It is the purpose of the Library to provide recreational reading for all ages, to facilitate informal self-education of all members of the community, to serve as a reference source making information available on any subject within the limits of the collection or trying to secure it from other agencies, to provide service and sponsor programs designed to encourage use of the library by children, to promote broad dissemination of ideas, and to support educational, civic, and cultural activities of groups and organizations.
The library endorses the policies set down in the “Library Bill of Rights” of the American Library Association. They are as follows:
- 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.
- 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.
- Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
- Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
- A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
- Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
General factors influencing book and materials selection should be community needs, individual merit of each item, the existing collection, and the budget. Selection should be made by a professional librarian, choosing from standard and generally accepted lists, and recognized critical sources. The needs of the community should be evaluated continually and reflected in the acquisition program.
Periodicals should be acquired in response to the needs of the community, and secured in a form that is easy to store, handle, and circulate.
Audio-visual materials should be selected according to the same standards applied to books, with particular attention paid to technical quality.
As new media forms are developed, they should be appraised for possible use in the library; if they appear to be appropriate and useful, they should be included in selection activities. Gifts must meet the same standards as acquisitions.
Materials should be withdrawn from the collection when they are in poor physical condition, obsolete, or fail to be of use to the community. Discarded materials may be offered for sale to the public, donated to other organizations that may find them useful, or disposed of otherwise as determined by the Library Director.
Requests or recommendations by patrons should be given consideration by the Library Director.
The policies governing selection should be evaluated continually and revised according to the needs of the library and community.
Patrons who object to a particular book or library material in the collection will be required to complete the online “Patrons Request for Reconsideration of Book or Materials” form. The Library Director will review this request, submit a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, and then notify the patron of its action. The book or library material will remain in the collection during this reconsideration process.