Collection Development Policy

The collection development policy is to provide a framework of procedures and guidelines for the librarians responsible for developing and managing the collection at Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC) Library. Collection management includes the selection, acquisition and deaccessioning of library materials in all formats, as well as the ongoing review of the existing collection. The main objective of collection development is to have a useful collection that reflects the goals of the LCSC Library and the curricular and information needs of the LCSC community. This policy is a working document that will change and develop in response to the needs of the College community.

Founded in 1893, Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC), located in Lewiston, Idaho, is a public undergraduate college with more than 3,000 students from more than 30 states and 20 countries. The college offers undergraduate instruction in the nursing, education, business, humanities, natural sciences, as well as in professional and applied technical programs through the Lewiston campus and LCSC’s various outreach centers including Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The LCSC Library is a member of the Washington-Idaho Network (WIN) consortium which includes the North Idaho College Molstead Library in Coeur d’Alene. The Library primarily serves the students, faculty and staff of LCSC. However, members of the Lewis-Clark Valley community may also make use of the Library’s collection on a limited basis.

Through the selection, organization, and dissemination of information, the Library supports the academic and technical education programs of the College. It seeks to fill the information needs of its user community by developing a conceptually coherent and rational collection of print and non-print materials which support the College’s teaching and research functions.

To fulfill this mission, the Library faculty participates in the development and review of the curriculum. We work closely with teaching faculty and students to analyze their curricular, research and recreational interests. Staff also teach the bibliographic structure of knowledge and the means of gaining access to that knowledge, explore and implement new technology to expand and improve information resources and services, and test new ways to extend service to the broader community.

The Library provides an inclusive and welcoming environment that accepts differing viewpoints, life experience, and contributions from all members of the LCSC community. Library staff provides services, collections, and spaces that meet the diverse needs of LCSC students, faculty, and staff. In all of its activity, the Library supports the designated programs of the College and responds to the unique information demands generated by the College mission.

Final responsibility for implementation of this policy rests with the Director of the Library who is authorized to allocate the resource funds for the Library. Overall responsibility for the selection, development and maintenance of the collection rests with the Library faculty. The Library faculty consults with the teaching faculty to ensure they have a voice in collection development which supports the LCSC curriculum. Library faculty welcome recommendations for the collection from the teaching faculty, however, the final selection responsibility lies with the Library faculty who will, using their discretion, determine if the materials recommended fit the Library’s selection guidelines.

In accordance with the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement, the LCSC Library’s collection provides the free exchange of all ideas. The collection offers the widest possible range of viewpoints, regardless of the popularity of the viewpoint, or the sex, religion, political philosophy, or national origin of the author(s). No censorship shall be exercised on the basis of language or controversy of topic related to religious, political, sexual, social economic, scientific or moral issues.

The Library staff strives to provide collections that represent diverse viewpoints. Library users may occasionally find materials owned by the Library to be controversial or objectionable. Written complaints will be considered within the guidelines outlined in this policy. In considering such complaints, the following statement from the Library Bill of Rights shall remain paramount: "Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval."

The Library uses its funds to develop a collection which reflects the educational objectives, and supports the educational and service programs of the college. LCSC Library will acquire representative materials in all areas of knowledge focusing on subject areas relating to LCSC’s academic curriculum, and appropriate to the level of instruction. The Library focuses on acquiring books for lower-division undergraduates, particularly those with “Essential” or “Highly Recommended” evaluations by Choice. The Library staff exercises care in purchasing highly specialized research materials solely for individual faculty use. Interlibrary loan is recommended for the occasional need of esoteric, limited-use materials.

Criteria for selection of library materials shall include:

• accuracy and authority of the material
• lasting value of the content
• anticipated use of the material
• authoritativeness and reputation of the author and the publisher
• appropriateness of the level of material, the strength of present holdings in the same or similar subject areas
• social and/or artistic merit or importance of the materials, cost, favorable reviews in reputable sources such as Choice and Books in Print
• professional judgment of the teaching faculty and library faculty

The Library will acquire materials in diverse supported formats.

• Selection of reference materials is the collective responsibility of all of the librarians. The focus of the reference collection is to provide materials needed to conduct research and shall contain the standard reference works useful in the fields covered by the undergraduate curricula of the college. Primary emphasis of the reference collection will be on selecting resources in electronic format. The types of materials collected include:
  
• Items in the Reference collection cannot be removed from the library or be borrowed by other libraries. Materials in the Reference collection will be reviewed annually by the subject selectors for currency and relevancy to the collection.
  - almanacs & yearbooks; directories;
  - general & specialized dictionaries;
  - major encyclopedias;
  - geographical resources such as maps, atlases and gazetteers;
  - handbooks and style manuals.

• The PNW Collection focuses on materials related to the history, geography, environment, economy and people of the Pacific and Inland Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon Washington and Alaska).
  
• Items related to the Lewis & Clark expedition will be added to the PNW Collection if they specifically pertain to Idaho, Montana, Oregon or Washington. Items that pertain to the expedition in general and do not specifically relate to the PNW region will be cataloged as part of the Library’s General Collection.

