JHentzen
LIB 266-14
Collection Management—Policy Comparison Chart
February 15, 2010
Compare/Contrast Collection Development Policies
Idaho Falls Public Library
Characteristics Idaho Falls, ID
www.ifpl.org
Element 1 - Overview
Mission and Mission statement:
goals The Idaho Falls Public Library
provides materials of popular
interest to the community,
emphasizes and encourages
reading by children, supplements
the learning and educational needs
of the community, and furnishes
timely, accurate information.
Description of IFPL serves the whole of Bonneville
service County—estimated 80,000 people.
area/communit
y Idaho Falls is the main commercial/
cultural area for many of the small
towns of Southeastern Idaho
(approx. within a 100+ mile radius).
The town is predominately of one
religion (LDS) with a growing
population of Hispanics due to the
agriculture work for migrant
families.
With the Idaho Room, IFPL also
offers historians and visitors
interesting information about the
area.
Longview Public Library
Longview, TX
http://www.longview.lib.tx.us
Mission statement:
The mission of the Longview Public
Library is to improve the quality of
life for the client and the community:
By demonstrating professional
leadership in designing, developing,
and managing library collections,
systems, and services;
By bringing people and resources
together, closing the gap between
the individual and the record of
knowledge and culture;
By providing current information;
By cooperating with other libraries,
institutions, and agencies to provide
resources otherwise unavailable;
By offering a broad and diverse
range of resources to entertain and
enlighten.
LPL serves a population of about
78,000 in East Texas.
*The City of Longview includes three
public school districts serving
approximately 19,000 students. In
addition, there are three university
and college campuses within the city
and one other in Gregg County.
* Approximately sixty percent
(61.1%) of the population age 16
and over are in the labor force. Of
those, four percent (4.4%) are
unemployed. Approximately thirty
(30.3%) of the workforce is
employed in management,
professional, and related
occupations; sixteen percent
(15.7%) is in service occupations;
twenty seven percent (27.0%) is in
sales and office occupations; less
than one percent (0.3%) is in
1
 farming, fishing, and forestry
occupations; ten percent (9.9%) is
involved in construction, extraction,
and maintenance occupations; and
seventeen percent (16.7%) is
production, transportation, and
material moving occupations.
Nearly sixty percent (54.8%) of
families report that all parents in the
home are working.

*With full awareness of the

pluralistic nature of its community,
the Longview Public Library
endeavors to make available
materials and services reflecting the
needs of all its citizens. The Library
not only has an obligation to provide
the best service possible to its
regular patrons but to search for
materials and methods that will
assist those in the community who
typically do not utilize the library.
Toward this end, the library will
regularly study its community to
discern unmet needs and to
anticipate future needs.

Identification Children, young adults, and adults.
of service
clientele/patro *often titles are offered in several
ns formats: regular print, large print,
audio and Spanish.
Statement IFPL works to provide patrons a
about wide-range of reading materials,
collection and understands that the majority
parameters of patrons are using the library for
entertainment rather than
educational pursuits. This is made
plain to us by the types of requests
the patrons make for consideration.
Description of IFPL works to ensure the most
the types of popular titles are made available for
programs or adult and children patrons—without
patron needs long waits, as well as offering
programs that challenge readers to
that collection expand their reading habits.
must meet
Children, young adults, and adults.
Every subject area has its own
parameters, but most of the
parameters rely on what is current
and what the specific patrons of the
subject area are looking for.
“This is the process used to select
the materials of interest to library
patrons and to support the
Library’s roles in the community.
It also includes the process for
maintaining the collection through
judicial withdrawal of unneeded
items.”

Element 2 – subjects & formats collected

Collections *Fiction *Adult Spanish
divided into *Non-Fiction *Audio/Visual
subject areas *Reference *Children's
*Idaho Falls/Idaho (local *Fiction
information) *Genealogy
*Large Print *Government Documents
*Spanish language *Graphic Novels
*Easy Readers *McNaughton
*Picture Books *Non-Fiction
*Movies *Paperbacks
*Periodicals

2
 *Reference Materials
*Vertical File Materials
*Young Adult
List patrons by Children, adult, young adult, and Adult, children and young adult
type Latino
Identification FIC (fiction) None listed
of formats NF (non-fiction)
collected LP (large print)
PB (paperbacks)
EASY (easy reading)
DVD / VHS
CDB (CD books)
KIT (cassettes)
ROM (romance)
YA (young adult)
J (for all children’s materials)
Identification Management staff, processing *Adult Non-Fiction (incld’g reference)
of department – Adult Services Unit Leader
persons/selecto *Adult Fiction – Circulation
rs responsible Supervisor
*Juvenile Materials – Children
for collection Services Unit Leader
development *Electronic Materials – Library
System Administrator

“Though responsibility rests with

these supervisors, additional
qualified staff within the
departments may be asked to
assist. The appropriate supervisor
approves staff selections before
submitting them for purchase.
Supervisors are responsible for
ensuring that the principles and
policies for selection are adhered to,
that subjects in overlapping areas
are not overlooked, and that new
subjects are not neglected.”

