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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLibrary Board Minutes 09.22.1991 REGULAR MEETING OF THE LAUREL PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES SEPT. 22, 1991 Attending -Sue Carter(presiding), Burt Kucera, Donna Kilpatrick, Peggy Arnold Minutes -The minutes of the August 27 meeting were read and approved. Communications -The Threshold group will hold their lunch and learn program in the community room on Oct. 1. Circulation- Traffic for Aug. 91 was 1,727 down 9% from Aug. 90, circulation for Aug. 91 was 3,582 up 8% from Aug. 90. Committee reports -Burt will look into a literacy program. Old Business -The flagpole was dedicated by the Masons on Sept. 16 and a plague will be installed on it to dedicated the flagpole to the people of Laurel "past, present, and future ". New Business -A motion was passed to adopt the revised Collection Management Policy which was pepared by Peggy Arnold. Next meeting -Oct. 22,1991 at 7 p.m. Submitted by Peggy Arnold Revised 9 -17 -91 LAUREL PUBLIC LIBRARY COLLECTION MANAGEMENT POLICY A. INTRODUCTION 1. Mission Statement The Laurel Public Library has the responsibility to serve the people in its service area by providing free access to materials and information. The public library will be responsive to the communities' needs in order to enhance the quality of life in the community. The Library will serve its users regardless of age, edu- cational level, economic circumstances, ethnic background, or social and political viewpoint. The Laurel Public Library is guided by the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement of the American Library Associ- in its objectives and goals. Goals of the Laurel Public Library a. Maintain and provide access to reliable infor- mation and materials for the educational, cultural, recreational, and daily needs of the people who use and support the library. b. Provide a consistent supply of library services within our financial and spacial ability for present and potential users. c. Identify community needs in order to support, stimulate, and enlighten the general public. d. Update policies to keep abreast with growing and changing patterns of library use. 2. Purpose of the Policy The Purpose of the policy is to provide a flexible tool to be used to implement the goals of the Laurel Public Library. 3. Community and User Groups Defined The Laurel Public Library serves a community of 5,686 citizens who reside within the City limits of Laurel. It also serves residents in the outlying areas of Yellowstone County, Park City, Stillwater County, Joliet, and Carbon County via a non - resident library card. Many Laurel resi- dents commute to work fifteen miles away in Billings and many are employed in Laurel by the Cenex refinery, Montana Rail Link, and Woods Power Grip. There are also 103 small and professional businesses in Laurel. The various groups using the library include retirees, adults, young adults, students, preschoolers, recreational readers, and hobbyists. 4. Patron Needs and Services The largest number of patrons have time on their hands and are looking for recreation and entertainment which is provided by having materials(books, cassettes, videos) for their use and providing programs in our community rooms. The next largest group of patrons is students and other indivi- duals looking for reference items and non - fiction materials. Materials for these patrons are available in book and peri- odical form. 5. Brief General Statement Describing the Collection The Laurel Public Library's collection contains the following numbers of titles by reading level and type: 5,113 Adult non - fiction and reference 4,888 Adult fiction 500 Adult Biographies 250 Large print 150 Videos 75 Books on Cassette 1,926 Children's non - fiction and reference 2,325 Children's fiction 325 Children's biographies 1,400 Easy reader's 50 Children's cassettes 300 Young adult non - fiction and fiction 29 Periodical subscriptions 2,900 Periodical back issues 6. Cooperative Collection Management and Interlibrary Loan The Laurel Public Library serves the residents of its governing body, the City of Laurel. It also serves the residents of Yellowstone County living around Laurel. The library will cooperate with, but can not perform the functions of school or other institutional libraries which are designed to meet curricular needs. Laurel Public Library is a member of the South Central Federation o Libraries which allows the Laurel Public Library to borrow materials from other libraries. This library will lend materials to other libraries, however, patrons of this library will have priority in the use of the materials. The Laurel Public Library borrows approximately 300 items per year from other libraries. B. GENERAL PRIORITIES, LIMITATIONS AND POLICIES 1. Chronological Coverage Fiction material is maintained in the collection until it is no longer being read except any of the classics. Non - fiction material is maintained as long as it is reliable. All history and Montana History will remain in the collection until it is no longer able to be repaired. 