General Selection Statement

The collection development policy for the Delphi Public Library will be guided by the principles of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. The collection should represent all disciplines and, insofar as possible, all points of view. The collection should meet the intellectual, informational, and recreational needs of the community. The library not only must consider the present needs of the community but also must attempt to anticipate the future needs in order to give timely service. The scope of the collection is intended to offer a choice of format, treatment, and level of difficulty so that most needs can be met. Service given to individuals of all ages, within current budget limitations, is also taken into consideration. The emphasis will be on acquiring materials of wide-ranging interest to the general public.

Criteria for Selection

The primary criteria for selection will be the quality of presentation, the needs of the community, and the needs of the collection. Special criteria for nonfiction works are quality of style, objectivity, and accuracy.

Procedures for Selection

Library materials selection will be made from current review sources, standard lists, patron requests, and library staff recommendations. Materials receiving unfavorable reviews may be selected if there is significant patron demand, if the material is of particular interest locally, or if the material fills a special unmet need in the collection. No materials will be rejected solely on the basis of the author’s point of view. The goal is to develop a collection of standard works of long-term value and popular materials of current significance, striking a reasonable balance between the public's requests and sustaining a diverse but responsive collection.

The library recognizes the place of nonprint formats in the collection as legitimate educational and recreational resources for the community it serves. The library monitors the development of new formats and, within budgetary and technical limitations, adds these to the collection. Choice of new formats will be based on patron demand, community trends, new product development, and positive critical reviews.

Generally, due to space limitations, only one copy of an item is purchased for each library’s collection. For very high demand titles, an additional copy may be purchased if the holds list reaches 5 or more individuals. In addition, “Red Hot” copies of high demand titles will be leased to supplement the regular collection and help meet patron demand for those titles. These Red Hot copies have special circulation rules. (See the Circulation Policy for more information.)

Gifts

Library policy concerning gifts will be periodically published in the local newspaper, posted in the library, and otherwise made available to the patron community.

All gifts must meet the criteria of the library’s collection development policy. Direct gifts of books and other library materials will be accepted only on the condition that the library director has full authority as to their disposal. If requested by the donor, staff may supply a receipt noting the date, format and number of items donated. Staff will not provide an estimate of the value of the donations. If a donated item does not meet the selection criteria or duplicates an item already held by the library, it will be donated to the Friends of the Delphi Public Library to be sold in the annual book sale to benefit the library.

When the library receives a cash gift for the purchase of materials, whether as a memorial or for any other purpose, the general nature or subject area of the materials to be purchased will be based upon the donor’s wishes. The library staff, in accordance with the needs and collection development policy of the library, will select specific titles. Donors also have the option of contributing to an endowment fund maintained by the library. Persons who pay for gift books will have their names—and the name of the person in whose honor or memory the book is purchased—entered on a library bookplate to be placed in the book. The library will send a card to whomever the donor of a memorial gift specifies.

Once the library accepts a gift or donation, that item becomes the property of the library and becomes subject to the same use or disposal criteria as all other items.

Weeding

Weeding is a continuous process to be considered part of a sound collection development program. The following guidelines describe a minimum schedule for weeding of various library materials.

Damaged materials and duplicates will be withdrawn as the need arises.

Paperback books, popular music, audiobooks, video materials, fiction, and general non-fiction will be reviewed at least once each year. Reference materials will be weeded periodically and at least every two years.

The general criteria for weeding include the following:

• Availability of updated, newer, or revised materials
• Historical value of the item
• Circulation or usage of the item
• Condition of the item
• Item’s place in a series
• Possible future usefulness
• Unneeded duplicates
• Availability of other items on same subject in the collection
• Cost of replacement, if necessary

It is critical that outdated information, especially in law, business, finance, and medicine, be discarded.

Withdrawn materials will be given to the Friends of the Delphi Public Library to be sold in the annual book sale, recycled, or thrown away, depending on the condition of the materials.

Challenged Materials

Censorship of library materials must be challenged by the library in carrying out its responsibility to provide for the intellectual, informational, and recreational needs of the entire community. The patron’s choice of library materials for personal use is an individual matter. Responsibility for the use of materials by children and adolescents rests with their parents or legal guardians.

If a complaint concerning a specific item in the library’s collection is made, the person or organization making the complaint will be given a copy of the library’s collection development policy and will be asked to fill out a written complaint form (Citizen’s Request for Reconsideration of Material), which will then be examined by the director. The director will review the material in question and make a written justification for its continued inclusion in the collection or withdraw the material if there is no justification. The director will meet with the complaining party after having reviewed both the material in question and the complaint form. At that time, the director will explain the library’s collection development policy and, if applicable, the justification for retention of the questioned material. The complainant will be given the opportunity to further explain the reasons for requesting that the material be reconsidered. If the outcome of the director’s meeting with the complainant is not satisfactory to the complainant, the request will then be taken to the Library Board of Trustees for review at the next scheduled Board meeting.