Morristown Centennial Library
Collection Development Policy
Collection Development Policy
The Morristown Centennial Library's mission is to foster lifelong learning and personal fulfillment, encourage an enlightened citizenry, and promote personal enrichment and enjoyment within our community. The Library is committed to offering services and programs that respond to our community's wants and needs with the highest level of quality and responsiveness.
Selection of books, periodicals, and other media are made in such a way as to further this mission to the greatest extent practicable within budgetary and space constraints.
The Morristown Centennial Library subscribes to the principles of intellectual freedom as stated in the American Library Association's Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements (see below).
SELECTION PRINCIPLES
1. Circulation figures and other indicators of patron interest/demand/need in different subject areas
12. Cost and budget availability
Fiction materials will be selected on the basis of:
1. Quality of expression (writing and editing), enduring literary value
8. Cost and budget availability
Audio and Video Materials:
The purpose of the Library's audio and video collections is to provide educational and recreational value to the
community. To this end, our goal is to provide better-quality contemporary feature films and television series, classics, foreign or independent films, cultural programming (e.g., music, dance and dramatic theatre), and a wide variety of documentary (e.g., history, science, nature) and instructional releases. Videos are selected through reviews, catalogs, recommendations, personal viewing and a sense of their popular appeal.
PHILOSOPHY
The Library recognizes patrons have a diverse background, interests, and social values. So all patrons are free to reject for themselves any materials which do not meet their approval (freedom to choose). The Library does not select, retain or remove materials on the basis of anticipated approval or disapproval of any group of patrons, but solely on the basis of the standards stated in the policy. All patrons will have free access to materials (this covers all ages and type of material) and will not be inhibited by the possibility that the items may be utilized by minors.
DIVERSITY
The Library recognizes that full, confidential, and unrestricted access to information is essential for patrons to exercise their rights as citizens. The Library believes that reading, listening, and viewing are individual, private matters. While anyone is free to select or reject materials for themselves or their own minor children, the freedom of others to read or inquire cannot be restricted. The Library strives to maintain materials representing all sides of an issue in a neutral, unbiased manner. Selection of materials by the Library does not mean endorsement of the contents of views expressed in those materials. The existence of a particular viewpoint in the collection is a reflection of the Library’s policy of intellectual freedom, not an endorsement of that particular point of view.
Selection of books, periodicals, and other media are made in such a way as to further this mission to the greatest extent practicable within budgetary and space constraints.
The Morristown Centennial Library subscribes to the principles of intellectual freedom as stated in the American Library Association's Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements (see below).
SELECTION PRINCIPLES
- Authority for the choice, cataloging and placement of materials ultimately rest with the Library Director. Other staff members may select, catalog, and place materials subject to the Library Director's approval.
- The Library Director and the Children's Librarian exercise professional judgment and expertise based on an understanding of community needs and wishes; their own knowledge of authors and publishers; and review of authoritative professional reviews, standard lists of basic works, recommendations of professional journals and bibliographic essays prepared by subject specialists.
- Recommendations and requests from the public are welcome and will be given careful consideration in terms of overall objectives and the existing book collection. If, in the Library Director's professional judgment, an item meets the criteria set forth below or the anticipated level of patron demand for that item otherwise justifies adding it to the collection, the Library will take steps to acquire the item. If not, the Library will use interlibrary loan to acquire the item for the requesting patron, if possible.
- The Library Director and the Children’s Librarian will review the collection regularly to assess items’ continued relevance and value to the collection and the public it serves, and will add to and subtract from the collection according the criteria set forth below.
- Self-published works: We will gladly accept one DONATED copy of an author’s work, which will be placed in the special area on the shelf facing Main Street reserved for self-published authors. Selections should be made with an eye to serving a diverse community of patrons with a wide variety of backgrounds, educational levels, and interests.
1. Circulation figures and other indicators of patron interest/demand/need in different subject areas
- Professional standards and recommendations regarding appropriate collection size and contents in various subject areas for a library the size of the Morristown Centennial Library
- Accuracy of information and quality of writing and editing
- Relevance to current subjects of public debate/controversy or concern
- Relevance, usefulness and lasting value as reference materials
- Relation to the existing collection and usefulness in presenting a diversity of information on issues
- Relative importance in comparison with other works on the subject
- Quality of presentation, format and binding
- Favorable review in established professional journals
12. Cost and budget availability
Fiction materials will be selected on the basis of:
1. Quality of expression (writing and editing), enduring literary value
- Significance of the item within contemporary culture and/or as a record of the times
- Circulation figures and other indicators of patron interest/demand/need in different literary genres, popularity of specific authors, and popularity of particular items with the public at large
- Quality of presentation, format and binding
- Favorable review in established professional journals
8. Cost and budget availability
Audio and Video Materials:
The purpose of the Library's audio and video collections is to provide educational and recreational value to the
community. To this end, our goal is to provide better-quality contemporary feature films and television series, classics, foreign or independent films, cultural programming (e.g., music, dance and dramatic theatre), and a wide variety of documentary (e.g., history, science, nature) and instructional releases. Videos are selected through reviews, catalogs, recommendations, personal viewing and a sense of their popular appeal.
PHILOSOPHY
The Library recognizes patrons have a diverse background, interests, and social values. So all patrons are free to reject for themselves any materials which do not meet their approval (freedom to choose). The Library does not select, retain or remove materials on the basis of anticipated approval or disapproval of any group of patrons, but solely on the basis of the standards stated in the policy. All patrons will have free access to materials (this covers all ages and type of material) and will not be inhibited by the possibility that the items may be utilized by minors.
DIVERSITY
The Library recognizes that full, confidential, and unrestricted access to information is essential for patrons to exercise their rights as citizens. The Library believes that reading, listening, and viewing are individual, private matters. While anyone is free to select or reject materials for themselves or their own minor children, the freedom of others to read or inquire cannot be restricted. The Library strives to maintain materials representing all sides of an issue in a neutral, unbiased manner. Selection of materials by the Library does not mean endorsement of the contents of views expressed in those materials. The existence of a particular viewpoint in the collection is a reflection of the Library’s policy of intellectual freedom, not an endorsement of that particular point of view.