Approved June 21, 2023
1. Mission
The collection of library materials shall reflect the Library’s Mission Statement which is: “Building a strong community by promoting literacy and life-long learning, fostering inspiration and enjoyment of reading and connecting people to each other and the world.”
2. Responsibility for Selection
Authority for making and adopting regulations regarding the operation of the library is granted to the Boyne Regional Library Board by the Public Library Act of Manitoba and the by-laws of the participating municipalities. In this regard, the Head Librarian is responsible for making selections for purchase based on the collection development criteria. Staff as well as the general public, are welcome to make suggestions for selection. However, the Head Librarian has the right to reject or recommend any item contrary to the recommendations of the staff or general public and should be able to answer to the Board and the public for any selections made.
3. Intellectual Freedom
The Boyne Regional Library supports the principles laid down by the Canadian Library Association’s statement on Intellectual Freedom which states in part that …” It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity including those which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups.” Responsibility for what children read rests with their parents or legal guardians.
Collection Development Goals
Primary Goals
- Popular library materials – provider of current high-interest materials in a variety of formats for all ages.
- Pre-school Doorway to Learning – provider of library materials in a variety of formats designed to develop reading, listening, viewing, and thinking skills and materials, resources and services designed to support parents’ efforts to develop their children’s interests, experience, knowledge, and development.
Secondary Goal
- Reference Library – provider of timely, accurate and useful information from the collection and through access to resources outside the library.
Materials Selection And Withdrawal
Selection Guidelines
Selection is an interpretive and somewhat subjective process. A general knowledge of the subject and its important literature, a familiarity with the materials in the collection, an awareness of the bibliographies on the subject, and most important, a recognition of the needs of the community are some of the skills and/or knowledge needed to select material.
The head librarian of the Boyne Regional Library cannot be expected to have this background in all the possible subjects found in the library. For that reason, the head librarian should consult with various agencies, organizations and individuals in the community who have specialized subject knowledge.
Criteria
- Enduring value
- Accuracy and currency of data
- Popular demand
- Authoritativeness of the writer and the reputation of the publisher
- Social significance
- Importance of subject matter to the collection
- Cost
- Scarcity of material on the subject and availability elsewhere
- Quality and suitability of the format
- Need for duplicate material
- Budgetary and space limitations
- Representation of a significant genre or national culture
- Literary quality
- Sustained interest
- Authentic reflection of human experience
- Other considerations may be applicable in specific subject areas
All materials selected should build a well-rounded collection which includes all viewpoints and opinions, and which will meet patrons’ needs.
TOOLS
Since the Boyne Regional Library is seldom able to examine materials before items are selected, selection tools and reviews are heavily relied upon. The following broad categories of tools may be used for selection materials for the library:
- Current and retrospective selection guides, e.g. “Canadian Children’s Book List, Good Reads, Winnipeg Free Press, Amazon.ca, McNally Robinson, Whitehots etc.
- Input from staff, board, and the public, including Inter Library Loan request
- Popular demand and current trends
- Budgetary and space considerations
MULTIPLE COPIES
The library does not have the funds to purchase multiple copies of every title. Consideration for additional copies will be made for best sellers, and where demand is especially high.
WEEDING THE COLLECTION
In order to maintain a current, useful, and attractive collection, worn and obsolete materials are continuously weeded as books are returned or shelved. Materials which are used little or are superseded by a newer edition or have an updated work on the same subject are also withdrawn. Weeding must be performed regularly and systematically in order to make room for newer titles and in order to maintain a collection which is useful to the community.
Withdrawn items, in good condition, will be put in the book sale. If the items do not sell on the book sale, the items will be donated to individuals or groups in the community.
DONATIONS
The library accepts gift materials with the understanding that such materials may be added to the collection only if they meet the same standards which are applied to the selection of materials. The items that are unwanted may be donated to another community member or group. Items that may contain mold, water damage will be discarded.
The library will not provide an acknowledgment of receipt of any items donated to the library.
Monetary donations are accepted at the library and all donations of $25.00 or higher shall be issued a tax receipt provided by the Town of Carman.
INTER-LIBRARY LOANS
The interlibrary loan service from Boyne Regional Library is available to anyone with a valid Boyne Regional Library card.
Borrowers have the following options to place ILL requests:
- Self-selection through province wide resources at FILL
- Selection through staff
- The fee to borrow from another library is $2.00/item. This must be paid when the patron comes to pick up the item.
Boyne Regional Library loans materials to other libraries, however, priority goes to Boyne Regional Library card holders first. New, special, and high demand items may not be eligible for Interlibrary Loan. Decisions about these materials are left to the discretion of the staff.
Request for review of library materials
Please note that in order to request a review of any library material you must be a citizen from the Town of Carman or the Rural Municipality of Dufferin.
The presence of an item in the library’s collection is an affirmation of the principle of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Canadian Library Association Statement on Intellectual Freedom. It does not indicate an endorsement of its contents by The Boyne Regional Library Board. The following will not cause an item to be automatically included in or excluded from the collection:
- Race, religion, gender identity, nationality, or political views of an author
- Frankness or coarseness of language
- Controversial content
- Endorsement or disapproval of an individual or group
The Boyne Regional Library recognizes the right of individuals to express opposition to author’s ideas or to their creative exercise of language in materials selected for the library. However, the Boyne Regional Library will not remove items purchased in compliance with this policy. Selection of material cannot be influenced by any anticipated approval or disapproval of its intellectual content by groups or individuals within the community. Although people have the right to reject for themselves material of which they do not approve, they do not have the right to restrict the intellectual freedom of others. No individuals may use the library resources and or material to promote complaints or actions against the library.
The Canadian Federation of Library Associations recognizes and values the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as the guarantor of the fundamental freedoms in Canada of conscience and religion; of thought, belief, opinion, and expression; of peaceful assembly; and of association.
The Canadian Federation of Library Associations supports and promotes the universal principles of intellectual freedom as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which include the interlocking freedoms to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In accordance with these principles, the Canadian Federation of Library Associations affirms that all persons in Canada have a fundamental right, subject only to the Constitution and the law, to have access to the full range of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, and to express their thoughts publicly. Only the courts may abridge free expression rights in Canada.
The Canadian Federation of Library Associations affirms further that libraries have a core responsibility to support, defend and promote the universal principles of intellectual freedom and privacy.
The Canadian Federation of Library Associations holds that libraries are a key institution in Canada for rendering expressive content accessible and affordable to all. Libraries are essential gateways for all persons living in Canada to advance themselves through literacy, lifelong learning, social engagement, and cultural enrichment.
Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and facilitate access to constitutionally protected expressions of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, including those which some individuals and groups consider unconventional, unpopular, or unacceptable. To this end, in accordance with their mandates and professional values and standards, libraries provide, defend and promote equitable access to the widest possible variety of expressive content and resist calls for censorship and the adoption of systems that deny or restrict access to resources.
Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and foster free expression and the right to safe and welcoming places and conditions. To this end, libraries make available their public spaces and services to individuals and groups without discrimination.
Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and defend privacy in the individual’s pursuit of expressive content. To this end, libraries protect the identities and activities of library users except when required by the courts to cede them.
Furthermore, in accordance with established library policies, procedures and due process, libraries resist efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups.
Library employees, volunteers and employers as well as library governing entities have a core responsibility to uphold the principles of intellectual freedom in the performance of their respective library roles.