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Materials Selection Policy
Updated June, 2020

The Solano County Library (“the Library”) selects materials for its collection that support its mission, vision, and values. As a result, the Library has materials in a variety of formats. The collection of the Solano County Library serves the educational, recreational, and entertainment needs of the community. At the same time, the collection reflects the racial, ethnic, cultural, and political diversity of Solano County. Usage and customer demand are the most important influences on the Library’s collection.

The foundation of the Solano County Library’s collection development policy is respect for each customer’s experience. The Solano County Library provides materials to the community without placing a value on one customer’s preferences over those of another.

The Solano County Library upholds the right of individuals to access information that others may find unorthodox, offensive, shocking, meritless, or of no interest. The Library does not intrude on the parent-child (relative-child, caregiver-child) relationship and allows community members to determine which materials are welcome in their homes. Inherent in this approach is the acknowledgement that every family and home is unique. As a result, the Library does not limit access to materials based on age or any other characteristic.

Moreover, the Solano County Library adheres to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and the following interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights: the Universal Right to Free Expression, Labeling and Rating Systems, Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors, and Access for Children and Young Adults to Nonprint Materials. Thus, the Solano County Library selects materials that have not been edited to remove what some may deem offensive content.

The Library uses the following criteria when determining whether to add a title to the collection:

1. Community needs and interest
2. Publicity and review
3. Demand, both current and anticipated
4. Relationship to the existing collection
5. Reputation and qualification of the creator, publisher, or producer
6. Suitability of the format to library circulation and use
7. Publication date
8. Price and availability from library vendors
9. Whether the title has been vetted through traditional channels of publication or release

Customers of the Solano County Library may also recommend the Library purchase a title. Purchase requests are subject to the above selection criteria.

The Solano County Library’s collection is constantly evolving. As new titles are added to the collection, the Library evaluates other titles to determine if they still have value for the community. For titles of an enduring nature, the Library makes every attempt to retain or replace them. To determine whether a title remains relevant to the community, the Library uses the following criteria:

1. Demand
2. Condition
3. Accuracy
4. Availability elsewhere

If the Library determines a title is no longer relevant to the community, it is deselected from the collection. Deselected titles may be given to one of the Friends of the Library groups for resale with the proceeds benefiting the Library.

The Library encourages the community to donate materials to the various Friends of the Library groups that support the Library. Materials donated directly to the Library are subject to the same selection criteria as other material. The Library does not guarantee a specific disposition for donated material and will not return donated materials. The most likely outcome for donated materials is that they will be given to one of the Friends of the Library groups.

Customers who express concern about a given title in Solano County Library’s collection may initiate a process by which the Library reviews the title’s placement in the collection. A separate procedure outlines the reconsideration process.

Final responsibility for collection development and maintenance rests with the Director of Library Services, who may delegate the responsibility to other staff members.

Approved by the Board of Supervisors on June 9, 2020

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