Collection Development Policies

• Collection Development Goal
• Acquisitions Location and Responsibility
• Acquisitions Process
• Gift Policy
• Weeding the Collection

Acquisitions Location and Responsibility
Acquisitions is located in the Technical Services area of the second floor. Staff in this unit are responsible for ordering and processing books and other library materials suitable for the varying needs of the LSC-O curricula in conjunction with the librarians. Each campus division is assigned a librarian liaison who is charged with collection development for that division.

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Acquisitions Process
The process of selecting and purchasing library materials falls under the library's Collection Development Policy. Parts of the policy are reproduced here as a guide to aid faculty who wish to recommend books for purchase with our Suggest A Book form. Please read our page entitled Suggestions for finding library materials for ways to identify items for purchase.

Each academic degree granting program is allotted funds based on a percentage of the total book budget for the year. Departments are notified of the amount available as soon as possible after the library receives its approved budget. Satisfactory use of the library book budget requires that requests be submitted to the acquisitions librarian early in the fiscal year, preferably before December 2. The final deadline for faculty book requests is March 15. Orders placed for requests made after this date may not arrive during the current fiscal year.

Requests should be made on the Suggest A Book form including faculty name, department and as much information as possible for the title being requested. The material will be cataloged and added to the library collections when received.

Textbooks required for purchase by students for courses are not normally ordered for the collection. The library does not purchase reprints except as replacement copies for worn out materials that are deemed necessary to replace. Limited acquisitions funding prohibits extensive retrospective purchasing. The library limits the purchase of multiple copies to those few exceptions where the circulation demand of a particular copy warrants additional copies.

Before submitting a request, please check our online catalog to see if the material is already in the collection.

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Gift Policy
The library welcomes gifts of books, manuscripts, periodicals and other materials and money for the purchase of items that enhance existing collections, support the major instructional and research programs of the college or deserve special consideration because of uniqueness, importance or value. Of particular interest are scholarly, current or rare items in good physical condition that relate to the college curriculum.

Gifts are encouraged with the understanding that the library reserves the right to accept, reject or dispose of any gift at its discretion. Gifts will be evaluated for possible addition to collections according to the guidelines for selection outlined by this policy.

The library staff members are prohibited by federal law from appraising gifts for tax deduction purposes. An acknowledgment of the receipt of a gift in the form of a letter of appreciation is sent to the donors. A record of gift materials, including name of donor, is kept on file. The provision of special gifts, including affixing special book plates, must be approved by the library director prior to acceptance of the gift.

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