A.  Purpose of policy
1. To guide staff in the selection of materials, including what subject areas and material types to consider acquiring and retaining and how much emphasis each should receive; and
2. To provide a public record of the principles upon which selections are made.

B.  Goals of policy
1. To provide and maintain an organized collection of library materials in a variety of formats reflecting a diversity of ideas in proportion to the levels of need and use as identified in the community.
2. To strive to promote and provide quality library service which meets the cultural, creative, educational, reference, research and recreational needs of the residents and/or businesses of Orange.
3. To insure the Library’s collection contains good quality, up-to-date materials in all relevant subject areas.

C.  Intellectual Freedom
As a basis for formulating this material selection policy, the Library Commission has reviewed and endorses the Library Bill of Rights, and the Freedom to Read Statement. Copies of these documents are contained in the Appendix of the policy.

D.  Objectives for Acquisition and Development
1. General Criteria for Acquisition
2. Reputation and significance of the author or artist.
3. Authority and accuracy.
4. Literary style or artistic excellence.
5. Relevance to present or anticipated needs and interest of the community in terms of new material as well as duplication of material in high demand.
6. Permanent value as resource material.
7. Timeliness.
8. Relation to existing material in Library.
9. Accessibility in other collections through interlibrary loan.
10. Suitability of format for library use.
11. Price and availability of funds.
12. Local interest. The Library will acquire materials in appropriate formats as best meet the service goals, space, staff, equipment and budget of the Library.

E.  Special considerations.
1. User recommendations are seriously considered and are judged using the criteria above. If any item is deemed inappropriate because of cost, format, limited demand or degree of technicality, etc., an attempt will be made to borrow it for the patron through interlibrary loan.
2. Gifts and Memorials are covered under a separate policy; forms are available at the Circulation Desk.
3. Weeding and withdrawals will average about 5% a year as recommended by the American Library Association. Lack of demand, obsolete or erroneous information and poor condition will be the main reasons for discarding. Standard titles of lasting value (unless they are replaced by newer copies) and materials of special local interest will not be discarded.

Materials will be reevaluated on a continuous basis with a total review completed every five years. Materials will be checked against The Standard Catalog for Public Libraries and other resources as the Library Director deems appropriate. Discards may be given to the Friends of the Case Memorial Library for their book sale. Final decisions of whether to dispose of, repair, or rebind will be made by the Library Director.

4. Replacement will be evaluated in relation to the number of duplicate copies, existence of adequate coverage of a field, other similar materials in the collection, and demand for a specific title or subject.
5. Duplication of titles is at the discretion of the Director.
6. Works by Local authors will be purchased by the Library at the discretion of the Library Director. Works of local authors donated as gifts will be included in the collection if they are consistent with the principles outlined in this policy.
7. Local history is defined as those happenings within the boundaries of the Town of Orange and/or neighboring towns or those affecting its citizens. Materials and artifacts relating to the history of Orange will be reviewed to determine the appropriateness to the collection. Items not deemed appropriate will be offered to the Orange Historical Society.
8. Interlibrary loan will be offered as a free service unless the Case Memorial Library incurs direct fees for mailing, copies, or service charges from the loaning library in which case the costs will be assumed by the patron. The library will lend material to other libraries with the exception of reference materials.

F. Responsibility for selection
Selection will be the responsibility of the Library Director using the criteria outlined in this policy. Selections will conform with budget limitations.

G. Challenged Materials
General Guidelines

1. On controversial subjects, the Library Director must take the responsibility of buying whatever materials seem to be worthwhile and must in no case yield to pressure to keep materials off the shelves. Where purchases are made on one side on a controversial issue, purchases should be made of equally sound material on the opposing side.
2. Library materials will not be marked or identified to show approval or disapproval of the contents, and items will be removed from the shelves only to protect them from damage or theft. The use of rare and scholarly items of great value may be controlled to the extent required to preserve them from harm.
3. The Case Memorial Library is not in the position to judge the parental concern and control of reading material for juvenile minds, and it is suggested that parents concerned about content, quality, and level of sophistication of material selected by their children, accompany them on their visit to the library.
4. A patron wishing to register a complaint about a book must submit a signed request for review and response to the Library Director. The letter should address the specific nature of the objection, including whether the material was read or viewed in its entirety. If the issue is not resolved in discussion with the Director, the matter may be referred to the Library Commission and the complainant may appear in person to state his/her feelings. The decision of the Commission will be based on the principles set forth in this policy, will be communicated in writing, and will be final unless legally overruled.

H. Revisions
1. This policy will be reviewed at least every five (5) years by the Library Director and the Library Commission.
2. Recommendations for revision may be made by the Library Director to the Library Commission at any time and will be acted upon within six months of submission.
3. This policy will be maintained in the Library with sufficient copies to be available to the general public.

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