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Print Policy

Moorestown Library

Collection Development Policy

1. The Moorestown Library: Its History and Governance
2. Vision, Mission, and Values statements
3. Responsibility and Criteria
4. Formats
5. Special Collections
6. Gifts
7. Weeding
8. Requests for Reconsideration
9. Appendices
     A. Freedom to Read
     B. Freedom to View
     C. Library Bill of Rights
     D. People’s Rights to Libraries
     E. Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form

 

PURPOSE

The Moorestown Library recognizes that the citizens of Moorestown possess widely diverse and separate interests, backgrounds, cultural heritages, social values, and needs. The library builds and maintains a patron-oriented collection by anticipating and responding to patron needs and expectations.

The materials collection is developed and managed to meet patrons’ cultural, informational, educational, and recreational needs. The Collection Development Policy is designed to support the Library’s mission and service priorities, within budgetary and space limitations, and serve the needs of all citizens of Moorestown regardless of age, sex, race, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, political or social views.

     1. THE MOORESTOWN LIBRARY: ITS HISTORY AND GOVERNANCE

Moorestown Library is an independent municipal library. Established in 1853 as the Moorestown Library Association of Friends, it has been in continuous existence since that time. The Library is governed by a Board of Trustees of nine members appointed by the Township mayor. The director reports to the Board of Trustees which has the authority of approving all library policies.

     2. VISION, MISSION AND VALUES STATEMENTS

Vision
Moorestown Library inspires, engages, and connects our community.

Mission
Moorestown Library strengthens our community by inspiring and supporting learning, literacy, creativity, and expression.

Values
Moorestown Library staff and Trustees embrace the following shared values in delivering service to the community:

  • We treat every person in our community with respect.
  • We offer a fulfilling library experience for everyone in our diverse community with a welcoming facility, accessible resources, and friendly, knowledgeable staff.
  • We provide a variety of programs and collections to meet the interests of our entire community.
  • We encourage staff creativity and innovation so they can learn and grow in their positions.
  • We offer access to the latest technology and instruction so everyone can participate in our digital society.
  • We foster early literacy, learning, and community involvement to support active civic engagement.
  • We are thoughtful stewards of public resources.

     3. RESPONSIBILITY AND CRITERIA
Collection development involves the continuous process of selecting new materials to add to the library collection and identifying materials that need to be withdrawn from the
collection. The selection of materials is targeted to meeting the needs and interests of the community. The Library’s main function is to provide books and materials for all ages and reading levels. All responsibility for a well-rounded collection rests with the Library Director and the professional staff.

Staff involved in collection development will consider the following criteria when evaluating materials:

  • Quality of the work
  • Educational, informational, or recreational value
  • Accuracy, timeliness, or permanence
  • Local or community relevance
  • Favorable reviews or inclusion in reliable sources
  • Actual or potential reader popularity
  • Complements existing collection for diverse ideas and viewpoints
  • Suitability of format
  • Reputation and importance of the author, editor, or artist
  • Cost and budgetary constraints
  • Space considerations

Availability and accessibility of alternative information sourcesLibrary staff use their training, knowledge, and expertise to provide a balanced collection of titles in a variety of formats. Material is selected using standard review sources including (but not limited to) Library Journal, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Horn Book, and the New York Times. Staff also select items based upon bestsellers lists, patron requests, and online sources that reflect popular reading and subject interests.

     4. FORMATS
The Library provides collections in a wide variety of formats. General selection criteria considered for print materials also applies to electronic content selected by library staff. In addition, the following criteria are considered:

  • Compatibility with hardware and equipment
  • Ease of use and searching capabilities
  • Frequency of updating
  • Remote capability
  • Authority
  • Design
  • Print vs. electronic pricing and availability

     5. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Moorestown Library’s Special Collections are available for in library research and do not circulate. They include books, pamphlets, maps, and archival materials. The selection of these materials is guided by the Library’s mission, policy, and history, as well as our patrons’ needs. These collections have unique attributes that may require us to limit access or circulation and control the physical environment. Security is not based on content but on the value, rarity, or fragility of the items themselves.

     6. GIFTS
The Library gladly accepts donations of materials. Staff will evaluate and manage donations in accordance with the criteria applied to purchased materials. Gifts of materials which do not meet the Library’s collection development criteria or unneeded duplicates of items already owned by the Library will not be added to the collection. Disposal may include the sale or transfer of donated items. Donated materials will only be accepted without conditions. Monetary gifts may be applied to the selection of materials by the Director in consultation with Library staff and the donor as appropriate. The Library regrets that it cannot provide donors with an assessment for tax purposes. However, the Library will provide a statement acknowledging the receipt of the gift upon request.

