subject areas and responsible for developing procedures for material selection that are governed by, but no part of, this policy.
The Library provides materials and services to help users obtain information to meet their personal, educational, and professional needs. Materials for preschool and school-age children are chosen to foster an interest in reading and learning as well as to support their hobbies and interests.
General Principles:
The Public Library is a forum for information, ideas, and intellectual freedom. The following basic principles guide its materials selection:
- Books and other library resources will be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community.
- Materials will not be excluded because of origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
- Materials will not be proscribed nor removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. Within reason, materials and information provided will present various general points of view on current and historical issues.
- Parents, and only parents, may restrict their children, and only their children, from access to library materials and services.
- Materials unavailable from the Lamar Public Library, but available through cooperative library networks, may be borrowed upon the request of the patron.
- Textbooks or other curriculum-related materials are acquired only when they serve the general public.
- Library materials will be considered, selected, and retained with respect to:
- Permanent value
- Contemporary significance (i.e. attention of critics and reviewers, awards, etc)
- Author reputation
- Clarity, accuracy, and logic of presentation; comprehensiveness
- Date of publication
- Availability elsewhere in community
- Local or regional historical/cultural interest
- Price and binding
Withdrawal (De-accession) of Materials
Weeding, or removal of material from the collection, is an integral and ongoing aspect of collection management. Discarding is necessary to maintain a vital, useful, relevant, well-kept collection. Weeding of the collection will be done on a regular basis.
Subject selectors will manage and weed the collection in their assigned areas. The following general criteria are used for weeding:
- Material in poor physical condition
- Outdated or inaccurate material
- Material superseded by new or revised editions
- Duplicate material
- Lack of demand
Decisions to keep specific titles may be based on the following exceptions:
- Local author or topic
- Subject matter is unique and out of print
- The book is a prize winner and out of print
- The book is cited in a standard index
- The item is part of a series
Individual subject areas may have more specific criteria for weeding, and those criteria are included in the procedures specific to that area. Replacement of weeded items is not automatic. Decisions to replace material will be based on the selection criteria specified in this policy.
Gifts and Donations
Gifts or money, property or stock will be accepted if conditions attached thereto are acceptable to the Library Advisory Board and City Council. The Library accepts cash donations to be used for the purchase of library materials, equipment, programs, or services. Donations will be handled according to the Lamar City Ordinances. Gifts to the Library will be acknowledged. However, the Library does not provide appraisals of gifts or potential gifts.
Monetary gifts may be unrestricted or designated as memorials or tributes to honor a friend or relative. Donors of funds may suggest specific furniture, equipment, or art work, as well as subjects or titles of collection materials to be acquired with their donation. However: the Library reserves the right of final selection in order to meet either the space, utilization, and design criteria of the building or the criteria of the Collection Management Policy. Special shelves or sections for collection materials are not possible given space and service considerations. Library staff will place selected materials in relation to other materials in the collection for the best use by the public.
Gifts of Materials
Gift items that are added to the collection become the exclusive property of the Library, and are subject to all Library selection criteria, rules, regulations and procedures. Gifts of books and other materials may be made directly to the Library. The Library will not accept materials that are not outright gifts, and reserves the right, as conditions change, to assign any of its materials wherever the need is the greatest. The Library is under no obligation to absorb the cost of continuing a gift subscription beyond the initial donation period. All gifts must be in usable physical condition. Because of limitations of space, money, and staff, the Library reserves the right to accept or discard, at its discretion, any materials given to the library. Because of wear, theft and mutilation, the permanence of gifts cannot be guaranteed.
The Library makes every effort to dispose of any gift materials it cannot use to the best advantage, such as through sales or recycling.