Collection Maintenance and Evaluation

Collection maintenance is an ongoing part of the conscientious evaluation of collections by professional librarians and is undertaken with as much care and consistency as the initial selection of materials. Collection maintenance helps to keep the collections current, attractive, responsive, diverse and useful to the needs of the community.

Responsibility

Librarians are responsible for regular evaluation of collections in their branch, unit or selection area. The Collection Development Office (adult) and Office of Children and Youth Services (children & teen) are responsible for replacement and refreshment lists that aid librarians in this evaluation. Main Library subject selectors review their collections for gaps in subject areas and replacement of titles in or out of print as appropriate, based on the criteria below:

Criteria for Collection Evaluation:

• Accuracy and currency of information
• Physical condition of materials
• Availability of newer, more comprehensive or more accessible material
• Relevance to collection and scope of collection
• Ease of borrowing materials from another library
• Relevance to community needs
• Date of last circulation and number of circulations
• Number of copies in the collection

Management of Withdrawn Material

When library materials no longer meet the selection criteria for inclusion in the collections the following options are available:

• Community Redistribution Program to public-benefit organizations
• Offer to other libraries
• Refer branch last copies to Main Library subject specialists
• Recycle damaged materials
• Discard government property in compliance with federal, state and local laws