Collection Development Policy

Purpose

This Collection Development Policy is intended to provide guidance, within budgetary and space limitations, for the selection and evaluation of materials which anticipate and meet the needs of the Berkeley community. As the community changes, the library will need to reassess and adapt its collections to reflect new and differing areas of interest and concern. The collection development policy will be periodically evaluated and revised as necessary to provide guidance for implementing changes in the collection.

The Community

The Berkeley community reflects varying economic, racial, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. A strong knowledge and understanding of the demographics and interests of the community is key in terms of selecting materials and providing services to a changing populations. Our collections and services will continue to evolve and grow as the needs of the Berkeley community change.

Philosophy of Selection

In support of its mission, the Berkeley Public Library fully endorses the principles documented in the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement from the American Library Association. The library upholds the right of the individual to secure information, though the content may be controversial, unorthodox, or unacceptable to others. Materials available in the library present a diversity of viewpoints, enabling citizens to make the informed choices necessary in a democracy.

Responsibility for Selection

The authority and responsibility for the selection of library materials rests ultimately with the Library Director. Under his/her direction, selection is delegated to appropriate library staff. All staff members and members of the public are encouraged to recommend materials for consideration.

Selection Criteria

All materials, whether purchased or donated, are considered in terms of the criteria listed below. An item need not meet all of these standards in order to be added to the collection.

Popular interest
Contemporary significance or permanent value
Currency of information
Accuracy
Local emphasis
Readability or ability to sustain interest
Treatment of subject to age of intended audience
Reputation of author, publisher, producer, or illustrator
Creative, literary, or technical qualities
Critical assessments in a variety of journals
Format and ease of use
Circulation as monitored through the automated system
Cost and availability
Relationship to existing materials in collection
Relationship to materials in other area libraries

Request for Consideration

The library encourages input from the Berkeley community concerning its available collection of materials. Residents may submit a Request for Consideration of Library Materials form for any items they would like the Library to consider. Completed forms will be reviewed in a timely by library staff in relation to the library's mission statement and the selection criteria of this collection development policy. Once a decision has been made, the resident who completed the form will be notified.

The Collection

Adult Collection

Fiction- The library's collection includes a wide variety of contemporary works of fiction representing all genres, international works of fiction, classics and important novels of the past. The library makes every effort to acquire fiction which is representative of the community that it serves and to satisfy the diversity of interests and recreational needs of its users.

Nonfiction- The library aims at acquiring materials which provide a core of basic knowledge. In addition, the library selects, makes accessible, and promotes the use of materials which:

address contemporary issues
provide self-help information
facilitate continuing education
enhance job-related knowledge and skills
increase knowledge of affairs of the community, the country, and the world
support business, cultural, recreational, and civic interests in the community
present different viewpoints on issues
nourish intellectual, aesthetic, creative, and spiritual growth

Children's Collection

To encourage life-long reading habits, the children's collection provides materials in a variety of formats to satisfy and stimulate the informational, educational, cultural, and recreational needs of the children of Berkeley from infancy through grade eight. Materials are selected with regard to the stages of emotional and intellectual maturity of children. The collection also provides adults with materials that relate to the well-being of children, supplement preschool/school curriculums, and aid in the study of children's literature.

Electronic Databases

Research databases extend the collection by providing timely and versatile access to information in electronic format. Databases are used by the library staff to enhance and supplement reference service and are available for patron use both in the library and remotely. Many of the databases contain specialized information beyond the scope of the library's print collections; others have information that does not exist in print format. Some databases duplicate print sources which are carefully evaluated for retention with consideration to cost, frequency of use, and ease of access to library users.

Foreign Language Materials

The library maintains a collection of foreign language materials aimed at meeting the recreational and informational needs of the Berkeley community. Resources include books, magazines, and audio-visual materials in the languages used by individuals in the community. The library's collection also includes materials which aid in learning a second language. Such resources may include books, including grammars and dictionaries, audio CDs, videos, and access to databases for learning the languages most frequently studied in the community.

