Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for the selection and maintenance of materials and to inform the public about the principles upon which selections are made.
Objectives
The Jessamine County Public Library acquires, organizes, makes available, and encourages the use of all materials that:
- Contribute to the individual’s awareness of self, community, and society.
- Provide insight into a wide range of human and social conditions and cultural heritages.
- Meet the informational and recreational needs of the community.
- Stimulate thoughtful participation in the community, the state, the nation, and the world.
- Give free access to a variety of opinions and ideas.
- Assist individuals to grow intellectually, creatively, and culturally.
Responsibility for Selection of Materials
The selection of materials for the collection is the responsibility of the Executive Director and is done within the framework of the policies determined by the Board of Trustees. The Executive Director delegates selection of materials to qualified selectors who acquire and withdraw materials in designated areas of the collection. The Library welcomes suggestions for selection from the staff, Board of Trustees, and community, but the final decision for inclusion in the collection rests with the Executive Director.
Criteria for Selection
Each type of material must be considered in terms of its merit and the audience for whom it is intended. No single standard can be applied in all cases. The criteria listed below shall be used as guidelines in the selection process. The following list is not ordered by importance. All of these factors need not apply to every item selected.
- Reviews in professionally recognized sources
- Inclusion in standard bibliographies, awards lists, or bestseller lists
- Reputation or qualifications of author, publisher, or other contributor
- Accuracy, authority, and objectivity
- Breadth and depth of coverage
- Currency of information
- Artistic presentation
- Vitality and originality
- Popular appeal and demand
- Local significance
- Availability of material in other libraries
- Relevance to community needs and interests
- Relationship to existing materials in collection
- Relationship to materials available elsewhere
- Representation of important movement, genre, trend, or national culture
- Unique or controversial point of view
- Importance as a document of the times
- Permanent value as source material or interpretation
- Price
- Space available on library shelves
- Availability of material in print or other formats
- Suitability of physical form for library use
- Appropriateness of form, subject, and style for intended audience
Selectors consult reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared selection aids and booklists, such as, but not limited to, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Horn Book.
Areas of Limited or No Acquisition
Obscene Materials
Materials will be excluded that are defined as obscene according to Kentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 531.010:
“Obscene means:
(a) To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the predominant appeal of the matter, taken as a whole, is to prurient interests in sexual conduct; and
(b)The matter depicts or describes the sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and
(c) The matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”
Textbooks, Test Preparation, and Curriculum Support
The Library encourages students at all levels to use the materials in the collection. The collection may include textbooks and test preparation materials that are useful to the general reader, but the Library will not attempt to provide textbooks for formal courses of study. The Library is not obligated to provide multiple copies of materials for classroom assignments.
Independently Published and Self-Published Materials
Independently published and self-published materials will not be acquired unless they are reviewed in established publications. At the Executive Director’s discretion, exceptions may be made for materials whose content is within the scope of the Special Collections area or are otherwise of local significance and adhere to the Collection Development policy.
Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary loan refers to the process of borrowing materials from other libraries. If an item is unavailable at JCPL, it may be available for loan from another library. That item may then be borrowed according to Library policies and the procedures regarding interlibrary loans.
Scope of Collection
The aim of this policy is to facilitate the development of an inclusive library collection of merit and significance reflecting the interests and needs of a diverse community within the physical and budgetary constraints of the Library.
Adult Print Fiction and Nonfiction Collections
The Library’s collection of materials for adults includes a wide variety of subjects and genres of interest to a general audience; its focus is broad and eclectic. The Library strives to represent a range of viewpoints. To ensure that the collection remains up to date, the acquisition of newly published materials is prioritized, but works of enduring merit are also acquired. Multiple copies of popular items may be acquired to meet demand.
Juvenile Collection
The objective in providing reading material for children is to guide the child toward the enjoyment of and appreciation for reading and learning. The juvenile collection serves to meet the recreational, developmental, and informational needs of children from birth to approximately grade five, as well as the needs of parents, caregivers, and educators. Materials in a variety of formats are selected for all levels of children’s understanding, interests, and reading abilities.
Teen Collection
The teen collection serves as a transition between the juvenile collection and the adult collection. Materials in a variety of formats are selected to meet the informational, recreational, and emotional concerns of teens in grades six through twelve.
