Materials Selection Policy

Amended 12/18/2007 by the Board of Trustees
Materials Selection Policy PDF

Need for this Policy:

The library exists to provide education, information, materials, reference sources and reading, listening, and viewing pleasure to all the people within its chartered area.  Because of space and budget limitations, it is necessary to establish a Materials Selection Policy.

Statement of Policy:

• The board endorses and declares that it will adhere to the Freedom to Read statement, the Freedom to View statement, and the Library Bill of Rights, all of which were adopted by the American Library Association.
• Selection of books and other library material is the responsibility of the library director, and, under her/his direction, qualified members of the professional staff.  The board is ultimately responsible for the selection of all material so selected.
• Selection of library holdings is based on interest, information, and the enlightenment of all library patrons.  No book or library material shall be excluded because of the race, nationality, political, or social views of the author.
• The board defends the principles of the freedom to read, listen to, or view and declares that whenever censorship is involved no book or other library materials shall be removed from the library’s holdings except under the orders of a court of competent jurisdiction.

Responsibilities:

It is the responsibility of the library director and the library staff to adhere to the principles and concepts stated in Materials Selection Policy.

Definitions:

Board means the East Greenbush Community Library Board of Trustees.

Library means the East Greenbush Community Library.

The words holdings and materials are synonymous and refer to the East Greenbush Community Library’s collection of books, magazines, records, cassettes, compact discs, video and audiotapes, maps, pamphlets, toys, and any other pertinent materials.

ALA BILL OF RIGHTS (Pertinent Points 1-4)

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.

ALA FREEDOM TO READ STATEMENT (Adopted Propositions)

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation contained in the books 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 books should be published or circulated.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to determine the acceptability of a book 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 with any book the prejudgment of a label characterizing the book or 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.
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.

FREEDOM TO VIEW STATEMENT

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, we affirm these principles:

• It is in the public interest to provide the broadest possible access to films and other audiovisual materials because they have proven to be among the most effective means for the communication of ideas.  Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.
• It is in the public interest to provide for our audiences, films 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.
• It is our professional responsibility to resist the constraint of labeling or prejudging a film on the basis of the moral, religious or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker or on the basis of controversial content.
• It is our professional responsibility to contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public’s freedom to view.