Introduction
The Board of Trustees of the Delafield Public Library has adopted the following Collection Development Policy to guide library staff and to inform the public of the principles upon which collection development and management decisions are based. Collection development is the ongoing process of assessing the materials available for purchase or licensing and making decisions on their inclusion and retention. Since it is not possible for any library to acquire all materials, it is necessary for every library to employ a policy of selectivity in acquisitions.
The Mission Statement and Values of the Delafield Public Library guide the selection of materials. Collection decisions position the library as the preferred partner for lifelong learning in the community.
Our Mission
Connecting and empowering the community to learn, create, grow and thrive
Our Values
- Accessibility
- Community
- Curiosity
- Exceptional service
The following statements and policies have been adopted by the Library Board and are used as guidelines for the development of the library collection. The Board of Trustees of the Delafield Public Library affirms its support for the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and The Freedom to Read Statement with regard to acquiring and managing the collection.
Objectives
The Delafield Public Library acquires and makes readily available materials and information which inform, educate, entertain, and enrich persons as individuals and members of society. The library provides, within its financial limitations, a general collection of reliable materials embracing broad areas of knowledge. Included are works of enduring value as well as timely materials on current issues.
Library staff develops and manages the library’s collection, while striving to meet the cultural, informational, educational, and recreational needs of those in the library’s service area. Library staff members selecting materials and resources are expected to keep the overall objectives in mind when applying their professional knowledge and experience in making selection decisions. Impartiality and judicious selection shall be exercised in all materials acquisition practices.
In general, scholarly, highly specialized or archival materials are beyond the scope of the library’s collections. Other staff members and the public may suggest materials for consideration.
All library materials are available for use by all members of the public. Access to materials is ensured by the way they are organized, managed, and displayed and by the way staff interacts with patrons. The library participates in local and national loan networks for the purpose of providing awareness of and access to materials not in the Delafield Public Library collection.
Authority and Responsibility for Selection
Responsibility for the selection of library materials rests ultimately with the Library Director, who operates within the framework of policies determined by the Library Board of Trustees. Staff members who are qualified by reason of education, training, or experience share this responsibility and help oversee the selection process. No staff member shall be disciplined for selecting an item that meets the library’s criteria for selection which is later deemed to be unsuitable to the library’s collection.
Principles for Selection
All acquisitions, whether purchased or donated, are considered in terms of the following standards. An item need not meet all the criteria in order to be acceptable.
- Selection decisions are guided by the merits of the work, collection needs, and interests of a diverse community.
- The presence of any material or resource does not constitute an endorsement. A balanced collection attempts to represent all sides of potentially controversial issues as far as materials, space, and budget allow. Therefore, materials dealing with perceived controversial views are judged as entire works, not on isolated passages or sections.
- The library actively strives to ensure that materials representing many differing views and a broad diversity of human thought and creativity are represented in its collection. A balanced collection reflects a diversity of materials, not necessarily an equality of numbers.
- The following do not result in the automatic inclusion or exclusion of an item from the library’s collection:
- Race, religion, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, or political views of an author or creator
- Language
- Depictions of violence or sexual activity
- Controversial content
- Endorsement or disapproval by an individual or group
- Responsibility for choosing what an individual will read, view, or listen to rests solely with the individual.
- Responsibility for the use of library materials by children and young adults rests solely with their parents and/or legal guardians. Selection decisions are not influenced by the possibility that material may be accessible to children or young adults. The library does not restrict access to any material by age, and leaves the responsibility for minors’ use, viewing and consumption of library materials to each minor’s parent or legal guardian.
Criteria for Selection
Library staff selectors follow these principles when selecting materials:
- To build a collection of merit and significance, selectors acquire materials according to objective guidelines (see below). Tools used in selection include, but are not limited to, professional journals, trade journals, subject bibliographies, publishers’ materials reviews from reputable sources, and other online resources.
- The selectors must consider each type of material in terms of its own merits. No single standard can apply to all acquisition decisions.
- The library acknowledges a particular interest in local history and will add to its collection works produced by authors, printers, or publishers with a local connection that meet the purposes and objectives of this policy.
- The library seeks to select materials of varying complexity and formats because it serves a large public, encompassing a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, interests, sensory preferences, and reading skills.
- Library materials are not marked or identified to show approval or disapproval of the contents; further, materials are not sequestered except for the sole purpose of protecting them from damage or theft.
- Some library materials are subject to widespread and/or heavy local demand. These high demand items may or may not meet the general and specific criteria contained in this policy. The library should provide materials for enlightenment and recreation, even if not of enduring value or interest.
- The library recognizes the purposes and resources of other public, special, and academic libraries in Waukesha County, particularly those in the CAFÉ consortium of which the Delafield Library is a member and does not needlessly duplicate materials.
