1MORRISON-TALBOTT LIBRARY MATERIAL SELECTION POLICY

The Morrison-Talbott Library was established to provide materials which

communicate from one person to another man's heritage of experience from both
the past and the present, and to make these materials easily available to all people
within its service area.
Free and convenient access to the world of ideas, information, and the
creative experience is of vital importance today. Therefore, the Morrison-Talbott
Library incorporates in its policy The Library Bill of Rights, The Freedom to Read
Statement and The Freedom to View Statement, as adopted by the American
Library Association. These three documents are appended to this policy.
The library acquires:
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Source materials which document and illuminate the past.

Contemporary materials representing various points of view, which are
of current interest and possible future significance, including materials
which reflect current conditions, trends, and controversies.
Materials designed to increase the individual's ability to function
effectively as a productive member of society.
Materials which provide a meaningful aesthetic experience, stimulate
the imagination and increase the individual's potential for creativity.
Materials, including the experimental or controversial, which extend
the individual's capacity to understand the world in which he lives.
Materials which entertain and enhance the individual's enjoyment of
life.

To build collections of merit and significance, materials will be considered in

terms of the following criteria:
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Suitability of physical form for library use.

Suitability of subject and style for intended audience.
Present and potential relevance to community needs.
Comprehensiveness and depth of treatment.
Representation of important movement, genre, trend or national
culture.
Representation of challenging, though extreme or minority, point of
view.
Importance as a document of the times.
Relations to existing collection or resources of area libraries and other
material on the subject.
Reputation, skill, competence, and purpose of author.
Attention of critics, reviewers, and the public.

Textbooks, as such, will not be purchased unless the material is available in

no other format.
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The selection of the library materials is vested in the Library Director, who
typically delegates or shares this responsibility with designated members of the
staff. Any book or library material so selected shall be considered to have been
selected by the Library Board.
Suggestions for materials to be purchased are always welcome from any
Board member, library staff member, or patron. All requests are given serious
consideration. The patron will be informed of the Librarys decision on any written
request. An attempt will be made to borrow, through interlibrary loan, any
requested item which is out of print, or that the Library determines does not meet
the criteria for purchase.
Gifts and endowments enable the enrichment and expansion of many Library
programs, and are always welcome. Gifts of money should be made available to
the Library Board, which is the governing body of this Library.
Gifts of books and other materials will be screened by the same standards as
are all other materials. The Library's acceptance of a gift is not a guarantee that
such gift will be processed into the regular collection and made available to the
public. Special book plates are inserted to identify gifts and memorials, where
requested, but with this exception, gifts are to be considered part of the regular
collection.
By accepting and using such gifts, the library assumes no special obligation
to the donors. Gifts which do not meet the Library's selection criteria are disposed
of in any way the Library sees fit.
In order to maintain a vital, interesting, and usable collection, the Library
continually removes from its collection those items which, through usage or
passage of time, are no longer suitable for use or necessary. Some of the basis for
withdrawal of such material are:
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Outdated information.
Trivial subject matter.
Mediocrity of subject matter.
Superseded editions.
Unneeded duplicate materials.
Worn out and shabby materials.

The Library Board recognizes that censorship is purely an individual matter

and declares that while anyone is free to reject for himself books which he does
not approve of, he cannot exercise this right of censorship to restrict the freedom
of others to read.

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Responsibility for the reading choices of children rests with their parents or
legal guardians. Selection for the adult collection will not be inhibited by the
possibility that materials may inadvertently fall into the hands of children. An open
shelf policy will be followed at all times.
No books or library materials shall be removed from the Library by reason of
censorship unless under the order of a court or competent jurisdiction.

Reviewed & Revised: 3/1999, 8/11/2014

C:\MTL\Bylaws\MSMaterialSelectPolicy2002.wpd

1/11/1999