Policy Statement
The materials selection policy is designed to guide selectors in developing the collection and in allocating resources to meet the needs of the people in the Manhattan area, as well as to explain collection building principles and processes to staff and to the public. This plan outlines the responsibilities of persons involved in selection, describes each area of the library collection, explains special circumstances and provides guidelines for development.
The library’s service roles guide staff in the development of services and allocation of funds for all collections and services. Collections are developed to stimulate the imagination, and to provide materials for reading, viewing and listening for pleasure for all ages. The library also supports early literacy, with collections which help prepare young children for entering school ready to learn, read, write and listen. Collections also include materials which help residents find information and answers to questions they have and to develop skills to learn to locate, evaluate and use information to meet their needs. Collections should represent the wide diversity of the local community and strive to achieve a balance of representing and reflecting all lived experiences within the Manhattan area.
The Library Board of Trustees and the library staff endorse the ALA Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, Freedom to View Statement and interpretations (see appendix A).
The selection of any title does not constitute endorsement of its contents. The library provides materials for all of our patrons and some items may be better suited for some patrons, but not for others. Decisions are not made on the basis of any anticipated approval or disapproval, but solely on the title in relation to the building of the collection and the serving of customers’ interests. The library does not act in place of a parent (in loco parentis), and parents or guardians are responsible for making sure that their own children find materials that align with their personal values. It is the job of the library only to provide materials for patrons and their children to choose from. Displays and booklists are merely suggestions of new or pertinent content. Ultimately, it is the job of the parents or guardians to help their children decide what is appropriate, and the library does not infringe upon that right.
Definition
Collection development includes the process of adding and withdrawing materials from the library’s collection, including print, audio visual, electronic, and subscription formats in order to fulfill the service roles of the library.
Regulations
Criteria:
Materials selected are intended to meet the diverse reading, viewing and listening needs
of library users, either expressed or those determined from community demographics and areas of interest.
Any or all of the following criteria are considered in evaluating material for the collection, including popular demand for a title or subject matter, reputation of author or publisher, timeliness, accuracy, indexing and other organization of material, reviewers’ opinions, literacy or artistic merit, social significance, cost, condition, quality, local interest and availability of materials elsewhere. The availability of information via the internet is an important consideration in selection and in use of resources.
Responsibility:
The Collection Services Manager is responsible for coordinating the selection of materials for the library, for working with the Collection Services Librarian to establish and monitor materials budgets and for ensuring a continual supply of new resources. All library staff may participate in the selection process by making suggestions for purchase.
The Director has final responsibility for the selection of materials and delegates authority to specific staff to manage selection. Unusual problems are referred to the Director.
Diversity:
As a public institution, the library provides material for all of the patrons within our service area. Because we serve a diverse group of people, including college students, international students and their families, and military families, we strive to keep our collection as up-to-date and diverse as possible. Items are chosen to encompass the full lived human experience including differences in race, religion, culture, sexuality, gender identity and expression, and physical and mental abilities. We endeavor to vet all new purchases to be sure that selected titles are free of outdated bias and stereotype and reflect the basic humanity of all people.
Scope:
The collections of the library focus on current information that reflects a wide range of differing viewpoints and attempt to strike a balance in representing all viewpoints equitably. As a result, preference is given to general materials that provide an overview rather than those that are scholarly, specialized, or professional in nature. Selected materials are intended for public use. The collection includes popular materials, significant classics, and prominent current editions that are consistently weeded in order to support the general interests and needs of the community. A local history collection is maintained within the reference and circulating collections, including books on Manhattan, Riley County, Kansas, and local high school and college yearbooks.
Formats:
Formats should be appropriate for library use, including a size that can be accommodated by shelves, racks or other library furnishings. Paperback editions are purchased because of their popularity for recreational reading and for multiple copies of titles expected to be in high demand for a limited period of time. In general, books should have durable bindings, good quality paper and clear print. Consumable books, such as workbooks, spiral-bound items, stapled items, etc. are not desirable but are purchased if the specific item under consideration is needed to meet demand. American editions of print books are preferred over British, Australian, or other English-language editions. DVDs or Blu-rays should be region 1 or region A, respectively. Illegal DVD copies of streaming-only shows or movies, or “bootlegs,” will not be added to the collection. Circulating materials in all formats, print and non-print, should be durable and suitable for multiple uses.
The library offers ebooks, downloadable audiobooks, streaming video, and streaming music on several different online platforms. When selecting these platforms, the library considers many factors, including cost, ease of use, and popularity of the content offered. Due to the high cost of digital content and the high demand, priority will be given to purchasing bestselling titles or to offering items through cost-per-circulation checkout models. Titles purchased on Sunflower eLibrary, a Kansas-wide ebook consortium, are often purchased for a limited time window or number of checkouts, so these titles will be shared with other libraries to ensure maximum use. Some additional online resources or databases will be offered to fill demand for subject-specific content. These online resources will be evaluated on a yearly basis, looking at factors such as availability, cost, usage, community interest, and any unique content.
New Formats:
New formats will be considered for the collection when surveys, requests or other indicators of local demand show that a significant portion of the community will use the format. Availability of items in the format, cost per item and the library’s ability to handle the format will also be factors in determining when a new format will be added. Similar considerations will influence the elimination of a format from the collection.
