Policy Statement on the Selection of Materials
As a community source of information and recreation open to all, the Oswego Public Library District collects and distributes printed and audiovisual materials, and electronic materials which educate, enrich, entertain, and inform. It is the responsibility of the Oswego Public Library District to provide, within its financial ability, a general collection of reliable materials which embrace broad areas of knowledge and interest, including both basic works of permanent value and timely materials on current issues. The selection of library resources is a prime activity within the library and is based on the needs and requests of patrons of all ages, races and creeds, and of organizations with a wide variety of interests.
Four factors govern the selection of materials for the library:
- Adherence to the Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association, 2019; see Appendix II).
- The needs of the individual and the community; those which are expressed and those which are basic and universal whether expressed or not.
- The individual merit of each work.
- The library: its existing collection, space, budget and services.
A singular obligation of the public library is to reflect, within its collection, differing points of view on controversial or debatable subjects. Materials will be judged on the basis of the content and style of the work as a whole, not on selected or random passages.
Responsibilities for Materials Selection
The Library Director. The ultimate responsibility for the selection of library materials, as for all library activities, rests with the Library Director, who operates within the framework of policies determined by the Library Board of Trustees. This responsibility is shared in its execution by the various department heads of the library and members of the staff. The Library Director should be able to answer to the Board and the public for actual selections made by the staff, and therefore, has the right to reject or recommend any book contrary to the recommendations of the staff.
Department Heads. The department heads select materials for purchase in the light of available budgets and within the framework of this materials selection policy. They also select materials to be purchased with money donated through memorials and gifts.
Selection of Materials
Criteria of Evaluation. Involved in the choice of materials are the experience and knowledge of the selectors, their knowledge of the community, the existing collection and the library budget. The overall value of the material is the chief criterion of selection. Material is judged on the basis of the work as a whole, not by a part taken out of context. No criteria are absolute.
Readers to be Served. The primary focus of the Library is to provide referral services and popular materials in a variety of formats for all ages. The Library purchases materials to provide timely, accurate, and useful information in its function as a reference library. It also provides recreational materials for leisure hours in its function as a popular materials center. School assignments for the elementary and secondary school student primarily are the responsibility of the school library. The Library provides materials supplemental to various courses of instruction. It does not provide textbooks unless they serve the general public by providing information on subjects where little or no material is available in any other form. The Library will provide materials that satisfy the general informational, recreational, and cultural needs of patrons of all ages. Purchase suggestions from patrons are welcome and are given serious consideration.
General Criteria
- Reputation and/or significance of the author, his/her skill, competence and especially purpose;
- Content – its present and potential relevance to community needs, its importance as a document of the times, and its relationship to existing collections and other materials on the subject;
- Treatment – its appropriateness and effectiveness of medium to content, its insight into human and social condition, and its suitability of subject and style for intended audience;
- Suitability of physical form for library use;
- Attention of critics, reviewers, and the public (see Appendix I for “Aids to Selection”).
Specific Criteria for Evaluation of Works of Imagination
- Representation of an important movement, genre, trend or national culture;
- Vitality and originality;
- Artistic presentation and experimentation;
- Sustained interest;
- Effective characterization;
- Authenticity of historical or social setting.
Specific Criteria for Evaluation of Works of Information and Opinion
- Authority;
- Comprehensiveness and depth of treatment;
- Objectivity;
- Clarity, accuracy and logic of presentation;
- Representation of challenging, though extreme or minority, point of view.
Application of Criteria in the Selection Process
Works of Imagination – Fiction, Drama, Poetry. Involved in the selection of imaginative literature is the existence of a variety of types, each with its own kind of excellence, and the need to satisfy readers of differing tastes, interests, purposes, and reading levels. Some materials may be judged primarily in terms of artistic merit, scholarship, or their value as human documents; others are selected to satisfy the recreational and entertainment needs of the community. The library has set up no arbitrary single standard of literary quality. In selecting novels and short stories, its policy is to acquire fiction, whether amusing or serious, realistic or imaginative.
Works of Information and Opinion. In selecting nonfiction for general reading; readability and popular appeal, soundness of the author’s attitude and approach, and quality of writing are to be considered. In the case of the more scholarly works, the library considers the lack of such material in the present collection, the authority and the reputation of the author, the inclusion of the material in indexes and bibliographies and, in some cases, the reputation of the publisher and the price. The library must balance its obligation to meet demand and to maintain tolerance with its obligation to exclude materials which are poorly prepared and/or are available from other sources at low costs.
Gifts and Endowments. Space permitting, the library encourages the donation of materials with the understanding that they will be added to the collection only if they meet the same standards required of purchased materials. Donated materials not meeting those standards, those that are out of date, unneeded duplicates of items already owned, or those in a format unsuitable for library use, will be sold or discarded.
Donated items will be integrated into the regular library collection in normal sequence, available to all library patrons, and otherwise handled as any other material belonging to the library. If requested, a receipt will be given to the donor at the time the donation is made.
Memorials, items purchased by the library with donated funds in memory or recognition of a particular person, may be marked with an appropriate bookplate. Suggestions for subject areas for the purchased material will be accepted. When donated or memorial material is no longer needed, it will be disposed of in the same manner as regularly purchase material.
Application of Criteria to Present Collection
Duplication. Inherent in the selection process is the problem of evaluation demands and need for duplication of materials. Multiple copies of fiction and popular non-fiction materials will be purchased as the demand warrants it.
Withdrawal. The Oswego Public Library District is not a library of historical record, except in the area of local history. To ensure a vital collection of continued value to the community, materials which have outlived their usefulness are withdrawn.
Weeding. Selection of materials for discarding is based on the following considerations:
- Poor physical condition;
- Ephemeral material that is no longer timely;
- Books no longer considered accurate or factual;
- Combination of little use and questionable value;
- Excess copies of a title no longer in demand.
Replacement. It is the library’s policy not to replace automatically all materials withdrawn. Need for replacement is considered in relation to several factors; current selection procedures, number of duplicate copies, existence of adequate coverage in the collection, and demand for a specific title or subject.
Disposal of Surplus Library Materials. Library property (i.e. print and non-print materials from the collections and/or unwanted gifts) which in the judgment of the Director is no longer useful may be discarded, be given to local not-for-profit organizations, or sold.
Censorship
Although the Library accepts responsibility for providing free access by the public to all points of view, the addition of an item to the collection in no way represents an endorsement by the library of any theory, idea, or policy contained in it. All sides of controversial issues are represented in the library as far as budget, space, and availability of materials allow. Selection is based upon the criteria cited in this policy statement. The race, religion, nationality, or political views of an author, the frankness or coarseness of language, the controversial content of an item, or the endorsement or disapproval of an individual or group in the community does not cause an item to be automatically included or excluded.
Children are not limited to materials in the juvenile collection although juvenile collections are kept together to facilitate use. Responsibility for materials selected for a child must rest with the parent or legal guardian. Selection will not be inhibited by the possibility that controversial materials may come into the possession of children.
A “Resident’s Request for Reconsideration of Library Material” form is available to all Oswego Public Library District residents for comments concerning library materials. Such complaints must be signed by the resident. No action will be taken until the Director has had the opportunity to examine the material in question.
A complainant may submit a “Resident’s Request for Reconsideration of Library Material” following the criteria listed below:
- Request must be filed in writing with the Director;
- Request form must be filled in completely;
- Complainant must be identified fully and be a resident of the District.
A Materials Selection Committee, including the Library Director, a Library Trustee, and a Library Department Head, shall act upon the complaint and notify the complainant in writing of the decision reached. The complainant may appeal the Committee’s decision to the Board of Trustees of the Oswego Public Library District.
APPENDIX I
Aids to Selection
Reputable material reviews and subject and trade bibliographies are, among other sources, tools for selection that the Oswego Public Library District uses in identifying and evaluating material.
Periodicals
- The Booklist
- Library Journal
- Publishers Weekly
- School Library Journal
- Voya
- Booklinks
- Horn Book
- Bibliographies
- Public Library Catalogs
APPENDIX II
Library Bill of Rights
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their service.
- Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
- Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
- Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
- Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas.
- A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background or views.
- Libraries which make exhibit space and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
APPENDIX III
Fill out the form below to make a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials.