Collection Development Policy
Russell County Public Library (RCPL) cultivates a community of lifelong learners through reading, digital connectivity, access to information resources, and programming. To meet this mission RCPL seeks to provide its residents with free and equal access to information in paper, electronic, visual, or audio form.
Recognizing that an informed constituency is critical to the democratic process and that different viewpoints have varying degrees of validity, the public library strives to provide a collection that is current, balanced, and representative of all fields of knowledge to the extent of its financial limitations. This document will guide the development and maintenance of the library’s collections and enhance public understanding of collection development as a facet of library operations.
Selection
Materials are selected to help achieve the goals the library sets in its stated mission, so selection must be consistent with library goals as well as the need for broadening and deepening the scope of the library collection and the need to keep abreast of rapidly expanding and changing fields of knowledge. Since the library recognizes its responsibility to have a representative selection of materials on subjects of interest to its users, library materials shall be selected for values of interest, information, and enlightenment of all residents of our community. An item considered for purchase must be measured against other available materials, including what is already in the collection, as well as needs and the funds available. The overall value of the material is the chief criterion of selection.
We will not exclude any material because of personal attributes of the writer. To the best of our ability, the library shall provide material presenting all points of view concerning the topics, issues, and problems of our time, international, national and local. Materials of sound factual authority should not be proscribed or removed from library shelves because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
The selection of any material for the library’s collection does not constitute an endorsement of its contents by the RCPL Board of Trustees or the library or its governmental bodies. The library recognizes that some materials may be interpreted as controversial, and that any given item may offend someone. Selection decisions are not based on anticipated approval or disapproval, but solely on the merits of the work in relation to the collection and the needs and interests of the community, or some segment of the community.
The Director of Library Services is ultimately responsible for the selection of materials. This responsibility is delegated to the Branch Managers/Public Services Supervisor, who make the bulk of selection decisions. Material requests from the public are considered since they reflect the wants and needs of the community served. These requests, however, are subject to the same criteria applied to other requests.
Please NOTE:
The responsibility for children using library materials rests solely with their parents or legal guardians. The library will, in no way, act “in loco parentis,” Latin for “in the place of the parent.” The selection of materials intended for adults will not be inhibited by the possibility that children may access the materials.
Selection Aids
The volume of new materials published annually precludes examining each selection prior to purchase. Reviews in magazines and websites are used for guidance. The following titles are among those consulted: Publishers Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal, Hornbook, Library Journal, New York Times Book Review, and “best books” and school reading lists.
Collection Notes
Local History – Most items collected in the Local History collection are related to Russell County. RCPL also strives to include materials from surrounding counties as well as rare Virginia materials, which may directly or indirectly relate to county history and genealogy.
Non-Fiction – This collection is maintained at a basic level to introduce and define a subject and indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It includes selected editions of important works, historical surveys, biographies, as well as best-selling books. Many books on similar topics may be maintained to meet patron desire and demand.
Paperback – This collection is maintained exclusively through donations to meet the needs of patrons that prefer the format for current or pleasure fiction.
Parent Resource Center –This collection includes print and non-print materials and is aimed toward the special needs of children with learning difficulties. These resources are intended for use by parents, as well as educators.
Periodicals and Serials – The acquisition of print titles is highly selective due to the ongoing commitment of the funds and the individual cost. An extensive digital collection is available through the Library of Virginia.
Reference – This collection is small and composed of non-circulating electronic and print materials designed to provide quick access to information in all subject fields. The collection includes major dictionaries and encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases, guides, and historical surveys.
Young Adult Materials – This collection supports the needs and concerns of youth from grades seven through twelve. The collection functions as a transition between the juvenile collection and the adult collection, providing materials relating to the interests and personal growth of adolescents.
Gifts
RCPL recognizes that gifts and endowments are an excellent means of extending the materials budget and of developing the collection. RCPL does not accept for deposit materials that are not outright gifts. RCPL will accept gifts of new or used books, magazines, audiovisual materials, equipment, or other related materials published in the last 10 years. Such gifts are accepted on the condition that they are subject to the same selection criteria as newly purchased materials and that they may or may not be used in the library’s collections. All such gifts will be evaluated by library staff to determine their appropriateness to the collection and their disposition. Gifts not added to the collection will be turned over to the Friends of the Library for sale or discarded, as deemed appropriate by staff.
Gifts of money to purchase memorial books are accepted by Friends of the Library. Other monetary gifts, gifts of stocks, bonds, endowments, estates, land, etc. are welcomed by the library, providing the Library Board of Trustees approves conditions of such gifts.
Upon the receipt of an approved gift/donation, the library staff will, if requested, provide a statement for tax purposes (Appendix B). The statement will describe the gift in terms of extent and condition, but will not include an assessment of value. While the donor may claim a deduction for a charitable donation, the library cannot determine the value of a gift. It will be the donor’s responsibility to determine the fair market value of all items to be donated before the donation is made.
