Collection Development

Collection Development Policy

Introduction

Lake County Public Library (“LCPL”) serves the residents and visitors of Lake County. The Collection Development Policy is meant to provide guidance for the selection and evaluation of materials ensuring that LCPL provides collections that are relevant to its mission and current.

LCPL Collections

LCPL's collections serve the informational, educational, cultural, and recreational needs of the community. LCPL’s collections include a variety of formats for children, young adults, adults, and Spanish speakers. LCPL is pleased to maintain the Colorado Mountain History Collection (“CMHC”). This collection includes books, manuscripts, newspapers, ephemera, audio/visual materials and photographs related to the history of Lake County and surrounding regions. While this is a non-circulating collection, it is available for viewing by the public. A continuing large-scale digitization project is utilized to make more of this information easily accessible online. The digital collection can be viewed here.

Selection philosophy

In support of LCPL’s Mission and Values, we endorse the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and its statement on Freedom to Read. We strive to develop collections that cover a wide depth and breadth of topics and represent the diversity of our community. When selecting materials, we consider the following:

• Currency and relevance to the community;
• Community requests and interests;
• Contemporary value;
• Local or state significance (Colorado history and authors);
• Format needs (print, digital or audio);
• Cost;
• Needs of the collection and alignment with LCPL strategic initiatives; and
• Physical space needed.
• Self-published books

The library generally does not purchase self-published books for the collection. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the director based on the following criteria:

• The title is being widely distributed either throughout the state or country;
• The title is being collected by a number of libraries;
• The title has been reviewed by reputable established publications, including a widely distributed newspaper or magazine (e.g. Denver Post, Booklist);
• The title is professionally bound and has a print run beyond 5000 copies; and
• The genre or topic fits LCPL’s Collection needs.

Selection Responsibility

The Library Director is empowered by the Library Board of Trustees with responsibility for selection of materials. While the Director may delegate some selection responsibilities to appropriate library staff, all decisions concerning the acquisition, retention, display and use of library resources and for the use of LCPL facilities shall comply with the following minimum standards set forth at C.R.S. 24-90-122(2)(a)-(i) (2024), as the same may be amended from time to time:

(a) LCPL serves as a center for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas;

(b) The public has the right to access a range of social, political, aesthetic, moral, and other ideas and experiences through LCPL;

(c) Each library resource is provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of the community and should present diverse points of view in the collection as a whole;

(d) LCPL shall not exclude a library resource because of the ethnic origin, ethnic background, or gender identity of those contributing to the creation of the library resource or because of the topic addressed by the library resource or the opinions expressed in the library resource;

(e) LCPL shall not proscribe or prohibit the circulation or procurement of a library resource because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval of the library resource;

(f) It is the responsibility of LCPL to challenge censorship in the fulfillment of its responsibility to provide information and enlightenment;

(g) LCPL shall consider the perspectives of marginalized groups, including the history, culture, and social contributions of minorities, including but not limited to American Indians, Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and the intersectionality of significant social and culture features within these communities, and the contributions and persecution of religious minorities;

(h) The LCPL’s public facilities shall be made available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use; and

(i) The LCPL shall prohibit discrimination based on age, background, political or religious views, origin, disability, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, national origin, or ancestry in the selection, retention, display, use, or reconsideration of LCPL resources and public meeting spaces.

See also § 22-1-104(1)(a), C.R.S. This written policy may be revised or amended at intervals in the sole discretion of the Library Board of Trustees.

Colorado Mountain History Collection

The CMHC includes many formats and types of documents related to the history of Lake County and surrounding areas. LCPL has undertaken an ongoing digitization effort to make these items more accessible to researchers. Items have been prioritized based on condition and demand for usage. The full collection development and digitization plan can be viewed here.

Maintenance & criteria for withdrawal

Like a healthy garden, a library collection also needs to be weeded to make room for new items. We carefully consider all items that are withdrawn from the collection based on the following criteria:

• Physical condition;
• Relevance and community interest;
• Frequency of use;
• Timeliness; and
• Multiple copies, with the exception of high circulating items and multiple formats (large print, audiobooks, etc.).

Request for Reconsideration

Patrons who reside in Lake County may request withdrawal of a library resource or reconsideration of a library resource that has been withdrawn by filling out the Request for Reconsideration (Appendix A) form and submitting it to the Library Director. The Library Director will review the request and add it to a Library Board of Trustees meeting agenda for consideration and action. However, no resource may be excluded from the library’s collections based on ethnic origin, ethnic background, or gender identity of the contributors of the resource. Neither may a resource be excluded based on the topic addressed by the resource or by opinions expressed in the resource. According to state law SB24-216 (Standards for Decisions Regarding Library Resources), which has been codified at C.R.S. § 24-90-122 (2024), a library cannot exclude any resource because of opposing political, spiritual or moral beliefs.

Request for Reconsideration forms are subject to the Colorado Open Records Act.

When a Request for Reconsideration is received, the Board of Trustees of the Library will convene a Reconsideration Review Committee comprised of the Library Director and two Trustees. This Review Committee will evaluate the resource in question in conjunction with this written policy and within the parameters of § 22-1-122(2) and -(3), C.R.S., and will provide a recommendation to the Board. The Board of Trustees shall then make the final determination with regard to the library resource that details how its decision comports with the provisions of § 24-90-122(2), C.R.S., and this decision shall be made available to the public. Library resources shall not be removed, discontinued, or restricted as the result of a request for reconsideration until after the determination regarding the library resource has been made available to the public. Retaliation against the library or its staff during this process is prohibited by state law.

The Library Director will notify the public of the outcome of the review. The results of the review by the Reconsideration Review Committee and by the Board of Trustees will remain on record as long as the item remains part of the collection. A library resource shall not be reconsidered more than once in a 5-year period. Statement on Labeling and Rating LCPL staff provides viewpoint neutral labeling only. We label for the convenience of our community using Library of Congress curated lists for genre, large print, Spanish language resources, holidays, and directional labeling (call numbers). To provide this information, LCPL staff rely on information from the catalog records which are provided by the Library of Congress or other entities approved by our library consortium. We do not label according to subject; what may inspire one patron may offend another. Part of LCPL’s mission is to provide: "...equal access to information and [encourage] diversity of ideas." This is true, regardless of whether we like those ideas or not. Labeling based on subject is considered censorship because it is a value judgment and its intent is to " warn, discourage, or prohibit users or certain groups of users from accessing the resource" (ALA, Labeling Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights). LCPL has adopted ALA’s Policy on labeling and rating: Labeling Systems: An

Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretation/labeling-systems

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/labelingratingqa