Objective selection guidelines for staff:
- Contemporary significance or permanent value
- Accuracy of content
- Authority of the author or producer
- Relation of the work to the existing collection
- Suitability of physical form for library use
- Attention by critics or reviewers
- Scarcity of information in the subject area
- Representation of diverse points of view
- Consideration of the work as a whole
- Present and potential relevance to community needs
- Comprehensiveness and depth of treatment
- Clarity, accuracy, and logic of presentation
Selection may also be limited by the following factors:
- Physical limitations of the building
- Price, ease, and sustainability of use for both physical and digital collections
Donations and Gifts
Donations of materials are gratefully accepted with the understanding that the library may add them to the collection if they meet established standards for purchased materials, with emphasis on currency, physical condition, and need. Materials donated to the library, whether added to the collection or not, become the property of the library, and will not be returned to the donor. Materials not added to the collection will be given to the Friends of the Delafield Library Book Sale or disposed of by other means. The library cannot place a monetary value on gifts for tax purposes, but receipts are provided upon request.
Monetary gifts are always most welcome and appreciated and may be designated as memorials. The library encourages monetary gifts that are not earmarked for specific items in order to permit the most flexible use of the donation for the enrichment of the collection. When monetary gifts are intended for the purchase of materials, library staff will make the determination of what titles to buy, using the same criteria as for all other purchases.
Gifts of non-library items such as paintings, portraits, historical items, or art objects ordinarily will not be accepted. If accepted, the item(s) become the property of the library and will not be returned to the donor. There is no obligation for the library to retain ownership of the item.
Evaluation and Withdrawal of Materials
An attractive, up-to-date, currently useful collection is maintained through a continual discarding and replacing process. Materials may be withdrawn from the library collection after careful consideration of these factors:
- Physical condition
- Currency of information
- Lack of use
- Superseded by a new edition/better work on the subject
- Space needs
- Cost of replacement
As new formats emerge, the library carefully monitors public response. The library collection evolves as technology and usage trends require. A new format may, therefore, be an addition to existing library collections or a replacement for an obsolete one.
Although every effort will be made to replace needed materials which are withdrawn, the library takes the position that it is better to have no information on a subject than to have materials which are inaccurate or in poor physical condition.
Materials withdrawn from the collection may be given to the Friends of the Library Book Sale or disposed of by other means. Individual items that are being withdrawn will not be saved for specific individuals.
Requests for Reconsideration
The choice of library materials by library users is an individual matter. While individuals may reject materials for their own use, they cannot practice censorship and attempt to restrict access to the materials by others. Recognizing that a diversity of materials may result in some requests for reconsideration, the Request for Reconsideration Procedure (addended) has been developed to ensure that objections or complaints are handled in an attentive and consistent manner.
Approved by Library Board: December 10, 2024
ADDENDUM A
Request for Reconsideration Procedure
- The patron must reside within the Bridges Library System (i.e. either Waukesha or Jefferson counties) and must complete the Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form. Verbal complaints are not a substitute for completing the Request for Reconsideration form. The library will not accept reconsideration requests for materials that have been previously reconsidered within the past five years.
- The Library Director will confirm receipt of the Reconsideration form with the complainant and advise the individual(s) of the reconsideration process.
- The Library Director will appoint an advisory staff Reconsideration Committee consisting of the Library Director, the staff member in charge of selecting the material in question, a full-time staff member chosen at random, and any other professional staff as appropriate in the discretion of the Director. The Director will serve as chair of the committee.
- The committee will each individually review the Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials form and gather professional reviews and other relevant information. Each committee member will review the item in its entirety. The committee will meet to discuss their findings and each member will provide the Director with a written recommendation. During the review process, the material in question will remain available for circulation.
- The Library Director will then make a decision regarding the disposition of the material and will communicate this decision in writing to the complainant. The Director will inform the Library Board of all requests for reconsideration and the outcome.
- If the complainant desires further action, they may appeal in writing to the Delafield Library Board of Trustees within ten business days. If the Library Board plans to address the appeal at a meeting, the individual will be notified. The Board of Trustees reserves the right to limit the length of presentation and number of speakers at the hearing. All potential speakers must adhere to the Public Comments at Library Board Meetings policy.
- The Board will determine whether library staff followed the Library’s Collection Development Policy and the Procedure for Request for Reconsideration. On the basis of this determination, the Board may vote to uphold or override the decision of the Director. As a non-partisan, quasi-governmental body, the Board cannot base its determination on personal views or because the materials or their author/creator may be viewed as controversial or objectionable. Items are selected based on the whole of their work and will be judged on the whole of their work, not on an isolated passage or section.
- The decision of the Library Board is final.
The above steps will be carried out in a timely manner.