Collection Assessment and Maintenance
To maintain a collection of useful materials meeting the goals of the library and serving the needs of library users, collection evaluation and assessment are conducted, under the supervision of the director. RCPL will use techniques that are collection-centered (counting holdings and assessing collection age/publication dates) and client-centered (user surveys and collection use by patrons) and may include qualitative and quantitative techniques. RCPL assesses specific portions of the collection annually and coordinates with collection maintenance activities of inventory and weeding.
Systematic withdrawal of material from the collection, known as weeding, is most conveniently done as part of direct examination of the collection during collection assessment. Staff conducts weeding under the supervision of the library director. The director or the public services supervisor review items selected for discard before withdrawal.
The Procedures for Weeding includes the complete criteria for withdrawing material as well as guidelines for each collection. Primary criteria are content, condition, and use patterns. Withdrawn material may be made available to the Friends of the Library for sale or may be recycled.
Inventory will be conducted regularly and missing or lost books will be withdrawn after two years. Evaluating the physical condition of the collection is done during inventory or weeding.
Intellectual Freedom
RCPL is a repository for the recorded expression of thought, and provides free access for the public to all points of view. Items selected for inclusion in the collection do not necessarily represent an endorsement of any theory. The collection will include all sides of controversial issues as far as budget, space and availability of materials allow. Items will not be included or excluded due to political views, frank language, controversial content, the race, religion or nationality of the author, or the disapproval or approval of an individual or community group.
The processing and shelving of materials does not reflect a value judgment of the materials. A point of view or bias will not be designated with markings or labels on materials.
The library will attempt to select materials that represent a wide range of viewpoints and will make every effort to exercise impartiality in its selection activities. Circulation policies should provide adequate time for the use of material without having anyone monopolize an item at the inconvenience of others.
Reconsideration of Library Materials
Individual use of library materials is a private and personal matter. All citizens are free to reject for themselves materials of which they may disapprove; no citizen may restrict the freedom of use and access for others. The Russell County Library Board of Trustees endorses the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, Rating Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, and the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement.
Responsibility for the reading, listening and viewing of library materials by children rests with their patents or legal guardians and not with the library staff. Additionally, RCPL is not a judicial body. Laws governing obscenity, subversive materials, and other questionable matters are subject to interpretation by the courts. Therefore, no challenged material will be removed solely for the complaint of obscenity or any other category covered by law until after a local court of competent jurisdiction has ruled against the material.
Individuals or groups wishing to lodge a complaint concerning materials in the library collection are asked to complete and sign the Request for Reconsideration form (Appendix A.) This form may be obtained from any staff member and is forwarded to the director. The library director will meet the complainant within two weeks to discuss the complaint. If after the meeting the complainant wishes to continue their complaint, the form is forwarded to the Library Board’s Intellectual Freedom Review Committee. The committee reports at the next meeting of the Library Board of Trustees. Any decision is recorded in writing by the library director and sent to the complainant.
Appendix A: Patron’s Request for Reconsideration of Material
Appendix B: Statement on Accepting Gifts
Library Board approved 3/20/01
RCPL recognizes that gifts and endowments are an excellent means of extending the materials budget and of developing the collection. RCPL does not accept for deposit materials that are not outright gifts. RCPL will accept gifts of new or used books, magazines, audiovisual materials, equipment, or other related materials published in the last 10 years. Such gifts are accepted on the condition that they are subject to the same selection criteria as newly purchased materials and that they may or may not be used in the library’s collections. All such gifts will be evaluated by library staff to determine their appropriateness to the collection and their disposition. Gifts not added to the collection will be turned over to the Friends of the Library for sale or discarded, as deemed appropriate by staff.
Gifts of money to purchase memorial books are accepted by Friends of the Library. Other monetary gifts, gifts of stocks, bonds, endowments, estates, land, etc. are welcomed by the library, providing the Library Board of Trustees approves conditions of such gifts.
Upon the receipt of an approved gift/donation, the library staff will, if requested, provide a statement for tax purposes. The statement will describe the gift in terms of extent and condition, but will not include an assessment of value. While the donor may claim a deduction for a charitable donation, the library cannot determine the value of a gift. It will be the donor’s responsibility to determine the fair market value of all items to be donated before the donation is made.
Note: For guidelines on determining fair market value, refer to IRS Publication 561. If the donor intends to claim a deduction for a contribution with a claimed value of more than $5,000, he must obtain a qualified written appraisal of the property from a qualified appraiser. For guidelines on making charitable contributions, see IRS Publication 526.
Receipt for Gifts of Materials and Donations of Money
Approved by the RCPL Board of Trustees
revision approved 4-2011; reviewed 12-2015; revision approved 3-2021