• The focus of electronic resources is to provide online resources needed to conduct research in the fields covered by the undergraduate curricula of the College.
  
• The Library currently provides access to the LiLI databases from the Idaho Commission for Libraries and other electronic databases that support the LCSC curriculum. Database descriptions can be found on the Databases page accessible from the Library home page.
  
• The librarians also select individual eBook titles that support the LCSC curriculum and instruction needs. When choosing to purchase an eBook title, the librarians will take into consideration factors such as the needs of distance education students in that discipline, content, ease of use, usage patterns and faculty preference for electronic books for that subject or discipline. Some titles are also purchased as part of larger eBook collections that the Library subscribes to such as the EBSCOhost eBook collection or the Gale Virtual Reference Library electronic reference books collection.

• Maps related to Idaho and those areas of Montana, Oregon and Washington that immediately border Idaho will be added and cataloged for our collection.

• The LCSC Library is a "select depository" library for United States federal government publications. We also hold a very small collection in print of Idaho State government documents. Materials selected shall include both print and electronic formats. Criteria for selecting government documents shall be the same as those applied to other materials. Since depository status imposes the obligation of serving the public, documents of general interest to the community shall be selected. Items in the Government Documents collection cannot be removed from the Library or be borrowed by other libraries.

• The Library strives to provide the most current and up-to-date periodicals of value and interest to LCSC Library users. In addition to in-house holdings, the Library provides extensive access to periodical and journal subscriptions through the Idaho statewide database project (LiLI) and through other database subscriptions.

• LCSC Library shall acquire and make available recordings of the spoken word, audiovisuals and video recordings in support of the curriculum. The librarians will primarily purchase media items in DVD and in streaming format, when financially feasible. Criteria for selecting media items shall be the same as those applied to other materials for the collection. LCSC aims to collect those materials in which public performance rights are granted or available.

• The LCSC Library faculty shall collect a small, rotating collection of current fiction to provide recreational reading for our students, staff and faculty. The collection will consist of bound fiction books of lasting literary value that will eventually go into the general collection, and paperback books that will eventually be recycled. The collection will be reviewed by the primary selector once a year to see which titles should go into the general collection or be withdrawn.

• The LCSC Library Archives & Special Collections houses materials primarily related to Lewis-Clark State College. Its main focus includes documents, photographs, books, memorabilia and other valuable items that are unique, rare or fragile related to the history, life and events of the College. LCSC Library staff will exercise careful guardianship of those manuscripts, rare books, and other valuable items which might be donated to the Library. The LCSC Library Archives also houses the Allan H. Smith Collection of Dr. Smith’s personal papers and research notes related to his years as an anthropology researcher and professor at Washington State University. Materials in the Archives collection are for library use only. Access to the Library Archives is by appointment only by contacting the Collection Development Librarian or the Library Director, Monday to Friday, during the hours of 8 am - 5 pm.

• The LCSC Library serves as a public depository for curricular materials for Grade K–12 that are currently under adoption in the State of Idaho. Teachers, student teachers, principals, superintendents, curriculum directors, parents, etc., are able to utilize and/or review these approved materials.
• Curricular materials are adopted by the State Board of Education and sent to LCSC by the Idaho State Department of Education. The Curriculum Collection is a circulating collection housed at the Lewis-Clark State College Library for a period of time set by the Idaho State Department of Education. The subject areas are reading, English, spelling, speech, journalism, languages other than English, art, drama, social studies, music, mathematics, business education, career education and counseling, vocational/technical education, science, health, handwriting, literature, and driver education. Materials are made available for use by LCSC Education faculty and students, as well as any educator in north central Idaho, including those who home-school.
• Curricular materials that have been housed at LCSC for the allotted 6 years are withdrawn each year in July. The withdrawn materials are offered to LCSC Education faculty, local area teachers and the general public at no cost. Items are not available for circulation through interlibrary loan.
• The approved subject areas for adoption arrive at LCSC annually. The materials are processed and added to the online catalog database so that the public can access the materials. Duplicate items are weeded from the collection, and lost or stolen items are not replaced.
  General Collection

• To purchase the top five (5) % of US academic publishing in the subject areas relative to the curriculum of the college.
• To insure that subject quotas for acquisitions are met through careful examination of publishing rates, number of credits generated in a subject area, and the usage rates established within subject areas identified by Library of Congress classification schemes. Each criterion is weighted and calculated as part of a formula to produce a selection quota for each subject.
• To meet key professional ratios of volumes per FTE, volumes added per FTE per year, and to meet expenditure recommendations for journals and books as a percent of the library and institutional budget.
• To improve user satisfaction in locating appropriate materials for their research needs.
  Emphasis shall be on purchasing current items with perceived long-term value, recognizing the need at times for retrospective information.

Selection is made in the following subject areas in support of the College’s curriculum and instruction needs. Below is a summary of the areas of curriculum focus:

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Revised February 2018