     7. WEEDING
A regular and continuous process of review to weed out materials which are no longer useful is essential to maintaining the quality of the collection. Professional staff members with collection evaluation responsibility will evaluate materials for withdrawal using the following guidelines:

  • Material containing obsolete or inaccurate information
  • Badly worn or damaged materials
  • Duplicates for which a high initial demand is passed
  • Availability of sufficient other titles on the subject in the library
  • Amount of use over time
  • Space considerations

Items withdrawn because they are beyond repair will be considered for replacement if they are still deemed to be in demand or useful and not superseded by newer materials. Discarded materials may be sold, donated, or recycled as the Library determines.

     8. REQUESTS FOR RECONSIDERATION
Moorestown Library welcomes and encourages input from the community concerning the collection.

Requests to add or remove materials will be considered within the context of the principles expressed within this policy. Patrons who wish to request the reconsideration of library materials shall complete and sign the Request for Reconsideration form appended to this document. This form is for Moorestown Library cardholders only.

Upon receipt of a written request, the Director will discuss the matter with the appropriate professional staff and the Director will contact the patron in writing with the final decision. The patron, if unsatisfied with the decision, may request a hearing before the Board of Trustees. The Board will then determine whether the request for reconsideration has been handled in accordance with stated policies and procedures of the Moorestown Library. Based on this determination, the Board may vote to uphold or override the decision of the Director.

Approved by the Moorestown Library Board of Trustees on 6.26.2024

 

APPENDIX A

FREEDOM TO READ

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights. We therefore affirm these propositions:

  1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.
  2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.
  3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
  4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
  5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
  6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.
  7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad” book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one.

We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

–Excerpted from a joint statement by the American Library Association and the Association of American Publishers, adopted June 25, 1953, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004.

The complete “Freedom to Read Statement” can be found at https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement Moorestown Library Collection Development Policy

 

 

APPENDIX B

FREEDOM TO VIEW

The FREEDOM TO VIEW, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In a free society, there is no place for censorship of any medium of expression. Therefore these principles are affirmed:

  1. To provide the broadest access to film, video, and other audiovisual materials because they are a means for the communication of ideas. Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression.
  2. To protect the confidentiality of all individuals and institutions using film, video, and other audiovisual materials.
  3. To provide film, video, and other audiovisual materials which represent a diversity of views and expression. Selection of a work does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content.
  4. To provide a diversity of viewpoints without the constraint of labeling or prejudging film, video, or other audiovisual materials on the basis of the moral, religious, or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker or on the basis of controversial content.
  5. To contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public’s freedom to view.

This statement was originally drafted by the Freedom to View Committee of the American Film and Video Association (formerly the Educational Film Library Association) and was adopted by the AFVA Board of Directors in February 1979. This statement was updated and approved by the AFVA Board of Directors in 1989. Endorsed January 10, 1990, by the ALA Council

 

 

APPENDIX C

LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

  1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
  2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
  3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
  4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
  5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948, by the ALA Council; amended February 2, 1961; amended June 28, 1967; amended January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 24, 1996. A history of the Library Bill of Rights is found in the latest edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual.

 

 

APPENDIX D

PEOPLE’S RIGHTS TO LIBRARIES

The New Jersey Library Association affirms its belief in the public right to library service as stated in the following tenets:

  1. All people are entitled to free access to the information and knowledge within a library.
  2. All people are entitled to obtain current, accurate information on any topic of interest.
  3. All people are entitled to courteous, efficient, and prompt service.
  4. All people are entitled to assistance by qualified library personnel.
  5. All people are entitled to the right of privacy in the selection or use of materials.
  6. All people are entitled to the full service of the library network on a local, regional, state, and national level.
  7. All people are entitled to the use of a facility that is accessible, attractive, and comfortable.
  8. All people are entitled to access to the policies regarding the use and services of a library.
  9. All people are entitled to library service that reflects the interests and needs of the total community.

Reaffirmed by the NJLA Executive Board September 2006
Adopted by NJLA Executive Board, 1978

 

 

APPENDIX E
REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION FORM

This form is for Moorestown Library Card Holders only.

The trustees of Moorestown Library have established a materials selection policy and a procedure for gathering input about items. Completion of this form is the first step in that procedure. If you wish to request reconsideration of a resource, please return the completed form to a library staff member.

Title ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Author/Producer________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Format (book, movie, magazine) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I would like this item to be:
_____ moved from its current location to another part of the library.
_____ removed from the library’s collection.

Have you read or viewed the material in its entirety? Yes______ No _____

What are your concerns or objections to this material? (Please be as specific as possible. Use examples and citations if necessary. Attach additional pages as needed.)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: _____________________________________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip Code: _______________________________________________________________
Email: ___________________________________________ Phone: __________________________
Library Card Number: ______________________________________________________________
Signature of Requester: ____________________________________________Date: __________
Received by Staff Member: ________________________________________ Date: __________

Approved by the Moorestown Library Board of Trustees on 6.26.2024