Public Internet Access

In conjunction with its mission statement, the Berkeley Public Library provides access to a vast array of information available through electronic media. Online information, services, and networks provided directly or indirectly by the library will be readily, equally, and equitably accessible to all library users. The Berkeley Public Library does not monitor and assumes no control over the information accessed and cannot be held responsible for the content, accuracy, or quality of information retrieved. Providing access to electronic information, services, and networks differs from selecting and purchasing material for the library's collection, offering unprecedented opportunities to expand the scope of information available to all users.

Large Print

The large type book collection meets the needs of an increasing number of visually challenged or impaired patrons. The major thrust of the collection is popular fiction, including mysteries and romance, along with high interest nonfiction such as biographies and health-related materials.

E-Media

The library must continually assess new electronic media and evaluate the capabilities and enhancements that they offer over existing formats. When deciding whether to replace or augment existing formats with new media, the following factors are considered:

anticipated improvements in information storage and retreival
user demand
quality of the product
ease of use
equipment requirements
cost
staff requirements for processing, maintenance, and training.

It is essential for staff to monitor technological developments so that wise and cost-effective collection decisions are made for the Berkeley community.

Periodical Collection

The library's newspaper, magazine, and journal collection, both print and electronic, provides current information aimed at meeting the research and recreational reading needs of the community. The collection also contains periodicals that serve the professional reading and material review needs of the library staff. Periodicals supplement the book collection by providing up-to-date information, covering current topics not yet available in books, and presenting a less in-depth treatment of a subject than is usually found in books. Back issues of current magazines circulate.

Audio Recordings

Music and spoken word recordings are available in compact disc (CD) and other physical formats because of their availability and popularity. The music collection consists of works by major contemporary and classical artists as well as popular music with emphasis on acquiring recordings in a variety of genres including rock, R&B, folk, jazz, and classical music. Due to the age of the format and the proliferation of online/streaming music, the Berkeley Public Library is not currently adding to the music CD collection. Many books, both fiction and nonfiction, are also available in audio format and include a variety of genres.

Textbooks

Recognizing the responsibility of schools to provide access to required textbooks for their students, the Berkeley Public Library does not acquire textbooks required for school curricula.

Videos

The library collects DVDs to meet the recreational and educational needs of adults, young adults, and children. Videos of feature films include highly rated current films as well as film classics, which are of broad family appeal or potential cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.

Young Adult Collection

A young adult collection has been established to satisfy the library needs of patrons from the approximate age of 13 to 18 years. The type of materials selected differs significantly from the hunior high level because of the social, emotional, and intellectual maturity required to read them.

Collection Maintenance

Maintenance of the library's collection through re-evaluation by the library staff ensures its usefulness and relevance to the community. This evaluation depends heavily on the staff's professional education and experience in assessing the needs of the community and the content of the collection. Those materials determined to no longer be of value are withdrawn from the collection.

Weeding of Library Materials

The method of collection evaluation includes six general criteria:

M - Misleading, factually inaccurate
U - Ugly, worn beyond mending or rebinding
S - Superseded by a new edition or by a much better book on the subject
T - Trivial, of no discernible literary or scientific merit
I - Irrelevant to the needs and interests of the library's community
E - Elsewhere, the material is easily obtainable from another library.

APPROVED by the Berkeley Public Library Board of Trustees this 20th day of March, 2019. AYES: 5, NAYS: 0.

REVISED and APPROVED by the Berkeley Public Library Board of Trustees this 23rd day of February, 2022. AYES: 6, NAYS:0.

REVISED and APPROVED by the Berkeley Public Library Board of Trustees this 22nd day of March, 2023. AYES: 5, NAYS: 0.

REVISED and APPROVED by the Berkeley Public Library Board of Trustees this 22nd day of April, 2026. AYES: 6, NAYS:0.