The following criteria are to be observed in the selection of materials, in all formats, for the Library collection (in priority order):
- Appropriateness for undergraduate use
- Relevance of subject matter to the current curriculum being offered
- Strengths and weaknesses of the existing collection related to current
demonstrable needs of the college - Currency and timeliness of the material
- Reputation of the publisher
- Positive reviews in the professional literature
- Inclusion in reputable bibliographies and subject related lists
- Availability of funds
- Reputation of the author, composer, or artist
- Language of the material (Materials in non-English languages are generally not acquired
except in areas where the language is the basis for a program of study.) - Availability and/or capability of the materials to be accessible to those with disabilities
(e.g. closed captioning of visual media or transcripts) - Appropriate for collection development efforts within the region, taking into consideration
the holdings of other area libraries
The first priority of collection development is to serve the curricular needs of the students. To facilitate this, requests for additions to the collection are assigned the following priorities:
Priority 1: Materials that support the current College curriculum; materials that have immediate educational value for college students; materials produced by authors and publishers of good reputation; materials that have basic permanent value and timely materials that have current value.
Priority 2: Materials that could be useful to students and faculty in areas within the educational scope of the College, but are not essential to support that area. This category includes materials of outstanding quality that are not concerned directly with the present curriculum of the College. Purchase of these items is desirable but not essential.
Priority 3: Materials of merit that would be “nice to have” but are not essential to the collection, either in support of the curriculum or in related subject areas. These items would be purchased only if extra funds, such as gift funds, are available.