Service Alert
This policy is intended to serve as a statement of the guidelines used for acquiring and maintaining materials for the library collections at Lake Forest College. Rising costs, increases in publishing output, and a relentless increase in the demand for information in a wide variety of formats necessitate careful materials selection based on an understanding of the immediate and future goals of the library and the College. The collection must be systematically shaped and developed in order to make the best use of our financial resources.
The primary objective of collection development activities at Lake Forest College is to build and maintain a library collection that supports the undergraduate curriculum. Library programs and services are designed to promote intellectual and physical access to the collection for the members of the college community.
It is the responsibility of the Director of Donnelley and Lee Library to allocate the materials budget in order to fulfill the library’s collection development objectives. The majority of funds available for the purchase of monographs is divided among disciplines which are broadly defined by academic departments. The amount of money allocated to support the purchase of library material for each discipline reflects such factors as size of the relevant department(s) (i.e.. number of faculty and students), number of courses taught, and the average cost of materials in the department’s subject areas.
Some funds are maintained to be used at the discretion of the Director and the librarians.
Faculty and administrators are reminded that library support is an additional cost which must be considered when implementing new programs or courses.
The objective cited in section II provides the framework for selection. Thus the major responsibility and top priority of the library lies with the support of the teaching programs. The library does endeavor to obtain materials needed for faculty study and research either through purchase or interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan will usually be the method of choice for materials which do not support the undergraduate curriculum. Although a lower priority, the library also makes some effort to serve the entire college community through the purchase of cultural, recreational and general information materials.
The fulfillment of academic curricular needs is the first criterion against which any potential item is evaluated. Specific considerations in choosing individual items include the following:
Other guidelines also observed:
The library staff uses the following as primary selection tools, with additional sources as needed: Choice, New York Times Books Review, publishers’ catalogs and pre-publication literature, selected subject-specific professional journals, Guide to Reference Books, American Reference Books Annual, and Books for College Libraries. Approval plans may also be established with vendors to help ensure that the collection develops at the desired level in all appropriate subject areas.
Ultimate responsibility for the development and maintenance of library collections at Lake Forest College rests with the Director of Donnelley and Lee Library. The director will assign selection responsibilities to librarians who serve as liaisons to academic departments. In addition, selections are strongly encouraged from faculty to support their current and planned courses. It is hoped that faculty will monitor their professional literature for appropriate library acquisitions, and that they will make the librarians aware of material most useful for course requirements and for student research needs. Student and staff requests for the acquisition of materials are also welcomed and encouraged and are reviewed by the same standards as are requests from all other sources.
Serials differ from monographs in that a serial subscription is an ongoing financial commitment. In addition, serials prices have historically increased at a rate that far exceeds such standard economic indicators as the Consumer Price Index and great care must be taken to ensure that the Library’s ongoing commitment to serials does not consume a disproportionate share of the total acquisitions budget. Therefore, requests for new serial subscriptions must be considered very carefully. Generally, a new serial subscription will not be entered unless another subscription of similar expense can be canceled. Faculty members who wish to request the addition of a new subscription will be asked to review existing subscriptions in their subject discipline to identify a current title that might be discontinued.
Back runs of serials are purchased only when deemed necessary or as the budget permits.
Some or all of the following criteria are used in evaluating titles for acquisition or cancellation:
Requests for non-print materials (audio-visual materials, digital resources, etc.) are evaluated on the same basis as are monographs, with special emphasis on the suitability of the format to the content, on the quality of the production, and the Library’s ability to provide the equipment and support to required in order to use the material.
Lake Forest College Library participates in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). In return for receiving materials free of charge, the College must provide public access to the collection and maintain each item for at least five years. The Library’s Depository collection contains basic legal materials, statistical publications, policy oriented documents and some historical documents. As of 2019, the Library currently receives new FDLP publications in online format only.
As required by Federal Law, the library maintains these collections in the same manner as commercial publications, including technical services (such as shelving and preservation), and reference services.
The primary role of the Depository collection is to support the college’s liberal arts curriculum. The Library provides access to a wide variety of materials on current federal policy, especially materials found in the large collection of Congressional Hearings. To provide an in depth overview of current society, the library provides access to major statistical publications from most government agencies and a wide selection of Census Bureau documents. When possible, the Library chooses to receive comprehensive coverage government publications on Illinois and the local area, including detailed Census Bureau reports and Geological Survey maps.
The Depository collection also serves the public’s need for government information, with an emphasis on the residents of Lake County and the 10th Congressional District.
Gifts are accepted with the understanding that the library may dispose of them or add them to the collection at its discretion, and in the same manner as purchased material. All gifts must be approved by the Head of Public Service or, in some cases, the Director of Donnelley and Lee Library. As a general rule, decisions to add gift books to the collection will be based on the same criteria as purchased ones. The Library assumes no responsibility for appraisal of gift items, nor can the Library accept gifts under restricted conditions.
Please note that the library is not accepting any new gifts for the general collection at this time.
Weeding is an important component of collection development. Upon arrival of new editions, the reference staff will evaluate previous editions and will withdraw those deemed outdated. The reference collection will be continually monitored for outdated material, which will be replaced and withdrawn if necessary. Individual sections of the general collection will be periodically reviewed and weeded. Academic departments will be encouraged to participate in a weeding of their collections every five years.
Donnelley and Lee Library supports the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, its Intellectual Freedom Statement, and its statement on Challenged Materials. The Library attempts to purchase materials which represent differing opinions on controversial matters. Selection is without partisanship regarding, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or moral philosophy.
