1. Purpose
2. Scope Of The Collection
3. Criteria For Selection
4. Selection Tools
5. Collection Maintenance
6. Donations
7. Policy Implementation
8. Policy Review
9. Reconsideration Of Materials
10. Appendices
    1. Mission, Vision and Values Statement
    2. Library Bill of Rights
    3. Freedom to Read Statement
    4. Freedom to View Statement

I. Purpose
The purpose of the Materials Selection and Management Policy of the Vernon Area Public Library District is to provide guidelines by which Library materials will be acquired, withdrawn, disseminated and otherwise made accessible to the public. It incorporates the principles of the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement and the Freedom to View Statement of the American Library Association. It is intended to provide some specifications by which the Mission Statement of the Library will be realized.

Top of page

II. Scope of the Collection

1. Content of Collection
   The Library seeks to build and maintain a collection of materials to meet the informational and recreational needs of the residents of the Vernon Area Public Library District.
2. Diversity and Inclusiveness
   The Library seeks to develop a collection that includes information and literature representing the entire spectrum of human thought and experience. The collection provides, subject to the criteria of this policy, materials explaining all sides of issues. The collection does not advocate any specific historical, political or social perspective of events or ideas. Inclusion of materials in the collection does not indicate the approval or advocacy of the represented viewpoints by the Library.
3. Formats
   The collection includes materials in various formats, including books, magazines, newspapers, audio tapes, compact discs, video tapes, microforms, CD-ROMs and electronically accessed databases. As other technologies are developed, refined and become commercially viable, they will be evaluated for inclusion as well.
4. World Wide Web Access
   Recognizing that the Internet significantly and economically enhances the ability of the Library to provide information to its patrons, unfiltered access to the World Wide Web is provided. However, it is essential to understand that the Library exercises no control over the contents of sites accessible on the World Wide Web, and that the selection criteria listed in Section IV of this policy do not apply to any site visited or information received. Library staff will provide assistance and lists of recommended sites, but are not responsible for their contents, quality or use.
5. Materials for Youth
   The Youth Services collection contains materials designed for children from birth through junior high school, and their caregivers and teachers. These materials represent a wide range of reading and maturity levels, approaches and schools of thought to child rearing and development.

   It is the express responsibility of parents and other adult caregivers to monitor and select the materials, including Internet sites, that they find appropriate for their children. The Library does not deny access to any materials in any part of the collection, Youth or Adult, to any patron.

6. Support for Formal Education
   The collection contains materials that support a general curriculum of study through the community college level. It is not the intent of the Library, nor are there resources available, to develop a research or academic collection.

   Textbooks generally are not purchased, unless they represent the sole or best source of information on a specific subject.

7. Popular Materials
   A major focus of the collection is popular materials to meet the demands of the community. Consideration is given to popular culture, trends, and current issues.

Top of page

III. Criteria for Selection

A. The general criteria considered in selecting materials for the collection include but are not limited to the following:

1. Significance and permanent value to the existing collection
2. Qualifications of the author or producer
3. Suitability of subject and style for intended audience
4. Quality of format
5. Currency or timeliness, if applicable
6. Demand of patrons
7. Price
8. Attention given to the item by reviewers and the general news media
9. Technical quality of non-book materials

B. In selection decisions, consideration is given to the work as a whole. No work is excluded because of specific passages or pieces taken out of context.

Top of page

IV. Selection Tools

A. Materials primarily are selected from standard review sources, including but not limited to:

1. Professional journals, such as Library Journal and Booklist
2. Trade journals, such as Publisher's Weekly
3. Publisher's catalogs
4. "Recommended Reading" lists, such as the American Library Association's "Notable Books"
5. Review sections of major newspapers, such as The New York Times Book Review

B. Purchase suggestions from Library patrons are carefully considered, and selections are made subject to the requirements of this policy.

Top of page

V. Collection Maintenance

A. Withdrawal of Materials

1. On an ongoing basis, materials in the collection are reviewed according to original selection criteria. Those materials not meeting the criteria are removed from the collection.

2. Materials in poor physical condition and beyond repair are withdrawn, and replaced if appropriate.

3. Withdrawn materials may be sold in the Friends of the Library's book sales, donated to other nonprofit organizations, or otherwise discarded.

In order to meet the needs of the Library's patrons, multiple copies of popular items may be purchased. As the demand for these materials wanes, some may be withdrawn.

Top of page

VI. Donations

A. Materials

Donations of books and other materials are accepted with the understanding that they become the property of the Library, and that they may be used or disposed of as appropriate to meet the needs of the Library and the criteria of this policy. No donation of materials is accepted unless it is given to the Library without restrictions. The Library does not assess the value of donated materials.

B. Funds

Donations of funds for the purchase of materials are welcomed by the Library. The wishes and interests of the donor in regards to subject matter and format will be honored to the extent that they are consistent with the needs of the Library and the requirements of this policy. Requests for the purchase of specific titles are subject to the criteria listed in Section IV of this policy.

