Materials Selection Policy

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE,
LIBRARY COLLECTION (Revised 9/11/2001)

Brooks Memorial Library collects materials needed to enhance the life of individuals and groups. It organizes and makes these materials convenient and easy to use. Provision of materials means more than occasional availability. It means a supply sufficient and varied enough to make the Library a dependable source of information for our borrowers. In addition to books, the Library selects and provides magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, documents, microfilm, videos, access to electronic resources, and other electronic and nonprint materials.

BR 3-2(C)
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE,
MISSION STATEMENT
(Revised June 1996) (Revised 9/11/2001) (Revised 9/2007)

The mission of Brooks Memorial Library is to support collections and services that serve the learning, information, personal enrichment, and leisure needs of people of all ages in the Brattleboro community.

LIBRARY SERVICE RESPONSES (Rev. 9/2007)

The service priorities below are what Brooks Memorial Library plans to offer to library users to meet specific community needs:

1. Provide access to materials to read, view, and to listen for pleasure—BML users have resources to enhance their leisure time and any help necessary in choosing these resources. The resources may include books, magazines, nonprint media, digital materials, fine arts, and exhibits.
   
2. Answer questions, and help patrons find, evaluate, and use information –-Library users will have available knowledgeable staff and sufficient online and print resources to answer questions on a wide array of topics and research interests. Users will also have access to information on critical issues that affect their lives
   
3. Create young readers and help support students—Library users in the pre-school years will have resources, programs, and services to help then read, write, and listen. K-12 students will have access to resources they need to succeed in school and to enrich their lives.
   
4. Connect to the online world—Library users will have high-speed/wireless access to the digital world to ensure that everyone can take advantage of the ever-growing digital resources through the Internet without restrictive economic or technological barriers.
   
5. Inform citizens for lifelong learning—Library users will have information they need to participate fully as global citizen and the resources needed to explore topics of personal interest to help them learn throughout their lives. The library will also be a source of information for community programs, services, and activities as well as a major source of Brattleboro local history and the primary source of genealogical information.

BR 3-2(D)
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE,
AFFIRMATION OF PRINCIPLES OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

The Board of Trustees and the Library Director of Brooks Memorial Library,
Brattleboro, Vermont support and affirm the principles of Intellectual Freedom as outlined in the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights and The Freedom To Read Statement and Goals (see appendixes 1 and 2).
A person’s right to use the library will not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

BR 3-3
MATERIALS SELECTION
(Revised October 1993) (Revised 11/14/2002)

The purpose of the MATERIALS SELECTION POLICY is to outline the general considerations upon which the Brooks Memorial Library bases the selection of the materials in its collection. Collection Development Guidelines are used by the librarians to establish appropriate selection criteria for all fiction and nonfiction categories based on current and desired levels of materials in the collection, usage as determined by circulation, earliest acceptable copyright date, and average number of transactions.

The Board of Trustees, recognizing the varied backgrounds, interests, and needs of the community, declares as a matter of selection policy that:

1. Materials selection is and shall be vested in the Library Director by reason of special education, training and experience.
   
2. Selection of books, periodicals, and/or other materials shall be based on their contribution to the interests, positive growth, and enlightenment of all people in the community. Race, nationality, or the political or social views of the author shall not be a determining factor in book selection.
   
3. The Library’s materials selection reflects the importance of basic core materials of permanent value and materials on current issues and problems. Good working collections including standard works, classics, and popular titles are acquired in all needed fields.
   
4. One of the essential purposes of the Library is to provide a source where free individuals may examine many points of view and make their own decisions. To this end, the Library provides materials representing a variety of approaches to public issues of a controversial nature.
   
5. The Library’s children’s materials are purchased for a wide range of ages, abilities, and interests, and a variety of reading levels. The Library is also mindful of the needs of those who serve children: parents, teachers, and youth group workers, and authors and artists in the children’s field.
   Responsibility for a child’s reading and access to Library materials rests with the parents and/or legal guardians; selection of Library materials will not be influenced by the possibility that an individual’s parent or guardian may object.
   
6. The Library recognizes its obligation to provide reference and research materials in response to specific questions and for continuing research. Specialized collections in universities and colleges in Vermont and New England which are intended primarily for exhaustive research are available through interlibrary loan. Therefore, the Library weighs carefully its purchasing of very specialized works in certain fields.
   
7. The Library does not voice particular beliefs or views, nor is the selection of any given item equivalent to endorsement of the viewpoint of the author expressed within. Library materials will not be marked or identified to show approval or disapproval of the contents, and no cataloged book or other item will be sequestered, except for the express purpose of protecting it from injury or theft.
   
8. The Library is aware that one or more persons may take issue with the selection of any specific item, and provides a format for patrons to use in these cases (see BR 3-6).

BR 3-4
WEEDING
(Revised October 1993) (Revised 11/14/2002)

The purpose of the WEEDING POLICY is to affirm the need for weeding the Library collection, and to provide general guidelines for the weeding process. Collection Development Guidelines are used by the librarians to establish specific criteria for weeding based on usage, copyright, and condition for all fiction and nonfiction categories. In general, the Weeding Policy affirms the following principles:

1. The Board of Trustees of the Brooks Memorial Library, recognizing that a small public library best serves the community by providing a collection of materials which is actively used, supports the concept of regular weeding of all Library materials.
   
2. Regular weeding maintains the dynamic quality of the collection. Continuous review and evaluation is important not only for saving space but to maintain the collection’s accuracy, check its physical condition, and assess its strengths and weaknesses.
   
3. Decisions about which materials to discard shall be made by the Library Director based on standards contained in references used by professional librarians, such as the Public Library Catalog and Fiction Catalog and the C.R.E.W. manual for weeding library collections (published by the
   University of Texas).
   4. Disposition of discarded materials shall be left to the discretion of the Library Director.