Contents:

1. Purpose and Goals
2. Responsibility for Selection
3. Resource Sharing
4. Selection Guidelines
5. Collection Maintenance
6. Gifts
7. Guidelines Review

Purpose

Purpose of the Collection Development Guidelines

The collection development guidelines of the Lone Star College System (System) Libraries are designed for use as a planning and communication tool. These principles and guidelines should be followed in the selection of library materials in all formats. Although each library must determine the resources needed to support its community and curriculum, these guidelines foster consistency in the selection process. However, the guidelines may be interpreted as broadly as the situation demands. 

The collection development guidelines provide a basis for the continual assessment, growth, and enrichment of the libraries’ collections in all pertinent formats in accordance with the mission of the System libraries. Each library will use these guidelines to formulate collection development procedures that reflect the needs of its unique patronage.

Purpose and Goals of the Collection

Library collections enhance the curriculum, promote scholarship, and supplement area library resources for students, businesses and the community.

The primary purpose of the collection is to support student curricula and provide access to materials that represent our student population's unique experiences and voices. The System Libraries affirm alignment with the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Diversity Standard #4: “Librarians and library staff shall develop collections and provide programs and services that are inclusive of the needs of all persons in the community the library serves.”

Intellectual Freedom

The libraries support the principles of the Freedom to Read Statement and the Library Bill of Rights and its various interpretations adopted by the American Library Association.

Responsibility for Selection

The librarians are responsible for the development of the collections to include all relevant formats. Final approval for all individual college selections rests with the individual college library director. Approval for shared System wide purchases, including licensing fees, rests with LEC. Curricular needs are the primary consideration when selecting resources. General criteria for selection of materials are outlined below in Selection Guidelines.
 
Librarians will encourage the active participation of faculty, administration, students, and community members in the selection process. These library users will be encouraged to recommend resources for purchase. However, in lieu of acquiring resources that do not meet the selection criteria, the libraries will make every effort to locate and borrow these resources through interlibrary loan (ILL).

Resource Sharing

The System libraries will participate in mutually beneficial resource sharing agreements within the system in order to expand the depth and breadth of all collections. Those colleges with joint-use agreements with the Harris County Public Library system will follow System guidelines regarding the college acquisitions. Dialogue between both library systems is encouraged in order to ensure effective resources for all patrons. Opportunities for cooperative collection development agreements with members of affiliated consortia, or other agencies, will be considered when such arrangements support the mission statements of System libraries.

Selection Guidelines

General Selection Guidelines

LSCS Libraries strive to support the courses and programs offered by the college and the needs of the students, faculty, and staff. Priority is given to materials that support the curriculum.

The following criteria are considered in the selection of resources:

• Collection level: Appropriateness for undergraduate use in general education and/or workforce programs
• Collection scope: inclusive viewpoints and perspectives, quality of content and presentation
• Lasting Value: cost effectiveness, format, physical condition and durability
• Format: appropriateness of format based on course modalities
• Usability and Accessibility: support of the learning needs of students with different abilities by providing information in a variety of formats
• Accreditation: quality level fulfills program accreditation standards
• Authority: the author or creator has expertise or experience in the subject area
• Currency: timeliness of information within the context of the subject
• Availability and Cost: Relative cost in relation to the budget and other available materials
• Access: items not in collection are accessed via interlibrary loan or via consortia agreements
• Acceptability: based on professional selection tools

Additional criteria for selection of nonprint and/or electronic resources:

• Compatibility with college equipment, software, and platforms
• Additional costs such as archiving, updating, technical support, and maintenance
• Continuous access with minimal downtime
• Licensing and/or contractual restrictions

Discretionary Collections

The following resources will be collected at the discretion of the individual colleges:

• Pamphlets or other ephemeral materials
• Materials not housed in the library
• Foreign language materials except those which support curricular needs
• Rare materials requiring special handling
• Mass market paperbacks
• Out of print materials
• Children’s books
• College archival materials

Textbooks

Textbooks currently used for classes and consumable materials such as lab manuals and workbooks typically are not purchased with library budgets. Exceptions are considered on a case-by-case basis. Donations from faculty, divisions or departments for reserve use are welcomed.

Continuations

Resources whose periodic updating or set fulfillment is important to the currency and completeness of collections will be purchased as continuations. Each title should be examined by a librarian or subjected to an extensive review process before it is ordered as a continuation. Final approval rests with the director of each campus library.

