The library exists to support the total education program of the College. Therefore, the development of the library collection should parallel the development of the College itself. Library materials will be acquired in accordance with the following priorities, ranked in descending order of importance:

1. Materials to support the current teaching program of the College, noting it is an undergraduate institution.
2. General reference materials in fields not currently covered by College programs but of such importance that they belong in all scholarly libraries.
3. Materials to support the research needs of the faculty and to assist administrative and service personnel in the effective performance of their duties (this may include works dealing with topics of current concern to members of the campus community).
4. Materials to support cooperative programs with other libraries or academic institutions; to maintain and develop a limited number of special collections (such as the Library of Biblical Literature); to form a basic collection in support of anticipated future programs of the college; and to acquire appropriate varieties of recreational library materials.

Library materials are defined as print and nonprint instructional materials (e.g., books, on-line services, visual recordings, etc.) organized and housed for retrieval and use by the members of the college community to fulfill the aims and functions of the college and its curriculum.

Library Funds:

All materials purchased with funds allocated to the library become College property, to be managed by the library and made available for the use of the entire campus community. It is inappropriate to use library funds to acquire materials for the exclusive use of any group or individual.

Funds are not allocated for specific areas of the book collection, nor are funds allocated for specific use for nonprint materials, serials, and periodicals, film rentals, etc. It is the responsibility of the Library Director to allocate funds to these areas within the total library materials budget. The Library Director is responsible for seeing that funds are distributed equitably for book purchases in all subject areas. It is expected that library intensive subjects such as English, History, and Nursing will require more funds than areas such as typewriting or accounting, which are not library intensive. It is expected that much of the research needs of the faculty will be met through interlibrary loan procedures. At the beginning of each academic year, the faculty will receive a statement from the library indicating departmental expenditures for books and audiovisual materials for the last year and the approximate sum of money set aside for the upcoming year.

Selection Responsibility:

Faculty members have primary responsible for recommending the acquisition of materials in the subject areas. Any member of the faculty may request an item by submitting a request to the library.

Departments are expected to recommend library purchases which will develop the entire field of their discipline. The library will normally honor the requests for purchases as long as the funds are available, the item requested falls within the guidelines of this statement, and sufficient funds remain for other departments.

While it is the prerogative of every faculty member to participate in the book selection process in their particular area of expertise, the primary responsibility for collection development lies with the Library Director. The Library Director has the final responsibility for the maintenance and development of library collections, facilities, and services.

Students, staff, and administrative personnel may also submit recommendations for purchase to the library.

Intellectual Freedom:

The principles of intellectual freedom as outlined in the Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association (Appendix A) will be adhered to the acquisition of library materials. It is the responsibility of the library staff and all faculty selecting materials to insure that all points of view are represented in the collection and that materials are not removed from the collection because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. Access to library materials will not be restricted because of age, race, religion, national origins, or social or political views. Acquisition of print and nonprint materials, where the producer has set a restriction on use as a condition of transfer, will be allowed provided the restriction is based upon a legitimate concern about the nature of the material or the legitimate confidentiality of the human subjects and provided the material meets the normal criteria for selection.

Comments or criticisms about particular items in the collection will be submitted in writing to the Library Director. If satisfaction is not received, the question may be brought before the Library Advisory Board.

Books:

Generally only one copy of an item will be purchased, and the use of the library book budget to supply course textbooks is discouraged. However, multiple copies of materials may be purchased when the need for such copies can be demonstrated by use.

In cases where materials will have long term value and receive heavy use for a long period of time, hardbound editions will be purchased. If materials are judged to be of transitory usefulness or the cost of rebinding added to the cost of the paper bound edition is substantially less than the hardbound edition, the paperback edition will be purchased.

While both current and retrospective materials are essential to the needs of the academic community, current materials will generally receive higher priority. Lesser-used retrospective materials will be sought from existing collections through interlibrary loan. In the case of titles which have gone through several editions, the latest edition will automatically be acquired unless an earlier edition is specified because of historical value or because it contains material not included in the later edition.

Periodicals:

Much care and thought will be exercised in selecting and beginning new series and subscriptions because the expense of such an undertaking is an annual expense. The new serial or subscription will not be started unless it is felt that it would receive substantial use. Back runs of qualifying serials and subscriptions will be purchased only as is deemed necessary and as the budget permits.

Selection will be determined on the needs of the curriculum and the available indexing for the title. If a title is available fulltext on the computer, the library will consider canceling the subscription to the title unless it is heavily used locally in print format or has some other special character that would be lost in having the title only online.

