Minocqua Public Library

Added/Approved 7/27/2020, 01/23/2023

  1. Mission Statement 

As our community’s gateway to the world of information, the Minocqua Public Library serves people at all stages of their lives, providing access to materials in a variety of formats in order to enhance daily living and to assist decision making in the home, workplace, and marketplace.  The library provides timely and reliable services and information, which promote personal growth and enjoyment, active learning, and civic participation.

  1. Intellectual Freedom 

The Library recognizes and celebrates that it serves all members of the community, regardless of age, political or social views, gender (including gender expression), sexuality, race, ethnicity or country of origin.  As such the Library further recognizes that its patrons have diverse backgrounds, cultural heritages, interests, political views, and social values.  The Library will give highest priority to those materials most needed by our patrons, focusing on circulating materials for our diverse community in a variety of formats.  Selectors will emphasize a balance of materials in the shared collection.

In selecting materials, the Minocqua Public Library endorses the American Library Associations’ Library Bill of Rights, interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement, as well as the Freedom to View Statement endorsed by the American Library Association.

III. Purpose of the Collection Development Policy:

This document provides the staff and public with an understanding of the purpose and nature of the Library’s collection. It explains the criteria staff use for making decisions to add or withdraw items in the collection.

  1. Collection Development
  2. Responsibility

Ultimate responsibility for materials selection rests with the Director, who operates within the framework of policies determined by the Board of Trustees of the Library.

This responsibility is shared with other members of the staff within their areas of expertise.

Because the Library Director must be able to answer to the Library Board and the public for actual selections, they have the authority to reject or select any items contrary to the recommendations of staff.

  1. Scope of the Collection

 The primary purpose of the Minocqua Public Library is to serve the residents of Oneida County by providing a broad choice of materials to meet their informational, educational, cultural and recreational needs. Materials are selected to aid individuals, groups and organizations in an effort to attain practical solutions to daily problems and to enrich the quality of life for all community members.

Budget and space limitations, as well as local needs, preclude the Library from duplicating the specialized and comprehensive collections that exist elsewhere in other libraries. Access to these collections is provided through cooperative networking, interlibrary loan, and direct referral. All libraries of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service (WVLS) and Wiscat are designed to provide access on an equal basis to the collections of both the Minocqua Public Library and the V-Cat Consortium. Emphasis is placed on shared access and ease of use through the online catalog.

  1. Selection Criteria

 Selection of materials for the Library collection is an ongoing process, which includes the removal of materials that are no longer appropriate and the replacement of lost and worn materials that are still of value for informational or recreational needs.

The main points considered in the selection of materials are:

  • individual merit of each item
  • popular appeal/demand
  • suitability of material for the clientele
  • existing library holdings
  • budget

 Selection Tools 

  1. The Library will give highest priority to those materials in a variety of formats most needed by our patrons, focusing on circulating materials for the specific needs of our diverse community.

 

  1. The Library relies on a number of professional publications in the selection of materials, but selection is not limited to those resources.  These publications include but are not limited to bestseller lists, patron requests, current events and authoritative reviews.

 

  1. The Library welcomes requests for purchase of materials for the library, noting that such requests will be subject to the same criteria for selection as other considered materials.

 

  1. The Library also purchases audio-visual materials as part of its collection development. Selection of audio-visual materials will be based on the same criteria used throughout the selection process.  
  1. Selection of Materials on Controversial Topics

 An endorsement or disapproval by an individual or group in the community does not cause an item automatically to be included or excluded from the Library’s collection. A balanced collection attempts to represent various viewpoints around controversial issues within the confines of space and budget. Because minors are required to have parental/guardian approval for materials checked out at Minocqua Public Library; parents or guardians have the right and responsibility to make decisions about what materials are suitable for their own family.

All public libraries contain materials that some patrons may find objectionable. Minors are required to have parental/guardian approval before receiving a library card. A library card allows the minor to check out materials at Minocqua Public Library.

This policy may mean that some could be displeased with the selections the Library has chosen. In the event a patron is unhappy with a selection, they may obtain a Resident’s Request or Reconsideration of Library Materials and Resources form from library staff to fill out and return to the library.

  1. Book and Media Donation Policy

 The library welcomes donations of materials with the understanding that they will be evaluated using the same criteria as those applied to purchased materials. If the donations do not meet these criteria, the library reserves the right to dispose of them as it sees fit. All donations of library materials are subject to the Minocqua Public Library’s Gifts and Donations Policy.

  1. Weeding

Weeding the collection is an ongoing process and is the responsibility of the professional library staff. Space is limited and the importance of an item to a collection can change over time. Materials that are worn, obsolete, unused, old editions or unnecessarily duplicated are removed.  Items are not automatically replaced. Decisions are based on need, demand, and budget. The goal of the Minocqua Public Library is that each section of the collection is to be weeded on an annual basis to keep the collection accurate. Special attention is paid to materials that become outdated quickly.

  1. Request for Reconsideration of Materials

 The Minocqua Public Library Board members and staff support intellectual freedom and subscribe to the principles of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and its statements on Freedom to Read and Freedom to View. The library staff applies the selection criteria described in this Materials Selection Policy and thus endeavors to provide books and other materials that reflect the diversity of viewpoints within the community. Library patrons may nominate books or other materials to be either added to or removed from the collection. When a request for reconsideration is made by a patron, the following procedures will be followed:

  1. The director will explain the selection policy to the patron. If the patron wishes, he or she may then fill out a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials and Resources form, and submit it to the library director. During this time the material in question will not be removed from the collection. Copies of materials in question may be checked out as evaluation copies for use by the library board, or the library director.
  1. The completed form will then be reviewed by the library board of trustees at the next monthly meeting. The trustees will then assemble a Reconsideration Committee. This committee will consist of two members of the library board, the director, one staff member, and two members of the community selected jointly by the library board and the library director.
  1. In reviewing the request for reconsideration, the Reconsideration Committee employs the selection criteria (described above in this document) and considers other appropriate information, including professional reviews and recommendations, comments from the library staff and comments from the requester.
  1. After review of all pertinent information, the Reconsideration Committee will recommend an action to the library board of trustees, who will reach a decision and inform the requester and the committee in writing of that decision within 30 days of the board’s decision on the matter.
  1. Should the requester wish to appeal this decision, he or she may make a final appeal in writing directly to the library board of trustees, who will schedule and conduct a public hearing within thirty days of the final written appeal in order to reach a final decision.
  2. Review of Policy

 

The preceding statements of Minocqua Public Library’s policy shall be subject to review and revision as necessary by the Library Board.