Material Selection Policy

Madera County Library selects materials and develops collections in different formats to provide its users with resources of merit. It obtains, organizes, preserves, and makes available these resources.

Responsibility for Selection

The ultimate responsibility for the selection of library materials rests by law (California Education Code 19146) with the County Librarian. The County Librarian consults with, and receives recommendations from, other professional librarians in the service area, but any other member of the library’s staff or the general public may recommend material to the County Librarian for consideration.

Principles of Selection.

The County Librarian in making decisions does so in a manner based upon principle rather than personal opinion, reason rather than prejudice, and judgment rather than censorship.

1. The library does not censor reading material, but aims to reflect humanity’s wide range of thought, expression and opinion. Part of the library’s mission is to provide enough suitable material to enable the public to make informed and intelligent decisions. It must be clearly understood that by doing so, the library does not endorse or promote the opinions or viewpoints expressed in the materials which it houses. Since materials often hold diametrically opposite views, this would be impossible.

2. Madera County Library is a public institution and caters to a multiplicity of tastes. It recognizes that some material may be shocking or offensive to some members of the public, but, to others, that same material may be meaningful and significant.

3. What minors read is the responsibility of their parents or guardians. Selection of adult material will not be restricted by the possibility that it might be encountered by a minor.

4. The extent to which the library can provide materials for student use is limited. The library does not buy school textbooks, and the acquisition of multiple copies of individual titles is not generally practiced, nor can it duplicate materials used in school assignments extensively.

5. Differing reading abilities within the community are taken into account.

6. In order to build a balanced and significant collection, and serve the educational and recreational needs of its users, professional consideration is given to the quality of material selected. Material of proven interest is selected, and critical reviews and professional evaluations are used to assess new titles.

7. Professional consideration is given to cost, format and construction of the material, and the physical limitations of library storage. Other considerations are the availability of specialized or similar materials already in the library, or available from elsewhere in the community or through inter-library loan.

Donations (see the library’s gift policy)

Donations of materials or funds to enrich the library’s collections are welcome, but the right to accept or refuse conditions placed upon such gifts is reserved to the County Librarian. Additions to the library by donation must meet the same selection requirements outlined above.

Deselection

Items are discarded from the collection if they are surplus to the needs of the library, they no longer circulate, their information has become obsolete, or they are unusable due to damage or wear.

Disputes

Objections to specific items within the library’s collection will be reviewed upon written request. A form for this purpose may be requested at the library.

Madera County Library endorses the American Library Association Bill of Rights and its Freedom to Read Statement. In the maintenance of our First Amendment Rights, guaranteed by the United States Constitution, the library will challenge attempts to censor its collections.