East Greenwich Free Library
Collection Development Policy
East Greenwich Free Library Mission Statement
The mission of the East Greenwich Free Library is to provide comprehensive library service to enhance the cultural, educational, recreational, and professional life of the residents of East Greenwich and surrounding communities through the continuous collection and development of relevant materials and services.
Purpose
The East Greenwich Free Library Collection Development Policy guides Library staff on selection and retention of materials and informs the public of the Library’s principles on selection and collection maintenance
Collection Goals
- Reflect the Library’s mission
- Provide materials that respond to and anticipate the needs of the community
- Provide the most current information in a format that is usable and understandable to the borrower
- Create a diverse collection that reflects the Library’s community and contains content about a wide range of people and cultures.
- Create a diverse collection that authentically represents a variety of ideas, information, and experiences.
- Support the Freedom to Read and Freedom to View Statements
- Support the Library BIll of Rights
Responsibilities
The overall responsibility for the collection and resources rests with the Library Director and is delegated to qualified and knowledgeable staff who employ the criteria outlined in this policy.
- Library Director
- Head of Reference Services (Adult and Teen Collections)
- Head of Children’s Services
- Qualified selectors within each service area
Selection Criteria
Materials are selected to support the Library’s Mission Statement. All materials, whether purchased or donated, will be reviewed according to the following standards.
- Community needs and interest
- Favorable reviews in professionally recognized publications
- Price and availability
- Availability in the Ocean State Libraries (OSL) Consortium
- Currency or permanence of information
- Accuracy and quality
- Importance of the subject matter to the collection
Collection Arrangement and Classification
East Greenwich Free Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme for its collections. Ensuring that the collection is easy to browse and access is a priority. Elements of the Library’s physical collection include:
- Adult Fiction
- Adult Nonfiction
- Young Adult
- Children’s
- Periodicals
- Audiovisual Materials
Digital Collections
East Greenwich Free Library offers access to various subscription databases and digital collections. The selection of digital collections will follow the same general criteria as that of the Library’s physical collections. The Library also provides access to digital collections that are offered to all Rhode Island library cardholders via Ocean State Libraries (OSL) and the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS). The library refers to those organizations’ collection policies for materials provided through their subscriptions.
Local Authors
East Greenwich Free Library recognizes and welcomes the opportunities that self-publishing offers local writers. The Library maintains a Local Author Collection for recent works, those published within the previous five years, written by authors living in East Greenwich. Authors wishing to contribute books to this section must meet the following criteria:
- The item must be bound strong enough for at least 20 circulations.
- Works with CDs or DVDs will not be accepted.
- Contributed works must include the real name of the author, full title, date of publication, summary, place of publication, and number of pages so the item can be cataloged.
- Books become the property of the library and will not be returned.
- Items will be retained on the Local Authors Shelf at the Library’s discretion for up to two years.
As with all materials submitted for consideration, the Library reserves the right to decide not to add each item to the collection. Author donations are limited to one item per year with only one copy of each title.
Collection Maintenance
Collection maintenance or “weeding” is part of the continuous evaluation of the Library collection by the professional library staff. In order to maintain a collection that is up to date, reliable, in good condition, and relates to the needs and interests of the patrons of the East Greenwich Free Library, materials are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Materials are withdrawn when they are deemed to be outdated, inaccurate, seldom used, or in poor condition.
Replacement of Materials
In the case that an item is withdrawn from the collection due to loss, damage, or wear, the title will be examined, and based on availability and the criteria in this policy, may or may not be replaced. The replacement of an item depends on both budget constraints and patron demand. As a result, the item might not be replaced.
Gifts and Donations
- Donated materials: Gifts/donated material will be added to the collection using the same criteria purchasing materials. All donations become the property of the Library and cannot be returned. Gifts/donated materials may be added to the Library collection, sold for the benefit of the library, or disposed of in a manner appropriate to their condition and usefulness.
- Local Authors: Please see local author statement above.
- Self-published works and unsolicited materials: Self-published works and unsolicited materials from publishers will be considered for inclusion in the Library collection using the general criteria for materials selection.
Reconsideration of Materials
The choice of library materials by patrons is an individual matter. The Library recognizes that some materials may be controversial or offensive to an individual, but maintains that individuals can apply their values only to themselves. Parents and legal guardians have the responsibility and right to guide the values of their children. As such, parents and legal guardians are responsible for the materials that their children borrow and should make decisions accordingly.
The East Greenwich Free Library supports intellectual freedom and the right of library users to read and seek information. The Library endorses the American Library Association (ALA) Freedom to Read Statement, Freedom to View Statement, the Library Bill of Rights and all relevant interpretations.
East Greenwich residents requesting reconsideration of library materials must complete the East Greenwich Free Library Request for Reconsideration form (below) in its entirety. Only signed, completed forms will be considered. The Library Director will acknowledge receipt of the form within fifteen business days.
The relevant library staff will review the library material to ascertain whether it meets the standards set forth in the Library’s Collection Development Policy, and will make a written recommendation to the Library Director as to the validity of the request. During this process the material in question will remain on the shelf and available for circulation. The Library Director will respond to the request for reconsideration within thirty days. This timeline allows the library staff to evaluate an item in its entirety rather than focusing on portions of the content.
The Library Director, after reviewing the recommendation, will render a decision on the requested action and will notify the patron of said decision. A final appeal may be made to the Library Board of Trustees.
- Decisions regarding materials that are part of a series may be applied to the entire series.
- The library does not accept lists of items for reconsideration. Each item must be accompanied with an individually completed reconsideration form.
- A title will only be considered for reconsideration once in a thirty-six month period.
A copy of the request form without identifying patron information will be sent to the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom and the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA) Intellectual Freedom Committee. The request form in its entirety may be publically available per RIGL 38-2.
Approved by the EGFL Board of Trustees, November 13, 2024