Replacement Copies

Resources missing from the collection, declared lost, or too damaged for further circulation are not automatically replaced. The same criteria for the selection of new materials will be used to justify the purchase of replacement materials.

LSC Catalog Archive

Lone Star College-North Harris Library maintains access to copies of the Lone Star College Course Catalogs. Print copies are available for the years 1973 to 2020 in the LSC-North Harris Library. Digital copies are maintained from 2003 through the current academic year.

Americans With Disabilities Act

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, information resources will be acquired which satisfy the reasonable accommodations provision of the act and provide equal access to information sources. Librarians and faculty may request resources in different formats to meet the needs of those with diverse abilities. Assistive technology equipment and/or software are available on campus for students needing to adapt printed materials in order to use alternative formats.

Copyright

It is the intent of the System that all members of the college community adhere to the provisions of the United States Copyright Law (Title 17, United States Code, Sect. 101, et seq.).

Collection Maintenance

Deselection

In order to maintain a collection of optimal usefulness, librarians and faculty will engage in a continual evaluation of materials in all formats. Those materials that are no longer appropriate to the collection will be removed, with the final approval of the director. Weeded material may be offered to another System library and/or college department before being withdrawn.

Criteria for Withdrawal of Materials

• Materials which are obsolete or which contain inaccurate data
• Materials in formats which require equipment that is obsolete
• Superseded editions
• Incomplete sets of which the individual volumes do not meet selection criteria or are no longer available.
• Incomplete and short runs of a periodical may be withdrawn, particularly when the title is not currently received.
• When a journal subscription is canceled, or the journal ceases publication, the entire holdings are evaluated for withdrawal.
• Multiple copies of titles which do not circulate or which do not support the curriculum
• Worn, badly marked, or severely damaged materials
• Lack of use
• Appropriateness of the subject matter to the current collection or changes in the college curriculum
• Expense of continuing subscriptions/continuations
• Replacement by comparable product or material

LSCS Libraries assess library collections by following the above weeding criteria for print and electronic books, audiovisual materials, periodicals and other library materials. In addition, faculty feedback and accreditation guidelines for multiple disciplines, as well as program requirements and local needs are taken into account when making weeding decisions. The committee also relies heavily on the CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding) Method.

Reconsideration Of Materials

In the event that an objection to any library resource is expressed, the complainant may request that the item be reconsidered. The complainant will be asked to complete a Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials Form (Appendix A). The completed form will be reviewed by the library director in a timely manner. The director’s decision to retain or withdraw a challenged resource will be made with respect to the principles of intellectual freedom and in accordance with System selection policy. The complainant will be notified in writing of the director’s decision.

Continuations

Resources whose periodic updating or set fulfillment is important to the currency and completeness of collections will be purchased as continuations. Each title should be examined by a librarian or subjected to an extensive review process before it is ordered as a continuation. Final approval rests with the director of each campus library. 

Replacement Copies

Resources missing from the collection, declared lost, or too damaged for further circulation are not automatically replaced. The same criteria for the selection of new materials will be used to justify the purchase of replacement materials.

Textbooks

Textbooks currently used for classes and consumable materials such as lab manuals and workbooks will not be purchased with library budgets. Donations from faculty, divisions or departments for reserve use are welcomed.

LSC Catalog Archive

Lone Star College-North Harris Library is responsible for maintaining access to Lone Star College Course Catalogs. Two copies are received each year. One copy is directed to the LSC Archives for the historical collection, and the other is added to the North Harris collection, searchable via the public library catalog, to be retained for at least five years.

Gifts

The libraries accept donations of monetary gifts and library resources. All gifts must be accompanied by a completed gift form signed by the donor. The director and/or librarians will work with donors of monetary gifts to select materials useful to the collection. The library accepts gift materials with the understanding that the librarians and library director reserve the right to determine appropriateness and placement in the collection. If adequate storage space and/or processing time are not available, the library director may decline the gifts. Libraries with joint-use agreements may follow the gift guidelines established in conjunction with the partner library. Donors are asked to complete the Lone Star College Foundation Gift In-Kind Donation Agreement (pdf).

Guidelines Review

The guidelines will be reviewed and revised at least every three years. Any revisions or amendments will be subject to the approval of the Library Executive Council (LEC).

Last Revised: LSCS Libraries Collection Development Committee January 2024 & Approved by LEC January 2024,