About
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Collection Development Policy
The Maplewood Memorial Library connects people to information, ideas, culture and each other. We are open to all.
We support intellectual freedom:
The library provides an impartial environment for all people to explore ideas and information across the spectrum of knowledge and opinions. The Maplewood Library Board of Trustees affirms the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to View and Freedom to Read policy statements in support of acquiring and managing collections.
Objectives:
The Maplewood Library builds and maintains a patron-oriented collection by anticipating and responding to patron needs and expectations. The materials collection is developed and managed to meet the cultural, informational, educational, and recreational needs of the library’s service area. Guided by our mission, we make collection development decisions that will:
Strengthen community
Nourish the mind
Encourage growth
Move us forward individually and collectively
Responsibility for Selection:
Staff contributes to the development of patron-oriented collections by:
Recognizing that individuals have different ways of expressing their needs and that materials of varying complexities and formats are necessary to satisfy the diverse needs of library users
Handling all requests equitably and interacting with patrons respectfully, responsibly and compassionately
Understanding and responding to rapidly changing demographics, as well as societal and technological changes
Balancing individual needs and broader community needs in determining the best allocation of collection budget for acquiring or providing access to materials
Seeking continuous improvement through ongoing measurement and communication with library patrons
Reviewing the collection on a regular basis to identify areas of community interest that may need to be strengthened
Selection Criteria:
The Maplewood Library provides collections in a wide variety of formats. In developing collections for adults, children and teens, library staff members include materials that reflect the ethnic, religious, racial, and socio-economic diversity of our community and the world at large.
Our collections provide a broad range of opinions on current issues and contain popular works, classic works that have withstood the test of time, and other materials of general interest. The library staff is guided by the principles of selection rather than censorship; works are not excluded from or included in the collection based solely on subject matter or on political, religious, or ideological grounds. The selection of a given item for the library’s collections is not an endorsement of a particular viewpoint.
To build a collection of merit, materials are evaluated according to one or more of the following standards. An item need not meet all of these criteria in order to be acceptable.
General Criteria:
Relevance to the community
Suitability of physical form for library use
Cost
Relevance to the times
Relation to the existing collection and to other materials on the subject
Attention by critics and reviewers
Potential patron appeal
Requests by library patrons
Content Criteria:
Authority
Skill, competence, and purpose of the author
Reputation and significance of the author
Objectivity
Consideration of the work as a whole
Clarity
Currency
Technical quality
Representation of diverse points of view
Representation of important movements, genres, or trends
Vitality and originality
Artistic presentation and/or experimentation
Sustained interest
Relevance and use of the information
Effective characterization
Authenticity of history or social setting
Maplewood Library Reviewing Sources (in alphabetical order):
Book Page
Booklist
Horn Book
Kirkus
Library Journal
New York Times Book Review
Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal
VOYA
Acquisitions Procedures:
The library department heads are responsible for the overall selection and maintenance of all materials and formats within the library’s collections. This responsibility is monitored by the library director, and is delegated to these individuals as a result of their education, training, experience and job classification.
Professional librarians (selectors) in each department select items with support from other staff members. Each selector is responsible for purchasing material in their assigned subject areas. Selectors may make selections independently or work together to identify and purchase items that best meet the needs and desires of the community.
Special Collections:
The Maplewood Library maintains a few distinctive special collections that have intrinsic value to our community, including but not limited to Columbia High School yearbooks, local author first editions, community and township documents and documents pertaining to local history. The selection of these materials is guided by the Library’s mission, policy and history, as well as our patrons’ needs. These collections have unique attributes that may require us to limit access or circulation, and control the physical environment. Security is not based on content but on the value, rarity or fragility of the items, themselves.
Gifts and Donations:
Accepting gifts and donations is an important way for the library to benefit from the generosity of its community. Gifts and donations are reviewed using the same criteria as purchases. The library reserves the right to dispose of any gifts or donations based on their quality, content or currency. Materials not added to library collections may be used for programs or given to the Friends of the Library. Any items unsold by the Friends of the Library may then be donated to another organization or discarded. Monetary gifts are generally accepted through the Maplewood Library Foundation or the Friends of the Maplewood Library. Occasionally, in the case of larger donations, a fund will be established for the purchase of materials in one person’s name. Those funds and collections must be approved by the Library Board of Trustees and adhere to the Collection Development Policy.
Collection Maintenance and Weeding:
A vibrant and useful collection must be maintained and continuously evaluated. When weeding items from the collections, numerous factors are considered, such as physical condition, relevance, frequency of circulation, community interest, accuracy and space. Items dealing with local history are an exception, as are certain classics and award-winning titles. Items that are withdrawn due to overuse, damage or loss may be considered for replacement by either the same title or a different title that is more timely. Withdrawn items are recycled.
Reconsideration of Materials:
The Library is guided by the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to View, and Freedom to Read policy statements and is obligated to provide materials on all varieties of opinion, including those of an unpopular or unconventional nature. A patron objecting to any items in the library’s collections must formally submit a request for reconsideration. The person submitting the form must be a resident of Maplewood, NJ. Requests for reconsideration made by members of other communities will not be considered. If materials are questioned, the Library stands by the principles of intellectual freedom rather than the opinions or beliefs set forth in the materials themselves.
Adopted by Maplewood Memorial Library Board of Trustees 11/17/2021.