How to Write a
Collection Development Policy
by
Mary Catherine Carroll
Table of Contents
Introduction
Why Have a Written Policy?
What Should Be Covered in the Policy?
Bibliography
Introduction
Most every library has some type of
collection development policy. The goal of such a document is to provide a comprehensive
guide regarding the retention and allocation of resources, and how those
resources are to be maintained. The policy statement should be available to the
public, but mainly serves as a guide for employees at the library and gives
clarification to the purpose of the library in general.
Why Have a
Written Policy?
The policy statement serves as a framework within
which the staff works. Because of its scope, it serves a much broader purpose
than just selection criteria. It should also describe current collections,
assists with budget issues, serves as a channel of communication with staff and
clients, assists in overall collection management activities, deselection of
materials, cancellations of serials, and asks staff to look at current
objectives and goals for the future. There are four areas that collectively
justify have a written policy in place: selection, planning, public relations
and a wider audience.
Selection: The primary purpose of a written collection
development policy is to set guidelines for selecting materials, both print and
electronic, for the collection of the library. It should explain the
step-by-step process of acquiring new resources. This also should include steps
on processing, housing, weeding (deselection), retention, preservation and
archiving. Having this in place, personal bias is avoided in the selection
process, greater continuity is ensured, gaps in collections are identified, and
the purpose and scope of the collection(s) is clarified. New staff members can
refer to this guide in training as well.
Planning: Having the document in place also enables
smoother planning for the future as well. Priorities and financial limits are
already set, purchases are justified, and other collection-related areas are given
more direction.
Public Relations: Policy statements can be useful in explaining
and justifying the purpose, mission, vision, and budget of the library. Anyone
reading the policy knows what to expect from the library. It “legitimizes” the operations
of the library.
Wider Audience: If and when the library decides to branch
out, as libraries are doing more and more, a strong policy statement will help
guide the new relationships in resources sharing, etc.
What Should
Be Covered in the Policy?
Introduction: A brief description of what the
policy is all about, what purpose it serves, etc.
Clients/Users: Who are the users or clients of
the library? What are they looking for? What are the main services they
require? A survey may be a good way to find out this information. This is also
a good way to let administrators know exactly what types of critical services
you are currently providing and how much they are being accessed.
Collections: A
general overview of the present collection should be given. This should be done
only after closely evaluating the collection. This can be done in two ways:
collection-centered evaluations or client-centered evaluations. Most accurate
results are obtained when using both evaluation techniques. Current collection
levels should be examined, as well as commitment to future acquisitions, and
specific goals for collections. Formats
of materials selected should also be identified (i.e. serials, indexes,
databases, etc). Electronic media, which is becoming more and more prevalent,
should have its own evaluation criteria for selection.
Evaluation of Replacements: Resources in
collection that must be replaced because of damage, etc., must have an
evaluation criteria in place based on worth to the collection, user need and
interest, cost and availability.
Gifts to the Library: The policy
should also state how and when gifts are to be accepted to the library.
Retention, Deselection and Storage: The procedures
for maintaining collections, weeding resources from the collections and housing
the collections should also be addressed in the policy statement. Future plans
for expanded or down-sized collections (possibly in going from print to
electronic resources) should be included.
Cooperative Collection Development Agreements: This will become more pervasive as libraries are
working with larger entities, such as the OCLC. All agreements of this type
should be at least briefly touched upon in the policy statement.
Future Goals: A nice way to wind up a policy
statement would be to describe where the library sees itself in 5 or 10 years.
This gives staff members a mental picture or direction to look towards.
Bibliography
International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions, Section on Acquisition and Collection Development. (2001). Guidelines for a Collection Development Policy Using the Conspectus
Model. Retrieved July 15, 2007 from http://www.ifla.org/VII/s14/nd1/gcdp-e.pdf