Top of page

VII. Policy Implementation

A. Adoption

In accordance with the Illinois Public Library District Act of 1991, this policy is adopted and established by the Board of Library Trustees of the Vernon Area Public Library District.

B. Authority and Responsibility

The Director has full authority and responsibility for the implementation of this policy. The responsibility is shared with and delegated to the Head of Adult Services, the Head of Youth Services and the Head of Circulation Services, and through them to qualified professional staff in each of those departments.

C. Procedures and Processes

Staff in both the Adult and Youth Services departments shall devise, implement, monitor and modify as necessary procedures and processes to fully and efficiently implement this policy. Input and cooperation from other departments may be required, and all procedures are subject to the review of the Director.

Top of page

VIII. Policy Review

A. Staff Review
This policy shall be reviewed for viability and compliance by Department Heads biennially. Recommendations for revisions shall be forwarded by the Director to the Board of Library Trustees.

B. Board Review
As required by the Illinois Public Library District Act of 1991, the Board of Library Trustees shall review and amend as necessary this policy biennially.

Top of page

IX. RECONSIDERATION OF MATERIALS

1. Individuals who wish to request that the Library reconsider the inclusion or exclusion of a specific item in the collection may complete a "Request for Reconsideration" form. The request will be reviewed by the Head of Adult Services or the Head of Youth Services and the Director. A written reply will be sent to the individual. If that individual is unsatisfied with the response, the request for reconsideration will be forwarded through the Director to the Board of Library Trustees for its review and final decision.
2. No item will be removed from the collection for the sole reason that the philosophy, perspective, ideas, or views contained in the item is opposed by the individual requesting reconsideration.

Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form

Click here for printable form

Adopted by the Board of Library Trustees
Vernon Area Public Library District
November 16, 1998

Top of page

X. APPENDICES
Vernon Area Public Library District
Materials Selection and Management Policy

APPENDIX A: MISSION, VISION AND VALUES STATEMENT

APPENDIX B: 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 services.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
5. A person's right to use a Library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces 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.

Adopted June 18, 1948
Amended February 2, 1961; January 23, 1980
Reaffirmed January 23, 1996 by the ALA Council

Top of page

APPENDIX C: FREEDOM TO READ STATEMENT

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove books from sale, to censor textbooks, to label "controversial" books, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. Those actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as citizens devoted to the use of books and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating them, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.

We are deeply concerned about these attempts at suppression. Most such attempts rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary citizen, by exercising his critical judgement, will accept the good and reject the bad. The censors, public and private, assume that they should determine what is good and what is bad for their fellow-citizens.

We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to reject it. We do not believe they need the help of censors to assist them in this task. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.

We are aware, of course, that books are not alone in being subjected to efforts of suppression. We are aware that these efforts are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, films, radio and television. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy.

Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of uneasy change and pervading fear. Especially when so many of our apprehensions are directed against an ideology, the expression of a dissident idea becomes a thing feared in itself, and we tend to move against it as against a hostile deed, with suppression.

Top of page

And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with stress.

Now as always in our history, books are among our greatest instruments of freedom. They are almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. They are the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. They are essential to the extended discussion which serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.

We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures towards conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.

The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free men will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.

Top of page

We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.
   
   Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until his idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept which challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.
2. Publishers, librarians and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation contained in the books they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what books would be published or circulated.
   
   Publishers and librarians serve the education process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by a single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one man can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to determine the acceptability of a book on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
   
   A book should be judged as a book. No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views of private lives of its creators. No society of free men can flourish which draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the tastes of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
   
   To some, much of modern literature is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent serious artists from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters taste differs, and taste cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised which will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept with any book the prejudgment of a label characterizing the book or author as subversive or dangerous.
   
   The idea of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for the citizens. It presupposes that each individual must be directed in making up his mind about the ideas he examines. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people's freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.
   
   It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society each individual is free to determine for himself what he wishes to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive.
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, bookmen can demonstrate that the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good idea.
   
   The freedom to read is of little consequence when expended on the trivial; it is frustrated when the reader cannot obtain matter for his purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of their freedom and integrity, and the enlargement of their service to society, requires of all bookmen the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all citizens the fullest of their support.

We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of books. We do so because we believe that they are good, possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many people. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous, but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

Top of page

Adopted June 25, 1953 by the ALA Council
Revised January 28, 1972

APPENDIX D: FREEDOM TO VIEW

The freedom to view, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In a free society, there is no place for censorship of any medium of expression. Therefore, we affirm these principles:

1. It is in the public interest to provide the broadest possible access to films and other audiovisual materials because they have proven to be among the most effective means for the communication of ideas. Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.
2. It is in the public interest to provide for our audiences films and other audiovisual materials which represent a diversity of views and expression. Selection of a work does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content.
3. It is our professional responsibility to resist the constraint of labeling or prejudging a film on the basis of the moral, religious or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker, or on the basis of controversial content.
4. It is our professional responsibility to contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public's freedom to view.

Adopted June 28, 1979 by the ALA