Collection Development Policy

The Collection Development policy of the Arapahoe Library District supports the mission of the District to provide outstanding and personalized service to everyone seeking access to the world of information and ideas, by promoting intellectual freedom, literacy, and lifelong learning.

The Arapahoe Library District entrusts the selection, evaluation and removal of materials in its collection to designated staff members. It is understood that such trust is a specific delegation of authority from the Library Executive Director, who retains ultimate responsibility to the Board of Trustees for the overall operation of the Library District.

The Arapahoe Library District regards its collection as one shared collection, distributed among various library and community facilities and developed to meet the educational, recreational, cultural, and informational needs of the Library District community. These needs are determined by circulation statistics, community demographics information, surveys, patron requests, and by professional judgment based on events and trends within the community.

  • Materials collected include physical and electronic formats.
  • Materials are generally purchased from mainstream publishers and distributors. Exceptions are made when demand and other selection criteria warrant.
  • The majority of materials collected are in English. Materials in other languages are collected according to thresholds for service based on demographics.
  • The Arapahoe Library District participates in various regional, national and local cooperative agreements to further expand access to additional materials.
  • The Library District collection provides materials reflecting a variety of viewpoints, as availability allows. The Arapahoe Library District supports free and open access to information and ideas as stated in the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read, and the Freedom to View policies of the American Library Association. 
  • Per the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights, "Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation." Selection of materials does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content, viewpoint, implications, or presentation of the materials. Parents or legal guardians are responsible for monitoring materials used by their children. Selection decisions for the collection are not influenced by the possibility that the materials may be accessible to minors.
  • A formal process has been developed to assure that requests for reconsideration of library materials are handled in a consistent manner (refer to Right to Challenge Materials Policy).
  • Patrons and authors can suggest titles to be purchased for the collection and suggestions are evaluated according to the same criteria included in the selection guidelines.
  • The Arapahoe Library District is committed to ongoing analysis and review of the demand for and adequacy of its collection. Materials are regularly removed to maintain a current and accurate collection.

ADOPTED 9/92
REVISED 9/99
REVISED 1/06
REVISED 9/11
REVISED 10/15
REVISED 8/22

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