The Board of the Stowe Free Library recognizes the diverse nature of the greater Stowe community and the varied backgrounds and needs of its citizens. Books and other library materials, exhibits, and programs of the Stowe Free Library shall be selected based on the interests and needs of the people in the community.
Selection Principles
The authority for the choice, cataloging, and placement of materials rests with the Director and, in the case of children's materials, with the Children's Librarian.
The Director and the Children's Librarian exercise professional judgment and expertise, based on an understanding of community needs and knowledge of authors and publishers, in the process of selecting materials and are aided by authoritative professional reviews, standard lists of basic works, recommendations of professional journals, and bibliographic essays prepared by subject specialists.
Recommendations from the public are welcome and will be given careful consideration in terms of overall objectives regarding the entire library collection.
The Director and the Children's Librarian will review the collection regularly to assess its continued relevance to the public it serves, judging its strengths and weaknesses, adding to it or subtracting from it according to the guidelines provided through the Criteria for Selection of Library Materials.
Criteria for Selection of Library Materials
Library Materials include books, audio-visual materials, periodicals, and electronic material. Materials are chosen for the collection on the basis of:
- Accuracy of information
- Current usefulness or permanent value
- Importance as record of the times
- Patron demand
- Relation to the existing collection and usefulness in presenting a diversity of information on issues
- Relative importance in comparison with other works on the subject
- Sufficient standards of quality in content, format, and binding
Materials, both fiction and non-fiction in all formats, should be favorably reviewed in several established professional journals. Careful consideration should be made when adding books and other library materials that do not have a lasting collection value and/or are readily available through Inter-Library Loan.
Children's materials will account for at least one quarter of the annual collection development budget. Children's material will be selected under the same criteria as the adult collection.
Withdrawal of Library Materials
The deliberate, measured, regular evaluation of library materials in relation to the collection, as a whole and the community at large, is part of the library's normal collection development procedure.
The same criteria used in selecting materials apply to the systematic removal or replacement of outdated, inaccurate, no longer useful, seldom used, or worn items. Each withdrawal or replacement is judged by standard library tools to determine its retention value as a "classic," as part of the overall collection, or its current usefulness.
The authority for the final withdrawal of materials rests with the Library Director and the Children's Librarian.
Materials no longer useful to the library may be given to other libraries, sold for the benefit of the library, or discarded.
Vermont and Stowe Local History Materials
The library acknowledges its responsibility to preserve local material of historical, genealogical, or literary nature. Books by local authors and other materials of local interest will be given special consideration. The library will keep one print copy of all issues of the Stowe Reporter and the Stowe Guide, as well as the Town of Stowe Annual Reports.
Donations
The library may receive materials or funds as gift donations. Donated materials are subject to the same selection criteria as library purchased materials. Purchases made with donated funds follow the same criteria.
The library accepts material donations on the condition that their use is at the complete discretion of the Director. The Director and the Board of Trustees may enforce any stipulations as to the type, condition, or timing of materials accepted. The Director and the Board of Trustees must approve the acceptance of any conditional donations such as the donation of a large specialized collection. Individual specific collection development policies must be created for those types of collections.
All donations become the property of the Stowe Free Library, to be used at its discretion.
Concerns Regarding Library Materials
Articulated concerns regarding library materials and their appropriateness within the collection will be addressed by following the procedures described below. Ultimately, the Library Director and the Library Board will make decisions on whether or not to keep the item(s) in the collection.
- The Director will discuss the concern and the selection procedure with the complainant.
- If the complainant wishes further consideration of his or her objection to the library material under reconsideration, he or she will be requested to fill out a form titled "Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials" and submit it to the Director.
- The Director will inform the staff members and the Board of Trustees of the complaint.
- The challenged material will remain on the shelf during the reconsideration process.
- Upon receipt of the completed form, the Director presents it to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees so that the request may be incorporated into the agenda of the next regularly scheduled Board meeting. The complainant will be notified of this meeting.
- Prior to the next Board meeting, the Director and the members of the Board who have read, viewed, or listened to the material in its entirety, checked general acceptance of the material by reading reviews and consulting recommended lists, will determine the value of the material to the collection.
- The Director and the Board of Trustees present a written recommendation to the complainant. The recommendation will be based on their knowledge of the material as well as their understanding of the library's selection policy and Library Bill of Rights.
Revised and approved March 2018.