Bailey Library Collection Development Policy

Goals

• Using current technologies, Bailey Library will seek to identify and implement innovative means for broadening access to information and strengthening services.
• Bailey Library will engage the Hendrix community in the development of library research skills and will support classroom instruction through services and academic technologies.
• Bailey Library will seek and maintain cooperative alliances to complement and develop the resources available locally.
• Bailey Library will provide engaging spaces for students to work collaboratively or independently and will host community-enriching programs and displays.
• Bailey Library will invest in professional development of our student library assistants. 
• Bailey Library will facilitate and promote undergraduate and faculty research through outstanding collections and services.
  

Selection Responsibility

Ultimate responsibility for developing and maintaining the library's collection rests with the Director of Bailey Library. The Director of Bailey Library is responsible for coordinating and administering collection development procedures and policies. All requests for materials are reviewed for adherence to the selection guidelines in this policy.  Librarians provide liaison services for departmental subject areas and solicit selections from faculty in their respective areas of expertise.  Students and staff requests for acquisition of materials are also welcomed and encouraged, and are reviewed using the same standards that apply to requests from faculty.

Fund Allocation

The materials budget is allocated in broad categories according to a standard formula to fulfill collection development needs.  The Bailey Library is the primary library for the College, and does not support acquisitions for departmental collections.

Specific amounts of the library materials budget are not formally allocated to individual faculty departments.  Materials are purchased primarily to support the curriculum rather than to build individual research collections for faculty research.  Faculty members are asked to prioritize their requests from the most important to the least important.  Librarians monitor faculty ordering in subject areas, review the book selection literature, and order materials to supplement faculty requests.

Selection Guidelines

Materials are evaluated for selection based on the quality of content and the extent to which they support the undergraduate curriculum at Hendrix College. Criteria used in selecting individual items include some or all of the following:

• Lasting value of the content
• Appropriateness of the level of treatment
• Reputation of the academic publisher
• Strength of the present holdings in the same or similar subject areas
• Cost
• Suitability of format for student and faculty use including print on paper, electronically accessed full-text, microforms, and other emerging information formats as appropriate
• Anticipated use as indicated by faculty recommendation 

Other Guidelines and Exceptions

• Textbooks are not normally purchased unless for the Ready on Reserve program in coordination with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.  The exceptions are those titles that are recognized as classics in their field, or a textbook that is the only or best source of information on a particular topic.
• Duplicates are purchased only under unusual circumstances as approved by the Library Director.
• When there is a choice among formats such as hard copy, electronic access, microforms, etc., the choice is based on expected use, consultation with the appropriate academic department as to assignments given, and appropriateness of the technological format for teaching and student access.
• Lost or stolen materials are evaluated for replacement based on the same criteria used for selection of new titles.
• Materials are acquired in the English language except for materials that support the foreign language and literature curriculum.
• The library primarily purchases in-print, current materials.  Out-of-print materials are purchased only by exception or to support new programs, new courses, or to supplement heavily used sections of the collection.  These purchases are coordinated with the appropriate faculty members.
• Faculty research is generally not supported within the mission of the library and financial constraints but is supported through document delivery/interlibrary loan.
  

Reference Collection

Reference materials support general reference, the college curriculum, and the instruction program.  Print materials are selected, updated, and retained based on their immediate usefulness for faculty and student information needs.  Electronic delivery with campus-wide access is the preferred format for abstracts and indexes.

Serials

Because journals, periodicals, newspapers, and cataloged serials represent an ongoing financial commitment, the procedure for budgeting and selection is more restrictive than for books .  Each new journal subscription request is evaluated using the following criteria:

• The library's current journal holdings in the subject area.
• The journal's relevance to the undergraduate curriculum.
• The journal's inclusion in full-text publisher collections or availability through services that gather full-text articles from different journals or publishers.
• The availability of content in electronic format and need for archival access
• Cost
• The availability of indexing for the journal.

DVD/Video Collection

The DVD/Video Collection supports the undergraduate curriculum and academic programs at Hendrix College.  To that end, within a defined budget allocation, Bailey Library will:

• Purchase DVDs that are directly related to classroom use or co-curricular/enrichment activities. 
• Prefer DVD as the format of choice for purchases; if streaming services are cost effective or requested by faculty, streaming video databases will be considered.
• Bailey Library cannot add DVDs to the collection unless they are produced in compliance with copyright law.
• Purchase only formats for which there is viewing equipment readily available on campus or a network capacity appropriate for streaming services.

College Archives

Most materials for the College Archives are publications or records of the College.  Others are acquired by donation. In cases where there is a link to College history, items relevant to local history are maintained in the College Archives.  Rare books are not actively purchased but are accepted as gifts in so far as they are relevant to the aims and purposes of the College's curricula.

Gift Materials

Gift materials are reviewed according to the same standards used for purchased materials. Departmental faculty are generally consulted and invited to evaluate gift materials in their subject areas before final decisions are made. Gift materials not acceptable for the permanent collection are usually sold at library book sales.

Government Publications

Hendrix College is a selective depository for federal government publications.  Documents are selected through the federal document depository system to meet curricular needs, faculty research needs, and community needs if these are known. The collection is highly selective because of extent of use, staff time for processing, and space. Electronic formats are preferred.

Collection Maintenance and De-selection

De-selection of titles is based upon the continuing need of the library to support an undergraduate curriculum with appropriate, current, and course-related materials.  When materials are deselected, they are done so in cooperation with faculty from that particular subject area and the entire faculty is invited to review the deselected items before permanent withdrawal of the items.

Cooperative Networks and Consortia

The library belongs to several consortia: Amigos Bibliographic Council, ARKLink (A Consortium of Arkansas' Academic Libraries), LDD3 (Library Development District 3 of Arkansas), and the Associated Colleges of the South.  In addition, Bailey Library has reciprocal borrowing agreements with Central Baptist College and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Intellectual Freedom

In the selection of materials, the Bailey Library adheres to the principles of American Library Association's Bill of Rights:

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. 
2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. 
3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas. 
5. A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948. Amended February 2, 1961, June 27, 1967, and January 23, 1980, by the ALA Council; inclusion of "age" reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

Ethics

In all acquisitions transactions, the Bailey Library strives to adhere to the Statement on Principles and Standards of Acquisition Practice of the American Library Association's Association for Library Collections and Technical Services:

In all acquisitions transactions, a librarian:

1. gives first consideration to the objectives and policies of his or her institution; 
2. strives to obtain the maximum ultimate value of each dollar of expenditure; 
3. grants all competing vendors equal consideration insofar as the established policies of his or her library permit, and regards each transaction on its own merits;
4. subscribes to and works for honesty, truth, and fairness in buying and selling, and denounces all forms and manifestations of bribery; 
5. declines personal gifts and gratuities;
6. uses only by consent original ideas and designs devised by one vendor for competitive purchasing purposes;
7. accords a prompt and courteous reception insofar as conditions permit to all who call on legitimate business missions;
8. fosters and promotes fair, ethical, and legal trade practices;
9. avoids sharp practice;
10. strives consistently for knowledge of the publishing and bookselling industry;
11. strives to establish practical and efficient methods for the conduct of his/her office;
12. counsels and assists fellow acquisitions librarians in the performance of their duties,  whenever occasion permits.