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Materials Selection Policy
It is the policy of the Sherborn Library that materials selection rests
with the Board of Trustees.
Scope
This policy applies to all of the Sherborn Library employees.
Description
The Board delegates to the Library Director the selection of library
materials and the development of the collection. The professional staff
members may aid in this selection process. The general public and the
non-professional staff members may recommend materials for
consideration.
Criteria for Selection
The librarian is guided in selection of materials by authoritative
professional reviews and standard bibliographies. Recommendations from
the public are welcome and will be given careful consideration in terms
of overall objectives and the existing collection.
Purpose and Quality
The Library's collection will be built to meet the needs and interests
of the community. All materials to be selected are subjected to the
following criteria as they are applicable:
- Current interest and usefulness.
- Permanent value.
- Comprehensive in scope.
- Importance as a record of the times.
- Relevance to the existing collection.
- High standards of quality in content, format and binding.
- Cost in relation to the individual title and to the overall
collection.
- Authority and competence in presentation.
- Relevance of format to the presentation of the information.
In no case should any material be excluded because of the race or
nationality, or the political, sociological, or religious views of the
writer. Library materials selection will not be inhibited by the
possibility that materials of a controversial nature may come into the
possession of children. There should be the fullest practicable
provision of material presenting all points of view concerning the
problems and issues of our time, international, national, and local.
Materials of sound factual authority will not be prescribed or removed
from the Library shelves because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
Patrons' self-guided access to materials retrieved via remote electronic
resources offered on-site by the Library, and patrons' use of personal
resources brought into the Library to be accessed on Library equipment,
are subject to the above selection criteria.
Children's Materials
The same criteria are to be used for selection of children's materials
as are used for the general collection. Recommendations for purchase are
made by the children's librarian. Special attention is given to books
and materials of value to parents, teachers or other adults working with
children.
Physical Maintenance of the Collection
The Library Director and staff will undertake the periodic weeding and
updating of the collection. In general, materials will be removed from
the collection which are deemed to be:
- outdated in content
- duplicates of titles no longer popular
- no longer in current use.
- in poor physical condition.
Effective Date: This policy was revised on September 15, 1992. Second
revision and amendment: June 10, 1997.
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