Microforms possess advantages for the storage and use of materials such as newspapers and lesser-used periodicals. Microform, moreover, may be the only practical form for some collections (ERIC documents for example). However, because of the difficulty of using large bibliographic indexes and catalogs in microform, it will be policy to purchase such materials in printed copy when possible. Also, since microforms are difficult to use, monographs and other works likely to be read in their entirety will be purchased in printed copy when possible.

Government Publications:

The library is a selective depository for U.S. Government documents. Most U.S. Government documents will be kept as a separate collection filed according to Superintendent of Documents numbering system. Publications may be catalogued, if of special value. Suggestions for possible selection of a U.S. government document series will be handled according to the same policies as other acquisitions.

Foreign Language Materials:

Priority will be given to materials in English, since that is the language of instruction. Foreign language materials will normally be limited to those languages taught at the college and related to actual course requirements. Other foreign language materials will be acquired to meet specific needs when they are unavailable in translation.

Pamphlets:

Although much of this material reaches the library without expenditure of library funds, the purchase of any written and visual forms necessary to strengthen the vertical file and pamphlet collections will be allowed.

Popular Fiction and Nonfiction:

While the library has a responsibility to encourage leisure reading, budget limitations will normally require that current, non-course-related popular fiction and nonfiction will have a low priority for purchase.

Rare Books and Archives:

Rare books will be purchased only as required to fulfill the aims and functions of the college and its curriculum. Such purchases will receive low priority.

Printed, manuscript, and other archival materials pertaining to Midland Lutheran College, Luther College, and the Nebraska Synod of the Lutheran Church in America will be collected and preserved.

Nonprint Materials:

The audiovisual service of the library will select or respond to requests for records, tapes, cassettes, videotapes, media kits and similar multimedia instructional materials. Cost, budget, and potential use to the College will govern acquisition decisions in this area. A permanent record of audiovisual holdings will be maintained in the Library online card catalog.

Recordings, both musical and spoken, on disc, tape, and cassette, will be acquired and cataloged, both for assigned and recreational listening.

Film and videotape rentals are to be coordinated through the library's audiovisual services. The same rules regarding selection and budget apply for rentals and all purchase of media as apply to books and periodicals. Videotapes may be purchased when rental is not possible and the cost is acceptable.

Media kits and such multimedia instructional materials will be considered for acquisition when they are used in a manner similar to records or reserve books and are available to the whole school.

Videotapes will be recorded at the request of a faculty member for use in instruction. In copying a program off the air, the library will abide by the laws of copyright.

Internet Resources:

In recognition of the increasing availability of the Internet as a legitimate information resource, the library is committed to providing both access and assistance to library users wishing to use it in the course of their research.

In support of this goal, the library assumes responsibility for developing and maintaining a library homepage. This homepage is designed not only to provide centralized access to many of the library's core electronic resources, such as the online catalog and subscription periodical indexes, but also to highlight free Internet sites that we believe have high potential value for our patrons. In general, sites are chosen to enrich, broaden, and complement our print collection. Toward this end, we look for online resources that either support the current teaching program of the College or provide general reference assistance. Sites meeting the latter criteria might include address and telephone directories, travel information, style guides, and state and federal government databases.

Online resources that duplicate print materials currently in the collection may also be included when it is useful for multiple persons to access the information simultaneously or when computer access outside the library is desirable.

Gifts:

Materials received as gifts will be evaluated by the same criteria as materials purchased; nothing is added simply because it is "free" unless it enhances the intellectual value of the collection. Everything donated to the library becomes library property, to be used as the library staff deems appropriate. Unneeded items will be disposed of by sale, exchange, donation or discard. The library does not appraise the value of gifts for tax purposes as the Internal Revenue Service considers this practice a conflict of interest (see Appendix B, Statement on Appraisal of Gifts).

Weeding:

With the advice of the academic department concerned, the library staff pursues a systematic and continuous weeding process, resulting in the discard of materials containing information which has become obsolete or misleading, superseded editions, surplus copies of standard works no longer in demand for supplementary use, worn out or extensively marked books, and broken files or unindexed journals.

Careful evaluation is made of titles which were not used at least once during the previous five years. Such a book is retained if it is listed in at least one standard bibliography which covers the field represented by the book. Other unused titles may be retained if faculty members indicate interest in their retention.

Replacements:

When titles in the collection are reported missing, those requested for teaching will be replaced promptly, if still obtainable. Titles for which there is not an immediate need may not be replaced for a period, since it has been the experience of the library that many titles reported lost are only temporarily misplaced or eventually returned. If missing in the following year replacement may be considered or deferred, but at the end of two years a missing book will be replaced or the cards removed.

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