Audiovisual Materials
The Library maintains an extensive collection of music, audiobooks, visual recordings, and other audiovisual materials. The Library makes no attempt to provide a comprehensive collection of composers, performers, titles, or authors. When selecting audiovisual material, the following factors are considered in addition to aforementioned selection criteria:
- Technological trends and advances
- Vulnerability to damage and/or theft
- Types of equipment customers are likely to own
- Types of materials available for purchase
Video Game Collection
The primary purpose of the video game collection is to meet the recreational interests of the community. The library maintains an extensive collection which includes a variety of game types. When selecting video games, the following factors are considered in addition to aforementioned selection criteria:
- Technological trends and advances
- Vulnerability to damage and/or theft
- Types of equipment customers are likely to own
- Types of materials available for purchase
Sources for review include but are not limited to trade publications, general gaming magazines and websites, and console-specific publications.
Reference
The reference collection is a non-circulating collection of materials designed to provide access to factual information in authoritative forms.
Special Collections
The Library maintains a special, non-circulating collection of genealogy and local history materials.
Periodicals and Newspapers
The Library provides access to periodicals representing a wide range of subjects and interests as well as access to newspapers offering local, state, and national coverage.
Electronic Resources
The Library provides access to a wide variety of educational and recreational databases as well as access to electronic content provided by third party vendors. While some e-materials are selected by the Library, vendors frequently offer pre-selected content for their subscribers.
Large Print
The Library maintains a collection of large print books, including both fiction and nonfiction.
Foreign Language
The Library maintains a small collection of foreign language materials. The Library may change the scope of its foreign language collection in response to local demographic changes.
Library of Things
The Library of Things is a collection of non-traditional library items that offer ways to meet the needs of a diverse and growing community by providing materials that foster lifelong learning and creativity. Some items included in this collection are musical instruments, games, sewing machines, and various technologies.
When selecting items for the Library of Things, the following factors are considered in addition to aforementioned selection criteria:
- Technological trends and advances
- Vulnerability to damage and/or theft
- Safety concerns
- Interest and needs of customers
- Availability
- Affordability
- Relationship to existing materials in the collection
- Ability to store materials
- Ability to repair/maintain items
Gifts, Donations, and Memorials
As a general rule monetary donations will be used for augmenting the library materials budgets and will not normally be used to purchase materials specifically requested by the donor. Donations of physical materials will not be added to the collection. Exceptions are made at the Executive Director’s sole discretion and are subject to the criteria for selection.
Collection Maintenance
The Library will undertake a continuous inventory of all holdings in order to update the collection, to identify missing items, and to ensure the accuracy of the computer database. The collection is maintained through an ongoing process of collection analysis using established methodologies such as the CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding) method for guidance. Items are repaired, withdrawn, or replaced based on several factors, including but not limited to:
- Number of circulations, requests, and holds
- Availability of similar materials in the collection
- Affordability
- In-print status
- Appearance in standard lists
- Space available
- Availability at other libraries
- Physical condition
- Availability in another format
- Currency of information
Intellectual Freedom
The Library and the Library Board of Trustees uphold the right of all individuals to freely express their thoughts and ideas, both popular and unpopular. We support the right of each individual to privately read, listen, and view the full range of published thought and ideas. In support of these ideals, Jessamine County Public Library offers a collection of materials that is diverse, inclusive, and protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Library Board of Trustees endorses the Jessamine County Public Library Bill of Rights (Appendix A).
Censorship
The selection of library materials is predicated on the library customers’ right to read and to be free from censorship by others. Many topics are controversial, such as sexuality, religion, and politics, and any given item may offend some persons. The Library’s collection contains a diversity of viewpoints and opinions. The presence of an item in the Library does not indicate the Library’s endorsement of its contents. Selection of materials by the Jessamine County Public Library will not be made on the basis of anticipated approval or disapproval, but solely on the merits of the material in relation to building the collection and to serving the interest of the customers. The Jessamine County Public Library holds censorship to be a purely individual matter and declares that anyone is free to reject for themselves books or other materials, but cannot exercise censorship to restrict the freedom of others.
The decision about what a minor or other dependent person may or may not access is the responsibility of the parent or guardian.
