Page 44 - DLIS104_MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION CENTRES

Unit 6: Collection Development Policy

Board member, or by an individual. In most instances, the task of actually putting the Notes
pieces together, editing the final version, informing the Library Board about the implica-
tions of various policy options, and even educating them about collection development
policies will fall to the library director. No matter how the pieces of the policy are written
or who drafts them, the Library Board and the staff will need to review and provide input
on each segment. A library policy of any type by definition is an official document and as
such must be officially adopted by the Board at a regularly scheduled public meeting. At this
point it is useful for you to provide your board and/or committee with an outline of the
policy elements.
2. Gather data: Pull together all of the pieces of the puzzle you will need before you begin.
Create a file folder or box to contain all of the following types of information:
Basic data about your community (population, size, age distribution, educational lev-
els, and other library and educational opportunities available to the citizens) are likely
already in place if you have recently engaged in developing a strategic plan. If a
planning process is not likely soon but you need a collection development policy now,
then you will need to gather this information. In particular you want to recognize and
focus upon changes or issues that are now or might soon affect the informational and
recreational needs of particular community segments.
The library’s current long-range or strategic plan provides large segments of what is
initially needed for the policy.
Data gleamed from doing a collection assessment as well as data about how much the
collection is used, and what its strengths and weaknesses appear to be.
Existing policy statements. Sometimes you will find these buried away in files and not
being used at all to make daily decisions.
Written procedures about the work within the library, especially those related to gifts,
acquisitions, processing, and circulation. All of these might impact what the policy will
ultimately reflect and you are likely to want to refer to these as the details of the policy
are sorted out.
3. Write the policy: The discussion about the collection development policy elements includes
advice about which pieces of the policy might be drafted first by an individual such as the
librarian and those pieces that will need prior discussion by the Board before any general
decisions are formalized into a draft statement. Sometimes it is helpful to draft a few of the
easy components first and bring these pieces to the Board for discussion and general approval
as a starting point for the policy process. This gets the project off to a good start and helps to
energize everyone. The policy outline you have already shared with them provides an easy
way to check off topics as they are finished. Then you can move on to another piece to resolve.
Like list-making, this gives individuals a sense of making progress on a big task.
After identifying pieces such as a summary description of the community served by the
library and any other sections that might already exist in another official document to which
you could create a link from the CD policy, proceed to the preparation of some of the
generally easy sections to draft and discuss such as the purpose of the policy itself and the
policy on gifts.. In order for the Board to understand the issues it is essential that they be
given a sense of the range of options that might be selected. In the case of gifts, there are
many options. The policy can range from accepting everything to accepting only unencum-
bered money. One might bring a worksheet to the staff and later to the Board with a number
of options identified. Then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Let the
Board determine what the policy is ultimately to be and then you or whoever is writing the
policy statements can incorporate the decision in a draft gift statement to come before the
Board for general approval at their next meeting. One might wish to take some of the
“touchy” issues to the Board for discussion prior to even drafting any of the words or
options.
In the course of writing the policy one must think carefully about the statements presented
in the policy and how your library constituents will perceive them.

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