Introduction
Developing and managing a collection that supports the Whitefish Bay Library’s Mission and Values is core to the Library’s role and success. Three documents - this Collection Management Policy, the Collection Strategy and the Operational Procedures – guide the development and management of the Library’s collection to achieve its Mission and Values.

This Collection Management Policy clarifies responsibility and identifies guiding principles for collection development and management.

Responsibility for Collection Development and Management
The Library Director has final responsibility for the Library’s collection development and management to achieve its Mission and Values, guided by the Collection Strategy, this Collection Management Policy and the Operational Procedures.

The Director delegates to librarians ( i.e. those with a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science) the authority for decisions regarding the development and management of the collection, and the related selection of library materials and resources utilizing best practices and standards of the library profession while considering the Library’s Mission and Values, its Collection Strategy, this Collection Management Policy and the Operational Procedures.Other Library staff members and the public may recommend materials for consideration.

Principles Guiding Collection Development and Management
In addition to the Library’s Mission and Values, its Collection Strategy and the Operational Procedures, the following principles guide librarian staff.

• The Library endorses the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights (see below).
• Selection decisions are made on the merits of the work, collection needs and the interests of a diverse Whitefish Bay community.
• Librarian staff will consider each type of material in terms of its own kind of excellence and the audience for whom it is intended. No single standard can apply to all decisions. Some material may be selected primarily for artistic merit, scholarship or value to humanity, while others may be chosen to satisfy recreational and entertainment wishes.
• Staff select materials of varying complexity and format because it serves a public embracing a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, interests, sensory preferences, and reading skills. When staff review and select materials for purchase, they consider these needs and interests.
• The Library recognizes that some materials and resources are controversial and could offend some patrons.
• The selection of a material or resource does not constitute an endorsement, nor are selection decisions made on the basis of the librarians’ personal perspective. Selection decisions are not influenced by the possibility that material may be accessible to children. Responsibility for children's use of library materials and resources lies with their parents, legal guardians, or caretakers.

Material Consideration
To recommend purchasing, reclassifying or removing a material, please refer to the Material Consideration Policy.
American Library Association: Library Bill of Rights

(www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill).

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

I. 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.

II. 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.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. 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 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

Whitefish Bay Public Library Collection Management Policy Approved by the Whitefish Bay Library Board of Trustees December 16, 2014. Supersedes Collection Development Policy Approved by Whitefish Bay Library Board of Trustees September 12, 2006.