Library Collection Development

Procedure Administrator: Associate Provost Authority: N.J.S.A. 18A:64-8

Effective Date: March 21, 1978; February 9, 2011; October 4, 2011; November 2, 2022

Index Cross-References:

Procedure File Number: 4121

Approved By: Dr. Harvey Kesselman, President

I.           PROCEDURE:

A.           The Library is responsible to acquire material needed by faculty, students and staff. Funds for this purpose are allocated and expended by the Library within University and state fiscal guidelines.

B.           The Library reserves the right to make the final decision concerning all Library acquisitions, including all purchases, gifts, materials for the University archives, subscriptions and memberships. Media streamed via streaming platforms may require consultation from the Associate Director for Technical Services.

C.           In order to have a balanced collection, the Library welcomes all users to participate in the collection development process.

D.           Duplicate or multiple copies of Library materials will not be purchased unless warranted by user demand.

E.           Books and periodicals purchased by other divisions and sent to the Library will be recorded and inventoried by the Library, and will be controlled by the Library upon receipt.

F.            Gifts

1.         The University welcomes and encourages gifts to the Library. The Associate Provost and the Associate Director for Technical Services are authorized to consider all proposed gifts to the Library to determine whether the material is appropriate for the collection. The Library may solicit the opinions of librarians, as well as University staff and faculty.

2.         Upon receipt of gift material, the disposition and use of that material becomes the sole responsibility of the library.

3.         The library does not place a monetary value on gifts it receives. All gifts, however, are duly acknowledged by the library. It is the giver's responsibility to assign any value to a gift prior to donating it to the library.

G.          University Archives

1.         It is the responsibility of the library to maintain and house archival records of the University, both of a formal and informal nature, and make these available to the public.

2.         Collection Development

a.         The individual offices of the University have the responsibility of sending archival materials generated by them to the library.

b.         Decisions as to what materials will be placed in the University archive collection and the format in which they will be kept are the responsibility of the library.

c.         The University archive collection is public in nature, and therefore materials of a confidential nature will not be placed in the archive collection.

d.         Materials in the University archive collection are intended for use in the library. Copies of materials are provided upon request.

H.           Subscriptions

Except under extraordinary circumstances, the library will not approve or pay for a journal, newspaper or other subscription unless the item is to be placed in the library as part of its collections and be generally available to the public.

I.              Memberships

The library will enter an institutional membership when it is the only means of acquiring needed library subscriptions or if the savings are sufficient to cover the additional cost of the membership as opposed to a regular subscription.

J.            Withdrawal of Library Materials

Materials are withdrawn from the collections at the discretion of the Library.

Review History: