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Policies of the Neuschafer
Community Library
ARTICLE VIII - MATERIALS/COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
Adopted 6/1/93
Revised 10/3/99
Revised 2/14/00
Section 1.
The end responsibility for selection
of all materials, as well as for all library activities, rests,
with the Director, who operates within the framework of policies
determined by the Library Board.
The following guidelines are to be considered in the selection
process; however, an item need not meet all of the criteria in
order to be acceptable.
Section 2.
Criteria for the collection
- Relevance to community interests and needs,
and suited to the recreational nature of this library.
- Expressed
public demand.
- Current usefulness of permanent value.
- Opinions of critics,
reviewers, Director, Library Board and general public.
- Reputation
and/or significance of author
- Statement of challenging or original
point of view
- Relation to existing collection
- Quality in content, format and
binding
- Availability of materials in the subject
area
- Budgetary and space considerations
Section 3.
Scope of the collection
The library does not generally purchase certain
classes of books and printed materials as a matter of policy.
These include:
- Expensive editions
- Collector’s items
- Textbooks, or materials for school assignments
- Sectarian or
religious dogmatic or specialized doctrinal works
Section 4.
Gift and Endowment Policy
Endowment Funds are gifts and bequests to the
Neuschafer Community Library. The Board of Trustees of the Library
has established special and separate accounts for these gifts/endowment
funds.
The purpose of gifts to the library is to enrich
its services, resources and facilities beyond what would normally
be available through public funding. Gifts will not be used for
continuing costs of operation except where specific programs
are not suitable for public funding or when specified by the
terms of the gift.
(Note: the term "Trust Officer" refers
to the Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Fremont.)
- All cash contributions to the funds shall
be deposited to the respective account/s at the financial institution
designated by the Board of Trustees and Trust Officer.
- Potential
donors may be offered a choice of options to allow some flexibility
in use, but specific enough
to reflect the donor’s interest whenever possible.
- Any gift, grant,
trust, bequest or endowment given to the library shall be under
the control of the Board
of Trustees and be used under its direction excluding contributions
made by Friends of the Neuschafer Community Library or other
individuals who so indicate.
- These funds are intended for programs,
services, special equipment, collections, automation, improvements
to facilities
and grounds of the library which are not a part of the normal
operations.
- Monetary gifts are always easiest to designate
and control. If a donor is considering a gift of a collection,
stock, real estate, or any other type of specialized giving,
it is the recommended that the Board of Trustees, together with
the Trust Officer (if warranted) be designated to have full power
to convert such type of gifts to cash. The proceeds will then
be added to the endowment funds and used in accordance with the
donor’s wishes and recommendations of the Board of Trustees.
- Gifts
to these funds are sometimes considered in the form of property
such as book, videos, record or equipment.
These materials are accepted only with the understanding that
they will be used as needed in accordance with the library’s
materials selection policy and may be weeded in accordance with
Sections 5 and 6 below.
- Any funds generated by a Friends group-not
from these donations are not to be deposited into these endowment
funds accounts.
- Any income from these gift/endowment accounts
shall be added to the accounts, separate from the regular library
budget. No part shall be spent for on-going maintenance or
operational costs.
All gifts shall be acknowledged by the recipient.
The Board of Trustees shall approve all expenditures
to be made from these funds. The Trust Officer shall provide
to the Board of Trustees a Semi-annual report on the funds in
the accounts with any additions, income and expenditures.
Individual, club business and corporate contributions
are welcome subject to this policy and guidelines. As arms of
the municipal government of the Village of Fremont, all funds
donated to the endowment/gift fund will be used for public purposes
and are therefore tax deductible according to current IRS regulation.
A receipt will be provided for this purpose upon request.
Section 5.
Maintaining the collection
Books may be repaired or rebound if the physical
condition warrants; items which are obsolete or not repairable
will be disposed of as indicated above.
Section 6.
Interlibrary Loan
Because of limited budget and space, the library
cannot provide all materials that are requested. Therefore, interlibrary
loan is used to obtain from other libraries those materials that
are beyond the scope of this library.
Section 7.
Weeding/Culling
An up-to-date, attractive and useful collection
is maintained through a continual discarding and replacing process.
Replacement of worn volumes is dependent upon current demand, usefulness,
more recent acquisitions and availability of newer editions.
Weeding is the responsibility of the Library Director.
Section 8.
Problem Areas
- The Neuschafer Community Library recognizes
that some materials are controversial and the any given item
may offend some patrons. Selection materials will not be made
on the basis of anticipated approval or disapproval, but solely
on the basis of the principles stated in this policy.
- Responsibility
for the reading of children rests with their parents or legal
guardians. Selection of library
materials will not be inhibited by the possibility that materials
may come into the possession of children.
- Library materials
will not be marked or identified to show approval or disapproval
of their contents,
and no library material will be sequestered to protect it from
injury or theft.
Section 9.
Challenged Materials
In the event that a patron of the Neuschafer
Community Library complains about a book (or any type of material)
that is a part of the permanent collection of the Neuschafer
Community Library, the following procedure is to be followed. All
complaints
are to be taken seriously
and the utmost courtesy will be extended tot he complainant.
- The patron will be asked to complete the
Challenged Materials form and submit it to a Neuschafer Community
Library staff member.
- The staff member must immediately sign and
date the form. The staff member must then save the original
for the Director and give a photocopy of the form to the patron.
- The
Director of the Neuschafer Community Library will then arrange
an interview with the patron who filed
the complaint as soon as possible. During the interview, the
Director will give the complainant a copy of the Neuschafer Community
Library Selection Policy, the American Library Association’s
Bill of Rights, and the Right to Read Statement.
- If the patron
is not satisfied with the interview with the Director, he/she
may request a hearing with
the Library Board Trustees of the Neuschafer Community Library.
- If the issue cannot be resolved with the Library Board, the
complainant can ask for a public hearing with
the Neuschafer Community Library Board of Trustees.
- Any decision
made by the Board of Trustees following the interviews and/or
hearing will be final.
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