PURPOSE

 
The Person County Public Library exists to serve its community and is committed to providing services and resources to meet the informational, educational, cultural, artistic and recreational needs and interests of its residents without discrimination and without favor.

The purpose of the Person County Public Library Collection Development Policy is to provide framework for the creation and maintenance of a collection of resources that supports the community. The library will encourage the use of resources to assist individuals in their pursuit of the ideas, information, and creative experience of the world.

This policy will serve as a guideline for selection and acquisition of materials, acceptance of gifts, ongoing management, and reconsideration of materials in the collection. This document cannot cover every situation and is not intended to replace the professional judgment of the staff librarians.
The library is dedicated to the protection of the free expression of ideas and the private reading, listening, and viewing rights of individuals as protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and as set forth by the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read, and Freedom to View statements.

COLLECTION GOALS

 
The library's collections include materials in a variety of formats, at many intellectual levels, to serve a wide range of ages, reading, listening and viewing skills and educational backgrounds. The library collection will be selected and maintained to enable each person to find the materials and information that they want according to their own free choice. The collection, taken as a whole, will be an unbiased and diverse source of information representing as many viewpoints as possible. Materials are not excluded, removed or suppressed because of the language used or views presented. Inclusion of an item in the collection does not constitute endorsement of its content by the library, nor does it guarantee the accuracy of the information contained therein.

ACCESS

 
The Person County Public Library Advisory Board recognizes that full, confidential, and unrestricted access to information is essential in order for patrons to exercise their constitutional rights. The Person County Public Library Advisory Board believes reading, listening, and viewing are individual private matters. While anyone is free to select or reject materials for themselves or their own minor children, the freedom of others to read or inquire will not be restricted.
The library does not stand in loco parentis. Parents and legal guardians are responsible for the use of the library's collection by children. It is only the parent or legal guardian who may restrict their children from access to library materials or services. The library collection will be organized, marked, and maintained to help people find the materials they want, however materials will not be restricted, sequestered, altered or labeled by the library because of controversy about the author or the subject matter. The selection of library materials will not be limited by the possibility that items may be viewed or checked out by minors.

SELECTION AUTHORITY & DECISIONS

 
The ultimate responsibility for the direction, purpose and scope of the Collection Development policy rests with the Advisory Board. The authority and the responsibility for the selection of library materials is delegated to the Library Director by the Advisory Board and, under their direction, to the professional staff who are qualified for this activity by reason of education, training, and experience.
The public is strongly encouraged to suggest items, topics or authors they would like to see included in the collection. Requests may be met through purchasing, reciprocal borrowing, electronic resources or other means.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

 
While a single standard cannot be applied to each potential item for selection, materials are judged by appropriate criteria. In some instances, these criteria include artistic merit, scholarship, or the value of the material to the informational needs of the community. In other instances, the criterion may be substantial demand.
Some selection criteria, which may be considered, include:
• Demonstrated or perceived interest, need or demand by library users
• Contemporary significance, popular interest, timeliness or permanent value
• Quality, including accuracy, timeliness, clarity and suitability of the format for public lending
• Reputation of the publisher or producer; authority and significance of the author, composer, etc.
• To provide support to the general curriculum of the local schools
• Requests from patrons
• Suggestions from review sources including, but not limited to Library Journal, School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, New York Times Book Review, Horn Book, and other popular review journals, the media and websites

The library aims for a broad representation of viewpoints and looks for materials that will supplement, expand upon or support the existing collection. Some materials may be selected solely because they contribute to the diversity of viewpoints represented in the collection. Individual items, which in and of themselves may be controversial or offensive to some patrons or staff, may be selected if their inclusion will contribute to the range of viewpoints in the collection as a whole. A balanced collection reflects a diversity of materials, not an equality of numbers.

DISCARDING MATERIALS

The Person County Public Library Advisory Board recognizes that discarding materials is an important part of maintaining an outstanding collection. The authority and responsibility for collection maintenance and for the disposition of withdrawn materials rests with the Library Director and professional staff. Accordingly, the library’s collections are evaluated by the professional staff on an ongoing and systematic basis.

Guidelines for discarding materials complement, but not replace, individual professional judgment and the knowledge of community interests and informational requirements. Items that are outdated, superseded, are no longer of interest, experience insufficient use, are restricted by space limitations or are in poor condition may be discarded, offered to other libraries, or for sale to the public with proceeds going to the Friends of the Person County Public Library, or recycled.
Materials will not be removed because of controversy.

CHALLENGES TO MATERIALS

 
The Person County Public Library Advisory Board considers all materials selected under this policy to be constitutionally protected under the First Amendment of the United States. If a patron claims that a particular item is not constitutionally protected, the burden of proof rests with that patron. If a court having jurisdiction over the Library rules that any material in the collection is unprotected by the Constitution, such material will be removed immediately. Materials under court consideration will remain available to patrons until a court ruling is made and all appeals are exhausted.

The Person County Public Library Advisory Board recognizes the right of individuals or groups to question materials in the collection. Patrons who have concerns regarding the content of any library materials will be asked to formally present their opinions by completing the Request For Reconsideration of Library Materials Form and submitting it to the Library Director for consideration by the Review Committee. Anonymous phone calls, rumors, or voiced concerns will not be forwarded to the Review Committee for consideration.

The library will give serious consideration to each opinion so expressed. Material under consideration will remain available to patrons until a decision is made. Because of the need to meet individual as well as group preferences, the number of forms received will not be a factor in reaching a recommendation.

The Review Committee comprised qualified Librarians and Collection Development professionals employed by the library. Committee members will make a recommendation based on their judgment as to whether the material was appropriately selected and made accessible under this policy.
The Library Director will make a final decision regarding the material and reply to the individual or groups in writing as soon as practical. If the person submitting the form is not satisfied with the Library Director’s response, he or she may discuss their concerns with the Person County Public Library Advisory Board during the “Public Comment” portion of the agenda at the next regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The Person County Public Library Advisory Board will consider the issue and will render a final decision in the matter.