Gifts and Donations:
Gifts to the collection can be in the form of money or actual materials. All gifts and donations are subject to the same selection criteria as materials purchased by the library. A gift or donation may be rejected if it does not meet the guidelines in this collection policy, or if it requires special shelving or circulation procedures.
Gifts of money are welcome, and donors may request items to be purchased in broad subject designations. Donors may choose to give a designated amount to be spent or work with library staff to select a title, paying the library’s cost of the item. Gifts of five hundred dollars or more are invested in the Manhattan Library Foundation. Gifts of money under five hundred dollars are deposited in the library’s special account.
Memorial donations are acknowledged with letters of thanks, and gift plates are affixed to items purchased with the donation whenever possible. The library maintains a list of established memorials and items purchased to meet the memorial needs. Staff who work with memorial donations maintain a file of letters sent to donors upon the completion of those memorials.
Donations of materials are also welcome. Books are generally given to the Manhattan Library Association for resale to benefit the library. Materials not added to the collection or accepted for resale will be disposed of at the library’s discretion. Donors of materials may be given a written acknowledgement for such gifts, indicating the number of items, but the library does not give appraisals of value.
Reconsideration:
The library will reconsider any materials in its collection upon written request following the policy for the reconsideration of library materials (see policy MNG-5 Reconsideration of Library Materials). Due to the nature of a consortium, content on Sunflower eLibrary (Libby) cannot be reconsidered if it was purchased and shared by another library. Content on other online resources may also be ineligible for reconsideration, depending on how the library subscribes to content on each online resource.
Weeding:
Titles are withdrawn from the library’s collection through systematic weeding by selectors on a routine basis, depending on the collection area and nature of the materials. Systematic evaluation and weeding of the collection are required in order to keep the collection responsive to customer needs, to insure its vitality and usefulness, and to make room for newer materials. Staff involved in the weeding process rely on the professional guidelines found in Crew: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries (Texas State Library and Archives Commission) and in The Weeding Handbook: A Shelf-by-Shelf Guide (ALA Editions). These guidelines help identify items which are inaccurate, outdated, trivial, damaged, available elsewhere, or irrelevant to the community needs.
Weeding also helps selectors evaluate the collection by identifying areas or titles where additional materials are needed or where updated editions are desirable. If the last title on an essential topic is weeded, selectors will attempt to find a newer title to fill that need in the collection. Holdings of other libraries in the area are considered in weeding decisions. Withdrawn materials in good condition are given to the Manhattan Library Association (MLA) for resale. No materials are given to individuals or to organizations. Materials that are not given to MLA are disposed of at the discretion of the library.
Selectors evaluating materials for withdrawal are influenced by circulation rates, especially those of the past year. Selectors run lists of items in parts of the collection, then apply filters like length of time in the collection and last checkout date to create a list of materials that may need to be withdrawn. While pulling books to weed, selectors may decide to keep a title that meets weeding criteria if its absence would create a gap in the collection.
Tools:
Materials are selected based on reviews in professional journals, popular magazines, newspapers, subject bibliographies, recommended lists, publishers’ catalogs, media interviews, internet sites and customer requests.
Multiple Copies:
The library buys multiple copies of materials that have a high customer demand. For books that generate many requests, the library tries to anticipate demand by having at least one print copy for every three requests. The library responds to AV demands by having at least one copy of each Blu-ray, DVD, video game, tablet, Playaway, read-along, CD or audiobook for every four requests. The library purchases Lucky Day copies of highly popular books. Lucky Day copies cannot be reserved, which allows for better availability of high-demand titles, and they have limited circulation periods to encourage rapid return.
Customer Requests:
Customer requests, comments and ideas about the collection and its development are always welcome. Selectors give high priority to purchasing requested items for customers. Customer requests are usually honored, unless the item requested does not fit the library’s selection criteria. Factors such as publication over six months ago, number and frequency of consecutive purchase requests from a single patron, prohibitive cost, narrow range of interest or unavailability sometimes prevent purchase. In those cases, the library attempts to obtain requested materials through interlibrary loan (see policy INF-2 Interlibrary Loan).
Self-published Materials:
As a general rule, self-published materials are not purchased by the library, unless they meet the same selection guidelines as other materials purchased for the library, have received positive reviews from professional journals, fill a gap in the collection or have significant local interest.
Textbooks and School Curriculum-Related Materials:
The library does not purchase textbooks or other curriculum-related materials, except when such materials would also serve the general public. Sometimes the collection is best developed by adding elementary, secondary or college textbooks in subject areas such as math, physics or chemistry, since there may be few titles in any other format, and they may add substantially to the collection.
Standing Orders:
Materials that are updated annually or every few years, and that are necessary to the collection, are put on standing order; that is, they are automatically put into vendor carts, so selectors can review them before purchase. The majority of standing orders are circulating materials such as travel books, college guides, testing guides, collectibles, etc.
Worn Items:
Selectors examine items identified by customers or circulation staff as worn or damaged.
Materials are mended or withdrawn, depending on the nature of the damage. When items
are still in demand but beyond repair, new items are purchased to meet community needs.
Collection Plan Revision:
Revisions to the collection plan are considered and proposed regularly by selectors to the Collection Services Manager as areas of the collection improve and change. Revisions are prepared annually by the Collection Services Manager for review by the Director, who submits them to the Board of Trustees.
Approved by the Board, February 28, 2011, rev. September 29, 2025