COLLECTIONS

      The purpose of the children's collection is to provide diverse, current and relevant materials that meet the informational, recreational, cultural and developmental needs of all children in the community. Inherent in this purpose is the desire to encourage life-long learning, and the love of reading, to provide accurate, up-to-date information and to foster an appreciation of literature.

 

1.0  The following PRINCIPLES shall govern the development of collections to serve

children:

1.1 Every library must have a written collection development policy specific to children’s materials endorsed by the library's governing board. This policy should be consistent with the mission and policies of the library and the ALA Library Bill of Rights. This policy shall include:

· a statement of purpose;

· criteria for selection and evaluation;

· the Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read and Freedom to View (all policies of the American Library Association);

· a statement governing donated materials;

· guidelines for handling requests for reconsideration of library

materials.

1.2  Collection development of children's materials shall be under the direction of the person responsible for children's services.

 

1.3  Selection of materials shall be based on:

· Consulting a wide variety of reviewing sources and publishers’ catalogs, including those of small presses.

· Considering popular appeal as well as requests from children and adults who deal with children.

· Accommodating the diversity of our patrons by providing a collection of subject matter that is balanced in subject matter and in points of view.

 

 

1.4  The library must have a continuous materials evaluation program for discarding and replacing materials that are worn, out of date, or no longer   appealing to users. These materials must be discarded from the collection and/or evaluated for replacement. The children's librarian must be aware of the changing nature of each subject area.

 

 

1.5  An annual budget must be designated for materials and maintenance of the children's collection. A portion of the budget shall be allocated for replacement and duplicate copies. Factors to be considered in budget   allocation shall include:

· the percentage of the total population who are children,

· the percentage of the total circulation consisting of children's materials,

· the need to expand children's services,

· the comparative cost of children's materials and adult materials,

· the necessity of replacing children's materials more frequently.

· the need to include new formats and technologies.

 

1.6  The public library collection for children shall complement but not take the place of the school library in the community (See The MLA and MSLMA Joint Statement on Collection Development). In cases where the public library also functions as the school library, arrangements must be made for reimbursement from the community budget.

 

1.7  To facilitate the use of the children's collection there must be:

· Full cataloging and prompt processing of all children's materials both print and non-print materials

· Logical organization of materials according to accepted library standards

· Display of materials in a way as to invite use by children and adults,

· Directional signs and appropriate shelving,

· Promotion of materials through a variety of methods such as booklists, book talks, library exhibits and programs.

 

1.8  Appropriate use should be made of the staff and collections made available through the Massachusetts Regional Library Systems.

 

2.0 CHARACTERISTICS of Children's Department collection:

2.1  The children's department collection shall include a wide range of materials which will take into consideration the developmental stages of children and the needs of adults who deal with children.

2.2 The collection must include a selection of current reference materials.

2.3 Each library collection must include:

· Materials which represent the cultural and social diversity of a changing society and reflect the experience of contemporary children.

· Reflect the experience of contemporary children.

· Provide access to materials in languages appropriate to meet the reading needs of all children in the community.

· Provide materials in English about the culture of prominent ethnic groups in the community.

 

2.4 Each library shall serve special needs children, providing access to materials and equipment such as Braille, talking books, large print, telecommunication devices for the deaf (TTY), low vision aids.

 

2.5 Each library shall provide access to materials in languages appropriate to meet the reading needs of all children in the community. Materials in English about the culture of predominant ethnic groups in the community shall also be provided.

2.6 The collection should encompass the latest technological resources that would include-but not be limited to the Internet and Electronic Databases. These resources should be readily available and accessible to children throughout the library. 

2.7 The children’s librarian will treat electronic resources, as they would print materials selecting and evaluating these on an ongoing basis. These resources should support the recreational and informational needs of the users as determined in the library’s collection development policy. 

A portion of the collection’s budget should support these current resources as well as future electronic acquisitions. Also, the library’s technology plan should address acquiring the latest equipment and hardware to support these resources as well as a plan to maintain the hardware/infrastructure. 

Each children’s department should have their own dedicated web page as part of the library’s homepage. Information that should be included on the site:

·  Library contact information

· Programs and services

· Access to electronic databases –provided by library, consortium, or region

· A listing of informational and recreational web resources to serve as a gateway/start to the Internet

· Homework Page

· Collection Promotion-booklists etc.

·  Information on searching the web safely

 

Children’s librarians should work with library administration in reviewing their Internet policy and include components such as: children’s access to technology, selection criteria for inclusion of links on the library web page, developing programs that help children navigate and evaluate information on the world wide web as well as programs that instruct parents on how to protect their children from inappropriate material and access to the information they need.