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Materials Selection Policy

The responsibility and mission of the East Orange Public Library is to enhance individual and community life by anticipating, stimulating and serving the community's educational, informational, cultural, and recreational needs and wants. The Library should offer materials which will stretch the imagination, deepen feeling, increase knowledge, and aid in making intelligent and ethicaldecisions for a lifetime.

To support this responsibility, library materials are selected, organized, and made accessible in order to meet the diverse needs of East Orange citizens.

This policy establishes that the Library shall develop collections of merit and significance, whether acquired by purchase or gift. Materials to be evaluated shall include both hardcover and paperback books, periodicals, newspapers, videocassettes, audio-cassettes, electronically formatted resources, (e.g. DVDs, CDs, e-books, databases), and other appropriate formats. Materials shall be evaluated according to objective standards, giving consideration to scholarship, appropriateness to the community, and popularity. Materials dealing with controversial issues will be acquired, including those which may present unpopular or unorthodox positions.

The Library accepts donations and unsolicited gifts. These materials are evaluated for inclusion in the collection according to the Library's mission statement and the selection policy's general standards. Unwanted material is sold in the annual Book Sale to benefit the Library.

The Library has established procedures for the public to request acquisition or reconsideration of any item. Suggestions from patrons are encouraged and given serious consideration in the selection process.

The Board of Trustees supports the American Library Association Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, and the Freedom to View Statement. (see Appendix)

RESPONSIBILITY FOR MATERIALS SELECTION

Authority and responsibility for the selection of library materials rests with the Library Director and, under his/her direction, with the Department Heads and their staff.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION AND DESELECTION

The evaluation of materials considered for inclusion in the Library's collection is characterized by flexibility, fairness, and responsiveness to the changing needs of the citizens of East Orange. Materials are evaluated as a whole and not on the basis of a particular section or sections. Generally, a single standard cannot be applied to each potential item; therefore, materials are usually judged by a variety of appropriate criteria and popular demand.

In order to build a strong, diversified collection which will support the Library's mission, the following are the major criteria given consideration. These may apply to both purchased and donated materials.

  1. Usefulness
  2. Popularity
  3. Timelessness
  4. Accuracy
  5. Appropriateness for the intended audience
  6. Relationship to collection
  7. Reading level
  8. Quality of writing
  9. Authority of author
  10. Effect of total work, not just parts
  11. Price / budget
  12. Inclusion in standard lists
  13. Format
  14. Reputation of publisher
  15. Availability of materials elsewhere in the region
  16. Local interest
  17. Permanent value
  18. Educational value

Criteria for deselection include:

  1. The Library's role in the community and the goals it sets
  2. The community's needs and demands
  3. Whether funding to replace weeded material is available
  4. Relationship of an Item to others on that topic
  5. Potential usefulness of an item

Retention, removal, and replacement of essential materials is done on a systematic and continuous basis.

MAIN LIBRARY AND BRANCH COLLECTIONS

The Main Library maintains as diverse and broad a collection as possible. Its materials are the central resource for the community.

Branch collections contain basic materials and popular reading items, digitally formatted material, videocassettes, and networked electronic resources. Intra-library loan service through regular delivery is available to those citizens who use the branches.

AUDIO-VISUAL DEPARTMENT

The Library maintains a collection of entertainment feature films, and educational and instructional videocassettes on a wide range of topics for the general public. DVDs and CDs are also part of the collection. Criteria for selection of this collection are the same general standards applied to other materials.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

The Library maintains certain special collections. In general, materials in these areas are evaluated according to the general standards. These collections inc1ude:

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

The Library is a Depository Library for United States government publications. The Library selects Classes of documents it wishes to receive. There are strict maintenance and discard regulations imposed by the U.S. Superintendent of Documents.

NEW JERSEY GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

The Library has been designated a Depository Library for New Jersey State government publications. There are strict maintenance and discard regulations imposed by the State Library.

TALKING BOOKS FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

The Library is a local Service Center for the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped. The Library receives, free of charge, a revolving deposit collection of talking books for the visually handicapped in cassette tape format. Material is from the collection of the National Library Service for the Blind and Handicapped, The Library of Congress and remains the property of the United States Government.

EAST ORANGE COLLECTION

The Library attempts to maintain a comprehensive collection of City - related materials (e.g. historical, governmental, maps/atlases, directories and newspapers). The Library also maintains an extensive collection of yearbooks for the City's high schools and the fanner Upsala College. Because of the archival nature of this collection there are no discards.

JUNIOR DEPARTMENT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

CLC - Children's Literature Collection. Standard copies of classis or titles of note. Titles of interest mainly to educators and students of children's literature.

Toys and Realia - Sturdy educational toys, puzzles, etc. For in-house use during programs, and to lend to parents of storyhour participants.

Videocassettes - Collection of educational, instructional and popular children's videocassettes.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 12/13/01.
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