The Hunterdon County Library Collection Maintenance Policy is a collection of policies and procedures relating to all materials and resources obtained and retained by the library. Collection maintenance is an interpretative set of processes applied by professional librarians to build a collection to meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of library patrons. The library continually expands the collection in all formats to reflect the needs and interests of the community. All ages, reading levels, and points of view are considered.
This formal policy serves five vital purposes:
The Collection Maintenance Policy will be reviewed on a regular basis.
Collection Scope
The Hunterdon County Library System strives to provide a well-rounded, broadly based, and diverse collection of print, non-print, and digital resources across a wide spectrum of subjects, and expressing a range of viewpoints. The library’s collection maintenance objectives are:
Responsibility for Materials Selection
Delegated staff oversee the selection process, utilizing critical reviews and other appropriate selection tools. Delegated staff will also track collection expenditures by selector and selection area, to ensure the even flow of new resources to the library throughout the year.
Intellectual Freedom & Access
The Hunterdon County Library Commission and staff believe that the right to read is an important part of the intellectual freedom that is basic to democracy. The Commission, the Library Director, and the library staff recognize the responsibility of the Hunterdon County Library System (HCLS) to provide materials representing diverse points of view on different topics.
The presence of an item in the library’s collection does not indicate an endorsement of the item’s content. No materials are excluded or removed from the library on the basis of the author’s race or nationality, their political, social or religious beliefs. Selection is made solely on the merits of the work in relation to the collection as a whole and in relation to the needs of library patrons.
The library follows the principles presented in the following:
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement
http://www.ala.org/rt/vrt/professionalresources/vrtresources/freedomtoview
Selection Criteria
To build a collection of merit and significance, materials must be measured by objective guidelines. All acquisitions, whether purchased or donated, are considered in terms of the criteria listed below. An item need not meet all criteria to be acceptable.
Materials selection is a discerning and deliberate process, involving general knowledge of the subject and its important literature, familiarity with the library’s collection, an awareness of bibliographies on the subject, and an understanding of the community’s needs and interests.
There is no single standard that can be used to evaluate the numerous and varied types of material in the library’s collection; however, the following are general areas of consideration:
The library does not purchase textbooks or technical manuals for the benefit of a single individual. The collection is not developed to support academic study, but rather to serve as a supplementary resource for educational curricula.
New formats will be added to the library’s collection when industry reports, public library practice, and evidence of community demand make it clear that the proposed new format will be broadly accepted and utilized. The library will keep abreast of new formats and, when possible, will acquire and facilitate new ways of accessing content.
Collections
Adult Collection
Based on the selection criteria outlined above, the library collects and maintains a wide variety of materials to meet the needs of Hunterdon County’s adult community. The adult collection consists of the following categories:
Physical items are considered for addition to our collection on their merit and are neither purchased nor excluded because of their MPAA rating. Any rating information included on the packaging is left as is.
Films provided through library-acquired streaming services deliver access to a wide range of subjects and are provided as a collection. Titles are not individually selected by the library.
The collection serves as an entry point for those wishing to research the history and development of Hunterdon County and the communities within the county, or trace family relationships. Researchers may be referred to outside entities for access to more advanced resources. Materials in this collection are non-circulating.
The collection is intended to provide items that will save our residents’ resources, including money and space, for items that they might only need to use on occasion or in specific, limited circumstances. The Library of Things can also help residents try new things before committing to an individual purchase.
Children’s Collection
The Youth Services collection serves youth from infancy through grade 6. The collection provides a broad range of materials to stimulate interest and satisfy curiosity across the spectrum of age, interest, and ability. A variety of viewpoints and treatments is sought. The library’s collection supplements, but is not intended to support, any specific educational curriculum.
Material is selected from respected review sources based on excellence of various factors, including text, illustrations, information content, format, interest, and suitability for children.
While physical format is not a barrier to inclusion in the collection, some formats are avoided for practical reasons. These include pop-up and mechanical books, spiral bound volumes, and books or periodicals designed to be written in, cut apart, or otherwise altered by the reader. Books in a series are evaluated in terms of their own merit and may be acquired without the inclusion of other titles in the same series.
Parents and legal guardians have full responsibility for overseeing their children’s use of library materials.
Teen Collection
The teen collection, geared to the reading interests of young people grades 7 through 12, consists primarily of materials which widen the boundaries of an adolescent’s thinking, enrich his or her life, and help fulfill emotional and recreational needs. Titles selected for this collection may duplicate titles in the children’s or adult collections. Quality books written for teens with controversial themes and treatments are not excluded.
Requests for Purchase
Hunterdon County Library seeks to develop collections which serve the interests and needs of the community by inviting cardholders to request materials for purchase. All suggestions for purchase are subject to the previously outlined selection criteria. Items are not automatically purchased and added to the collection. If the Library does not purchase a requested title, every effort will be made to fill the request through interlibrary loan.
Gifts & Donations Materials Policy
The library welcomes donations of materials, and donations of money designated for the purchase of materials, with the following stipulations:
Reconsideration of Library Materials
Any patron may request that the Hunterdon County Library (HCL) review a selection or withdrawal decision. Procedures for reconsideration of a material are outlined in the Hunterdon County Library Procedure for Resource Reconsideration. Those who wish reconsideration of a specific title should complete the HCL Reconsideration of Library Materials and Electronic Resources Form and read the additional supplied materials. Supplied materials include:
the Hunterdon County Library Procedure for Resource Reconsideration, HCL Collection Management Policy, the American Library Association (ALA) Library Bill of Rights, and the ALA Freedom to Read Statement.
Collection Maintenance: Withdrawal of Materials
To maintain an up-to-date and useful collection in the space allotted for print materials, ongoing evaluation and judicious withdrawal of items from the collection by professional staff is necessary. Materials are withdrawn if they have little or no use, have been superseded by a more recent edition or better work on the same subject, or if they are in poor physical condition. Selectors will make replacement decisions about material withdrawn due to loss or physical
damage.
The library’s designated staff will evaluate the materials for replacement and/or discard on an ongoing basis, using a variety of tools such as collection management software, or the CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding, www.tsl.texas.gov/ld/pubs/crew/index.html) evaluation method developed by Joseph P. Segal.
Materials withdrawn from the Hunterdon County Library System will be disposed of in a manner consistent with their quality and condition.
1/20/71; Revised 2/18/22
Bunnvale (908) 638-8523 ext. 401 7 Bunnvale Road, Califon, NJ 07830 Sun-Tue: CLOSED Wed: 1pm-8pm Thu-Fri: 9am-5pm Sat: 9am-2pm |
Frenchtown (908) 996-4788 29 Second Street, Frenchtown, NJ 08825 Sun: CLOSED Mon-Tue: 3:30pm-7pm Wed-Thu: 9:30am-1pm Fri-Sat: CLOSED |
Holland Free Public Library (908) 995-4767 129 Spring Mills Road, Milford, NJ 08848 Sun-Mon: CLOSED Tue:1pm-6pm Wed-Thu: 1pm-6pm Fri: 10am-6pm Sat*: 10am-1pm *Closed on Saturdays in August |
Readington Township Library (908) 534-4421 255 Main Street, Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889 Sun: CLOSED Mon-Tue: 9am-5pm Wed: 9am-7pm Thu: CLOSED Fri: 9am-5pm Sat*: 9am-12pm *Closed on Saturdays in August |
Tewksbury Public Library (908) 439-3761 PO Box 49 31 Old Turnpike Road, Oldwick, NJ 08858 Sun-Mon: CLOSED Tue-Thu: 9am-6pm Fri: 9am-5pm Sat: 9am-1pm |
Three Bridges Library (908) 782-2908 449 Main Street, Three Bridges, NJ 08887 Sun: CLOSED Mon: 9am-5pm Tue: CLOSED Wed: 9am-6pm Thu-Fri: 9am-5pm Sat*: 9am-12pm *Closed on Saturdays in August |