Selection of Materials
Last Reviewed and Approved: June 21, 2023
The Valley Park Community Library provides materials and services to support the mission of the library. The intent of this selection process is to guide the development of the collection to meet the goals of the mission.
The responsibility of the selection and purchase of library materials rests with the library director, who may delegate responsibilities to other staff members.
The general criteria listed below apply to the selection of all materials for the library. Materials are evaluated as complete works and not on the basis of a particular passage. No materials that meet the selection criteria will be excluded because of origin, background, or views of those contributing to its creation. Factors considered when adding specific material to the library collection include, but are not limited to the following:
- Current and potential relevance to community needs
- Local demand, interest, or significance
- Suitability of subject and style for intended sources
- Reviews in professionally recognized sources
- Timelines and/or significance of the subject
- Cost, availability and impact on materials budget
- Contribution to diversity, depth or breadth of collection
- Technical quality
- Suitability of format for library circulation and use
- Authority and competence of the author and/or reputation and standing of the publisher
- Objectivity
- Availability of information in other formats
- Support of the Library’s mission
DVD, audio recordings, as well as other library materials will meet the same general selection criteria as books.
Books that are added to the collection of the Valley Park Community Library will be placed in a specific collection. The library collections for patrons under 18 are spilt into the Board Book (BB), Early Fiction (EF), Beginning Reader (BR), Beginning Chapter (BC), Junior Fiction (JF) and Junior Nonfiction (JNF). The age recommendations for each of those collections is listed below.
- Board Book (BB) – Birth to 2
- Early Fiction (EF) – Birth and up
- Beginning Reader(BR) – Preschool-2nd Grade
- Beginning Chapter (BC) – 2nd -3rd Grades
- Junior Fiction (JF) – 3rd -8th Grade
- Junior Non-Fiction (JNF) – Kindergarten – 8th grade
Patrons are not limited by these age recommendations. All Patrons are welcome to checkout any materials in our collections. The responsibility for materials accessed and/or used by minors rests completely with their parents or legal guardians. Materials selected for the adult collection are intended for mature readers. Checkouts to minors from these collections are allowed with the signed Informed Consent Form that is required for all Juvenile Library Cards. Separate collections are available for children and young people, but it is not the responsibility of the Library, its Board of Trustees, staff or volunteers to determine which collection they should use or what item is suitable for an individual. Library Staff do not supervise children’s book selection. Library Personnel will not determine the appropriateness of material selections for any patron. Responsibility for a child’s selections rests fully with the parent(s) and/or guardian(s) of minors, not with the library personnel.