Access to Materials
The Library will not restrict customers’ access to material based on their origin, background, or views. Materials are freely and easily accessible to the public. Children are not limited to the juvenile collection and teens are not limited to the teen collection. The arrangement of materials within the Library will take into consideration contemporary community sensibilities and the strategic goal of offering a welcoming environment. Responsibility for a minor’s or other dependent’s access to the collection, both physical and electronic,must rest with the parent or guardian, not with the Library. As is the case with adults, circulation to minors cannot be denied by the Library. Library staff will not monitor nor express judgment on anyone’s choice of materials.
Labeling of Materials
Labels on library materials are viewpoint-neutral directional aids designed to save the time of users. The fact that materials are purchased, processed, and added to the collection shall in no way reflect an endorsement of the materials.
Challenged Materials
Due to the diverse nature of the Library collection, an individual may find information and ideas with which they disagree. For this reason the Library has a Procedure to Address Challenged Materials (Appendix B). An individual who has a concern about the inclusion of a specific title in the collection is encouraged to discuss this concern with a librarian and/or submit a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form (Appendix C).
Appendix A – Jessamine County Public Library Bill of Rights
The Board of Trustees of the Jessamine County Public Library affirms that the Library is a forum for information and ideas. Therefore:
- Books and other library resources will be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all customers of the Library. Materials will not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
- The Library will provide materials and information presenting a diversity of points of view on current and historical issues. Materials will not be prohibited or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
- The Library will challenge censorship, as well as efforts to abridge free access to ideas, as it provides information and enlightenment.
- A person’s right to use the Library will not be denied or abridged because of that person’s origin, background or views.
- The Library will make its meeting rooms and exhibit spaces available to the public on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of the persons or groups requesting their use.
The Jessamine County Public Library Bill of Rights is a statement on intellectual freedom and censorship. Some provisions have incorporated language from the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association’s Interpretations of its Library Bill of Rights are not applicable to the JCPL Bill of Rights.
Appendix B – Procedure to Address Challenged Materials
In the event that a JCPL cardholder (hereinafter referred to as “customer”) objects to the presence of particular library materials, the employee should offer to refer the customer to a supervisor or manager. If the customer does not wish to speak with anyone else or is unsatisfied with the explanation offered by the supervisor or manager, they should be offered a Request for Reconsideration of Material Form (Appendix C). A reminder should be given to the customer that no action will be taken on the basis of a verbal complaint alone, and that they must read the JCPL Collection Development Policy as well as read, view, or listen to the challenged material in its entirety. The material in question will remain in circulation until the formal review process is complete.
The form will be given to the Executive Director, who will acknowledge receipt with a letter to the customer explaining the procedure. This begins the formal review process. Each member of the Collection Development Team will, in turn, be provided with the material in question, and do the following:
- Examine and discuss the concerns expressed in the request.
- Examine the challenged material by reading, viewing, or listening to the material in its entirety.
- Determine if the material was selected within the parameters of the Library’s Collection Development Policy.
- Determine the general acceptance of the material by reading reviews, if available.
- Weigh the values, strengths, and weaknesses of the material and form opinions on the basis of the entire work rather than on limited passages or sections taken out of context.
- Consider the material in the context of the Library’s mission statement.
- Review the material in conjunction with the JCPL Bill of Rights.
The Collection Development Team will meet to discuss their findings. When a decision is reached, the Chair of the Collection Development Team will prepare a letter of response with the Executive Director’s approval, and mail the letter to the customer. If the Team does not reach a decision within 60 days from the date of the request for reconsideration, the Executive Director will notify the customer in writing stating that the item is still under review, and that a letter will be mailed upon a decision. The Executive Director will notify the Board of Trustees of the Team’s decision at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees.
In the event that the person who initiated the request is not satisfied with the decision of the committee, they may appeal for a hearing before the Board of Trustees by making a written request to the President of the Board. The Board of Trustees will determine whether the request for reconsideration has been handled in accordance with stated policies and procedures of the Jessamine County Public Library.
Appendix C – Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form
Download Appendix C – Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials form (PDF, 155 KB).
If you need an ADA-accessible version of the form, please email your request to [email protected].
Effective date: 02-17-2010
Last revised: 05-15-2024
Last reviewed: 05-15-2024