2. Formats Books, periodicals, audio cassettes, newspapers, records, and videos are purchased as the budget allows. Books and periodicals take precedent over the other items in the collection for purchase. 3. Multiple Copies Purchase of more than one copy of books occurs when demand for a particular title justifies it. 4. Languages Materials are purchased in the English language. For- eign language dictionaries are maintained in the collection. 5. Funding The Laurel Public Library is funded from the City of Laurel general fund. Donations, memorials, book sales, and grants are used for adding to the collection. 6. Collection Responsibilities and Selection Procedures a. Selection of material will be done by the library director or head librarian. b. Selection will help meet the objectives and goals of the collection development policy. c. Materials will meet high standards of quality in content, expression, and format. d. Types of materials may include: books, periodicals, pamphlets, newspapers, pictures, music, puzzles, games, maps, records, audio, and video cassettes, microfilm, and cameras. e. The library will maintain materials for reference and self - study, but will not maintain materials for formal courses of study offered by elementary, secondary, and college courses. f. The director or head librarian will take into consid- eration the type of material requested and in demand by patrons when selecting materials. 7. Gifts Policy Books and other materials will be accepted on the con- dition that the librarian has the authority to make whatever disposition he or she deems advisable including adding to the collection, discarding, forwarding to other libraries, and giving to organizations for book sales. The library will not accept materials which are not outright gifts. The library uses the same criteria for adding gift books to its collect- ion as is used for the selection of books. 8. Collection Maintenance Weeding of materials no longer useful to library patrons should be done regularly with certain criteria in mind. The end result of weeding should be a more functional and attract- ive collection containing valid information. Collection assessment can be performed while weeding. Replacements or additions to the collection can be done as the budget allows. Materials to be weeded should fall under the following criteria (1) items worn out or damaged, (2) items contain outdated or inaccurate information, (3) duplicated copies no longer in demand, (4) superceded editions, (5) items no longer used unless valuable historically or as classical literature. All weeded materials should be discarded except fiction and dupli- cate copies of materials that remain in the collection. Fiction and duplicated items may be given to organizations for book sales. 9. Complaints and Censorship Any cardholder wishing to file a complaint about an item in the collection may do so by asking the librarian in writing for a "request for consideration ". The request form will than be mailed to the cardholder along with a copy of the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement of the American Library Association. A committee of board members and library staff of three will be appointed to review the "request" and will make a recommendation to the library board as soon as possible. The library board will then act on the request. C. SUBJECT AREAS COLLECTED 1. Subjects Broad classification Dewey numbers will be used. 2. Present Collection Levels 000's, 100's, 400's- minimal level 300's, 500's, 600's, 700's, 800's, 900's -basic and study level. 3. Future Acquisition Levels or Goals Weeding of children's and adult fiction is done every three years with the popularity, age, and condition of the books used as criteria. Adult and children's fiction materials are purchased at the request of patrons and from bestseller lists and reviews. Weeding of non - fiction adult and children's materials is done in alternating years using Mary Bushing's Non - Fiction Collection for Smaller Libraries. The 000's, 100's, 400's will be updated to basic level by adding 25% more titles over the next two years. The 300's, 500's, 600's, 700's, 800's, and 900's will be maintained by adding 10% more titles over the next two years. 4. Special Collections None. 5. Other Considerations None at this time. D. POLICY IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION, AND REVISION This will be implemented by the Librarian at the time of approval by the Library Board of Trustees. Evaluation will be- done every two years in September by the Librarian. Revisions may by made at any time and will be approved by the Library Board,,..of Trustees. f / ` Lab r ., „ /,i r! ›. Y/ 91 ,�, Date Ch,ir, Board of Trustees la e