Element 3 – Coverage of miscellaneous items

Gifts None “The Library will not guarantee that
items in gift collections will be kept
together as separate physical
entities and reserves the right to
decide the conditions of display,
housing, and access to the
materials.

The Library cannot place a

monetary value on any gifts.

The Library will not accept for

deposit materials that are not
outright gifts, with the exception of
exhibits. The owner may set up
these exhibits for a limited time
and at the owner’s risk, upon
approval of the Library Director.

The Library reserves the right to

dispose of all gifts as it deems

3

Deselection IFPL discards materials based upon
and discards *circulation stats
*condition
*space
*subject matter becomes obsolete
Evaluation IFPL evaluates by:
*popular appeal
*popularity of a title/series
*reputation of an author
*timeliness of subject matter
*format of titles (if needed in audio
or LP)
*physical condition of books
Complaints and IFPL encourages patrons who wish
censorship to have the library reconsider a title
to complete a “reconsideration”
form that helps the library to
understand the patron’s point of
view. The director and Board of
Trustees evaluate the suggestion.
appropriate. Acceptance of gift
materials does not imply that the
materials will be added into the
collection. Only those materials
that meet selection criteria will be
added.”
“The following should be considered
when selecting items for
withdrawal:
*Poor physical condition; not
suitable for rebinding
*Duplicate copies of a title no
longer in demand
*Obsolete content
*No circulation in the last five years
This process helps maintain the
quality of the library collection and
is not intended to sanction
removal of library materials based
upon any controversy surrounding
the material.
Materials that are removed from
the collection must be discarded in
accordance to city policy regarding
the disposal of city property.
Items removed from the collection
that may be of interest or use to
other local libraries may be offered
on an exchange list. All other
materials may be sold in a public
book sale, or destroyed.”
Again, for every subject area, there
are specific evaluation criteria.
“The City of Longview recognizes the
right of individuals to question both
materials in the Library or those
excluded from it. An individual
questioning either selections or
exclusions may state his or her
opinion in writing on a form available
at the Library. A client must
complete the “Request for
Reconsideration” form below to
initiate the review process. The
Director, or any professional staff
requested to assist, will make the
first review of these “Requests for
Reconsideration.” The Library
Director will notify complainants of
the decision in writing. Complainants
who disagree with the finding may
appeal to the Review Board. The
Library Director shall establish this
Board as necessary. It will include
one representative from each of the
4
 following groups: City of Longview
Administrative Team, Friends of the
Longview Public Library, Longview
Public Library Foundation Board of
Trustees, the Library Administrative
staff; and at least one representative
from any of the following groups: an
area college or university, a local
school district, the local print media,
the local clergy, or a local writers’
group. Appeals of Review Board
decisions will be made to a court of
competent jurisdiction. In the event
that a complainant charges that a
particular item is not protected
under the First Amendment to the
Constitution, the onus of proof rests
with the Complainant. Material under
question will remain in the active
collection until such judicial
determination is made.”

Electronic None Collection is maintained by the

resources Library System Administrator
Other - N/A N/A

Comments/Recommendations:
I chose these two libraries because they are serve similar areas. But that seems to be
the only similarity because of the fact that Longview Public has an extensive collection
policy and Idaho Falls Public Library doesn’t.

Idaho Falls Public Library is my library, and is the whole of what I know in my
librarianship. We have a very loose “vision” of a Collection Policy… if we have one at
all. In my mind—and only in my mind—we purchase almost anything that patron’s
request, but seem to be mindful of selecting materials that aren’t explicitly lewd or
pornographic. I think we do this because of our very conservative religious
community, and don’t want to bring trouble upon ourselves. Then I begin to wonder if
we are censoring what we’re offering the whole of our patrons. However, when faced
with a challenge, our director believes that it’s not the library’s position to censor the
collection based on one person’s opinion—and often we just have one person objecting
to one item.

I was blown away by the specific policies Longview Public Library uses for their
collection development. On one hand, it seems binding and leaves little room for
“creative purchasing.” But then again, the library knows it’s vision and that the
collection policy works toward the vision; as well as, providing a safety net for
questionable requests. This seems like a more “library-minded” way of running a
library, versus the willy-nilly way we order books. I was also impressed that this
information was made available on the internet for anyone to see. All of the
information I provided for IFPL is just the stuff I know from working there. As a
institution of information and knowledge sharing, IFPL could do quite a bit better!

I would like to definitely propose something like this for our library. It would only make
the library stronger and better suited to meet the needs of our community.

5
6