Policies & Procedures

Administrative Procedure: 8505

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

It is the responsibility of the Director of Library Services to implement this policy in the selection of books, periodicals, and nonprint materials needed to support the College curriculum, prove cultural and intellectual enrichment, and broaden horizons of all people of the community the Library serves.

The faculty has the responsibility to recommend materials for purchase since they are the subject specialists. The Director of Library Services must oversee the entire collection so that it will be well-rounded, and will develop and revise, as necessary, a collection development strategy to achieve that balance. The goal of the collection is qualitative excellence and not the mere accumulation of material.

The material to be acquired will not be limited to books and other periodicals, but will include all types of materials that are needed for instructional and cultural purposes. Priority in spending will go to instructionally-related materials.

The Library will acquire materials to aid faculty in class preparation and professional reading, but their needs for research and study will be subordinated to the fulfillment of the basic needs of the students.

Purchase of textbooks will be avoided except where no other materials are available or as a special need is identified. Acquisition of multiple copies will normally be avoided since their purchase prevents the acquisition of more varied materials.

Popular fiction and timely non-fiction and media formats will be purchased to supplement the Library’s collection and encourage recreational reading. The same selection standards will be applied to these as to other books in the collection.

The Library will provide an active, growing collection, and weeding will be a continuing process to eliminate unused duplicates, obsolete material, and fragmentary files of materials. Faculty input in respective disciplines may be requested.

Selections will be based on the needs of the students, requirements of faculty and staff, individual merits of each book, existing collection, and budget. Selection will provide materials that will develop critical thinking, objective evaluations, aesthetic appreciation, and creativity. Coverage of controversial subjects will be sufficiently broad to provide a balanced perspective, without partisanship, bias, or propaganda.

Standards of accuracy, objectivity, sincerity, readability, permanence, and social significance will be applied to all selections. Format will be considered for relevance, ease of use, and cost factors.

Gifts of worthwhile books will be encouraged and will be appreciated, but the disposition of gifts will be left to the Director of Library Services. Special housing for gift collections, except in rare instances, will not be permitted since a satisfactory arrangement from the viewpoint of library efficiency is difficult to achieve. Gift books will be judged by the same criteria as books that are purchased. The library staff cannot provide estimation of the value of donations for income tax purposes as this represents a conflict of interest.

References:

Rowan College of South Jersey Board of Trustees Policy Manual, 8505 Collection Development