Mission
Our mission is to empower and connect our diverse community by providing equal access to resources that educate, enrich, and entertain. All are free to explore and connect.
Purpose of the Collection Development Policy
Due to the volume of publishing, as well as the limitations of budget and space, the library must have a selection policy with which to meet community needs and interest.
The Collection Development Policy ensures the Wautoma Public Library’s collection addresses the needs of Wautoma’s community while creating meaningful and unique experiences and offering inspiration for the individual user.
Collection Development is the ongoing selection and maintenance of the Library’s materials and resources. Collection and resource management is the responsibility of the Library Director, within the context of policies adopted by the Library Board. The work of evaluation, selection, acquisition, maintenance, and deselection is conducted by library staff under the direction of the Director.
The Library provides materials and resources reflecting a wide range of topics, views, and opinions, selected to satisfy the tastes, needs, and interests of the community. The collection and resources include literary, cultural, educational, informational, and recreational items.
Differing viewpoints on controversial issues will be included. Items may be added to the collection that may be unorthodox or unpopular or may be controversial to some in the community, yet meaningful and significant to others. Works should be viewed as a whole, evaluated as complete works and not on the basis of particular parts or passages. The Library’s acquisition of these items does not constitute endorsement of their content.
The Library will not exclude items on the basis of race, creed, color, nationality, sexual orientation, sexual identity, or the expressed political or social views of the author, actor, artist, etc., connected to the work. No group or individual may impose restrictions to access, standards of taste, morality, subject matter, or partisan emphasis upon the library’s collection, since all political, religious, and social opinions may be represented in a public library.
Library patrons make their own choices as to what they will read, watch, view, and use. The Library supports the right of each family to decide which items are appropriate for use by their own children and within their family. Responsibility for a minor’s use of library materials lies with the parent/guardian. Selection of adult materials will not be restricted by the possibility that these materials may come into the possession of minors. The Library does not act in place of the parent/guardian (in loco parentis).
Criteria for Selection
To build a collection of merit, materials and resources are evaluated according to various criteria, including, but not limited to:
- Relevance to interest and needs of the community
- Professional or literary reputation of the author, publisher, producer, artists, creator, etc.
- Extent of publicity, critical review, and current or anticipated demand in community
- Date of publication, timeliness, and permanent value
- Relevance to the existing collection’s strengths and weaknesses
- Suitability of format to library circulation and use
- Price, availability of item in system, and library materials budget
- Availability of space in library collections
Materials that have not been selected for the library’s collection may be accessed and available through the Winnefox Library System, through cooperative networking, through interlibrary loan, and by direct referral.
The Library will not restrict access to any library materials in public areas. All library cardholders may check out materials in accordance with circulation policies and procedures. The decision to place Library materials in age-related categories and to house materials in designated areas of the Library is based on the targeted audience for the material, reading level, language comprehension, etc. Determining the appropriateness of materials for minors is the sole responsibility of the parent/guardian.
The library encourages input from members of the community. A suggestion for purchase procedure enables Patrons from the community to request that a particular item or subject be purchased by the Library. All suggestions for purchase are subject to the same selection criteria as other materials and resources. Not all suggested items will be purchased by the library. Items not purchased may be available through interlibrary loan.
Gifts and Donations of Library Materials
The library accepts gifts of books and other materials with the understanding that they will be added to the collection only if appropriate and needed. Unless otherwise agreed upon in writing, gift materials are accepted with the understanding that if they will not be added to the collection, they may be donated to the Friends of the Library for use as they see fit. Gifts to the library are subject to evaluation, deselection, disposal, etc. when the items become worn, obsolete, infrequently used, and/or no longer deemed useful or relevant.
Memorial gifts of books or money for specific titles are also accepted after consultation with the library director. Suitable bookplates will be placed in the memorial items. Book selection will be made by the director if no specific book is requested.
By law, the library is not allowed to appraise the value of donated materials, though it can provide an acknowledgment of receipt of the items if requested by the donor.
Weeding and Withdrawal
Library staff will systematically and regularly review and evaluate the existing collection and resources with the goal of maintaining quality and vitality. Library staff will routinely remove items that are worn, obsolete, infrequently used, and/or no longer deemed useful or relevant. Discarded materials may be donated to the Friends of the Library for disposal as they see fit.
Request for Reconsideration
Members of the community wishing to recommend the removal or reclassification of a particular item or resource may submit a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials form (attachment 4). The request will be reviewed by the Library Director and staff. After evaluating the request, the Library Director will respond to the patron. If not satisfied with the Director’s decision, the patron may appeal to the Library Board. The Library Board’s decision is final.
Requests for Reconsideration may only be made on items owned by the Wautoma Public Library. Electronic resources and items available digitally/electronically, either through direct subscription or via consortium, including but not limited to Overdrive and hoopla, cannot be considered for reconsideration. An individual requesting a change to an electronic item must appeal to the owning entity.
The following Reconsideration of Library Materials policy details the procedure for requesting a review of library materials or resources.
Reconsideration of Library Materials
Procedures have been established that will ensure consideration of any request for restriction or removal of any item in the library’s collection. However, until such an examination has been made and a decision has been reached by the Library Director, no such restriction or removal shall take place.
If, for any reason, a patron or person from the community objects to a Library material’s presence in the Library or to its placement in the Library, the patron has the right to question that presence or placement.
Patrons may speak to the Director about their concerns, and they may fill out a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials form. (A separate form must be completely filled out with enough detail to understand the specific objection(s) put forth, for each item requested for reconsideration.) If a form is submitted, the patron will receive a formal written response from the Library Director. Patrons not satisfied with the response may appeal the decision to the Library Board. The decision of the Library Board shall be final.
The Library Board may hold a public hearing at which testimony for and against a reconsideration issue would be taken. Library Board members should not engage in discussion or debate on the issue at the hearing; the purpose of the hearing is to receive input from the public. Board members may answer clarifying questions during the public hearing but should place the matter on a future meeting agenda for additional discussion or deliberation. The reconsideration issue is not decided at the public hearing, but at a future open Library Board meeting.
Any deliberations involving a reconsideration by the Library Board will be made at open Library Board meetings. Individual Library Board members may not comment on, debate, or indicate how they might vote on a reconsideration issue before the Library Board meeting at which the issue is to be voted on.
Requests to reconsider Library materials which have undergone the reconsideration process in the past three years will be referred to the Library Director. Repeated or redundant requests by an individual or a group within the community to reconsider materials with differing titles but similar content will be restricted. If the Library Director concludes that a request is redundant, the Director will notify the complainant(s), that the item(s) in question, or similar items, having already undergone a thorough review and reconsideration process, will not be reevaluated. The Library Director’s decision may be appealed to the Library Board, whose decision will be final.
Adopted and approved by the Wautoma Library Board of Trustees 10/08/2024