BOARD POLICY
Pikes Peak Library District’s (PPLD) Collection Development Policy guides the selection and continuous evaluation of the collection to reflect PPLD’s mission. Ultimate responsibility for the collection rests with the Board of Trustees.
PPLD provides library materials in a variety of formats that meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Are responsive to community needs and relevant to residents’ lives;
- empower citizens to explore diverse opinions and conduct research on topics of interest;
- inspire people to learn, create, and discover; and
- highlight the history and culture of the Pikes Peak region.
Library resources are provided for the interest, information, and entertainment of all people the Library serves.
PROCEDURES
- District Procedures
- The collection contains information on a variety of subjects and views, and it is organized to provide access to patrons within the limitations of space and budget. As the largest public library in the Pikes Peak region, PPLD seeks to provide current, popular, or well-reviewed materials, as well as classic and enduring titles.
- PPLD has adopted American Library Association (ALA) guidelines on public access to information for its Access to Materials Policy:
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PPLD seeks to develop an outstanding collection for a large and diverse population, within the constraints of budget allocations and shelf space. PPLD strives to provide materials reflecting a variety of perspectives, with emphasis on new and popular materials. Not all criteria must be met, and no one criterion will be decisive. Additional criteria may be used to select materials for specific collections. Materials purchased for the collection are not an endorsement by PPLD of either the content or viewpoint presented in them.
Patron purchase requests and interlibrary loans are additional avenues of obtaining materials for patron use.The following general criteria are used to evaluate potential purchases and gift materials:
- Relevant to community needs and interests
- Favorable attention of critics, reviewers, and the public
- Reputation/qualifications of author, artist, publisher, or producer without regard to political, religious, or other affiliations
- Date of publication
- Cost
- Artistic merit, literary value, or recognized award recipient
- Local or national significance
- Permanence or timeliness
- Quality of presentation in relation to content and audience
- Suitability of physical format for library shelving and circulation, including binding, condition, readability of type, packaging, specialized equipment needs, and technical quality for electronic media
- Evaluation of titles in relation to current holdings, available shelf space, patron demand, and budget
- Availability of information elsewhere
- Legal, licensing, or copyright issues
- Availability from preferred vendors, where possible
- Representation of various cultures, viewpoints, and interests
Items generally excluded from selection include:
- Textbooks and curriculum-related works unless they are considered useful to the general reader as an introduction to a subject and their presentation is superior to other sources
- Scholarly and technical materials that are carried by academic or special libraries
- Materials having removable media such as memorabilia, patterns, stickers, or toys unless the materials are usable without these items
- Puzzle or workbooks that encourage filling in blanks
- Materials that are publicized solely through infomercials or personal websites and authoritative and evaluative information about them is lacking
- Penrose and East Libraries offer large circulating collections as well as strong reference collections that support in-depth reference service for the District. PPLD’s other library facilities and mobile libraries serve specific communities in the District and have limited space. However, all patrons have access to circulating materials through the floating collection and the reservation system. PPLD materials are shared throughout the District.
- The Library’s website provides access to eMaterials, such as eBooks, eAudios, eMagazines, eVideos, eComics, and eMusic. Selection of eMaterials is based upon the same selection criteria used for the rest of PPLD’s collection. Not all titles are available in all formats.
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Special Collections, housed in Penrose Library, consists of regional history and genealogy collections of interest to the general public and specialized researchers. The regional history collection preserves and provides access to published and unpublished documentary resources (i.e., books, pamphlets, maps, photographs, family papers, business records, and audio and video recordings) important to the study of the history and cultural heritage of the Pikes Peak region.
The genealogy collection includes published resources valuable for the study of one’s ancestry. This collection encompasses the continental United States from the colonial period through the early 20th century, with emphasis on the states east of the Rocky Mountains. Limited resources for doing research in England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and other European countries are also collected.
These collections are non-circulating. Materials must be used in the Special Collections area.
- The electronic research collection consists of authoritative databases and eBooks. Databases are used by patrons and Library staff to provide or supplement reference services. Many of the databases contain specialized information beyond the depth of PPLD's circulating collections; others have information that is more easily accessed online than in print format. Scope, subject coverage, time span, frequency of updates, authority, and currency are considered in reviewing electronic resources.
- The criteria for materials selection also apply in the acceptance of gifted books and other collection materials. Once a gift is accepted by PPLD, it becomes the property of PPLD unconditionally. Gift magazines and subscriptions may be accepted by PPLD subject to the same selection and retention policies as regular subscriptions. Gifted materials that are not added to the collection, as well as donated materials, are given to the Friends of PPLD for potential sale coordination, with fundraising to support the District. PPLD will provide the donor a letter of acknowledgment upon request; however, it is up to the donor to place a value on gifted materials or material donations.
- A memorial is created when money or material is donated to add books or other materials to the collection, usually in memory or honor of an individual or group. PPLD welcomes suggestions for purchases but reserves the right to the final decision regarding all materials. A memorial may be placed in the library collection for reference or circulating use. PPLD will insert a memorial book plate for memorial items.
- Guidelines
- The number of copies of a title that are purchased varies with the expected popularity of that title. Demand for individual titles is monitored and additional copies are purchased to meet that demand.
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The collection receives ongoing review in order to maintain its relevancy and physical condition, as well as accommodate shelf space. Staff uses the following criteria in choosing materials for retention or withdrawal:
- Condition
- Relevance to community needs
- Information: accurate, timely, up-to-date
- Number of copies in the collection across all formats
- Circulation statistics
- Shelf space
- Relevance/sustainability of format
- Availability elsewhere, including other libraries, online, or via interlibrary loan
Materials withdrawn from the collection are given to the Friends of PPLD or a vendor for resale. Materials that are damaged or unsellable will be recycled, when feasible, or discarded. PPLD does not remove materials from its collection for the purpose of selling them.
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PPLD believes in freedom of information for all and does not practice censorship. This principle applies to all formats included in PPLD’s collection. Materials may be considered controversial, and any given item may offend some person. Selections are not made on the basis of anticipated approval or disapproval but on the merits of the material and collection needs. Exclusion of materials may occur due to cost, accessibility, limited demand, or lack of documentation, but never solely because of expression, language, viewpoint, or mature content.
PPLD holds choice of materials to be a purely individual matter. While anyone is personally free to reject books and other materials, an individual may not restrict the free choice of others.
Parents or legal guardians are responsible for monitoring materials used by their own children. Library selection decisions are not influenced by the possibility that materials may be accessible to minors. Materials are not labeled to show approval or disapproval or to indicate certain philosophies. Access to items is not restricted except for protection from damage or theft.
A formal Reconsideration of Library Resources and Use of Library Facilities Policy and process has been developed to assure that complaints and requests for reconsideration are handled in an attentive and consistent manner. PPLD will carefully reevaluate an item when a Request for Reconsideration form is submitted. The Library considers the value of each item in its entirety and within the context of the collection, not on specific passages or sections within the item itself.
Approved by the Board of Trustees March, 16, 2022