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Collection Development Policy: Collection Development Policy

El Camino College Library policy on collection selections and deselections.

ECC Library Collection Development Policy

1. Purpose and General Guidelines 

The Library and Learning Resources (LLR) division at El Camino College (ECC) supports student learning by providing resources and services to the college's students, faculty, staff and the local community. This collection development policy includes general guidelines for the selection of library materials and criteria for withdrawal of materials from the collection. 

The ECC Library collection serves to: 

  • support course curriculum and institutional student learning outcomes; 
  • cover topics and issues relevant to the diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, social, and economic background of the college and local community; 
  • promote recreational reading; 
  • support and encourage independent, lifelong learning and intellectual growth. 

ECC subject librarians work closely with instructors in their liaison areas to select materials for the collection. Selection and withdrawal criteria are described in more detail below. 

2. General Criteria for Selection 

The primary collection goal of the ECC Library is to develop and maintain collections that support the curriculum and instructional programs at ECC, and are of use to students, faculty, and staff of the college. The library serves a community of transfer-seeking students, degree-seeking students, non-credit students and lifelong learners with a broad range of interests and prior educational experiences. Therefore, library resources include a variety of general information resources in subject areas not covered by classroom instruction but supportive of learning environments. 

The library offers high-quality materials appropriate for a range of subject areas and in various formats. Because the focus is on collecting for the community college level (lower division undergraduate, two-year technical program, adult education, basic skills, career development and college preparation, etc.), upper division and graduate level materials are generally beyond the scope of the collection although some items are collected with faculty and staff professional development in mind.  

Variety, diversity of thought, and a balance of viewpoints are fundamental guiding principles in academic materials acquisition. No item that has social or literary value shall necessarily be excluded because of the author’s race, nationality, lifestyle, ideology, political views, religious views or use of language or images. Most materials purchased and/or subscribed to will be in English, although books and select databases in other languages may also be made available to meet the needs of students, faculty, staff and the local community. 

Considerations which may be emphasized in considering materials for purchase include: 

  • Relevance to curriculum-based needs of students; 
  • Intellectual content and scholarly worth; 
  • Relevance to instructional needs of the faculty; 
  • Suitability of format for students; 
  • Budget; 
  • Need based on condition and age of existing collections; 
  • Current, in-print publications are given priority over out-of-print publications 
  • Graphic Novels involved in a series will be limited to a sampling of the title due to issues with consistency and practical management, priority in this genre will be given to individual titles 

Librarians make regular and systematic use of professional tools such as reviews, bibliographies, publisher announcements, catalogs, and other sources of information to identify and evaluate new materials for selection. 

3. Collaboration with Faculty, Staff & Students 

The collection of materials at ECC directly correlates with the college's courses and educational programs. The goal is to offer resources that will contribute to the achievement of student learning outcomes at the course, program, and institutional levels. 

Librarians work closely with ECC faculty to ensure that library holdings are current, authoritative and adequate for every educational program offered at the college. The library encourages faculty to regularly assess the adequacy of library holdings in the subject areas in which they teach and make recommendations for additions to the collection. 

The library welcomes recommendations from faculty, students, staff and the local community to ensure that the full range of interests and educational needs of the campus community are being met. All such recommendations are evaluated using the considerations listed in this policy. To support this, the library maintains a Resource Recommendation Form on its website and has librarians directly assigned as liaisons to specific divisions. 

4. Depth of Collection and Subject Analysis 

The library acquires materials appropriate to the level of instruction at a community college. Advanced scholarly materials are generally excluded if they are beyond the needs of community college students. Items of local interest pertaining to adult education, lifelong learning and literacy are generally included. Items are selected by librarians who are subject area liaisons or buying teams. Collection guidelines for specific formats are described below. 

5. Reference Collection 

The reference collection is intended to meet the verification, location, and information needs of the college community by providing basic reference works in subject areas covered by the curriculum, as well as general information requests. Format decisions are driven by multiple factors emphasizing accessibility but also including cost and other considerations. 

6. Periodicals 

The library subscribes to a wide range of periodicals and journals. While most of the library’s periodicals are available online and are accessed via the library subscription databases, the College maintains a small collection of print periodicals with a focus on general interest magazines, newspapers and a modest collection of scholarly, professional and trade journals. 

Recognizing the diverse needs of the ECC user community, and the breadth of academic inquiry, print periodical retention schedules will vary according to storage space, frequency of use, electronic embargoes and moving walls, and relevance to the curriculum. 

Format decisions are made by librarians and driven by multiple factors emphasizing accessibility but also including cost. Some examples of why the library may opt for the print format include when: 

  • online access is unstable, or licensing agreements do not serve the College well; 
  • it is effective to provide multiple formats; 
  • multiple formats meet the different needs of user groups (e.g. contain high resolution images for art and design students); 
  • titles are appropriate for a leisure or browsing collection and to support students learning English; 
  • it best supports specific assignments, courses and disciplines 

7. Media 

The library provides access to a wide range of streaming content that is accessible through the library catalog and other online resources.  

Listed below are general issues to be considered in the selection of media resources: 

  • compliance with national and state accessibility policies; 
  • cost effectiveness with current budget allocation 
  • specific program support 
  • faculty course content use 
  • student demand and usage 

7. Special Collections & Archives 

The El Camino College Archive collects, preserves and makes accessible the papers, records, photographs and media that document the history and mission of the College. The ECC Archive collects relevant resources pertaining to the history and operation of our institution. The physical archive houses documents that include past board meeting minutes, historical photographs/films, student media, catalogs, ephemera, and related content. The ECC Archives are in the Schauerman Library and accessible by appointment.  Some collection materials have been digitized, or are in the process of digitization, for online viewing.  

Donations are accepted with the understanding that they become the property of El Camino College. The ECC Archive reserves the right to make all necessary decisions as to the use, retention, and disposal of donated items. El Camino cannot maintain separate named collections and donor restrictions cannot be honored. 

9. Book Donations 

The library currently does not regularly accept book donations. However, the occasional donation from a student, staff, or faculty member may be accepted, considering that it is consistent with the collection development policy and provided there are no restrictions on their use. Because all items added to the collection generate processing and storage costs, gifts are accepted with the understanding that materials not added to the collection will be disposed of in ways most advantageous to the library. In addition to the general criteria listed above, additional factors to be considered in evaluating donations include: 

  • physical condition; 
  • publication date (currency of information); 
  • relevance to curriculum 

All donations are reviewed by subject liaisons upon receipt. A receipt of donation form will be given upon request. The library will not appraise the value of donations. 

10. Challenge Policy 

The El Camino College Library is committed to the principles of intellectual growth and freedom as expressed in the American Library Association's Bill of Rights and provides a forum for information and ideas in the pursuit of free and equal access to those ideas and resists censorship in all its forms. Objections to materials should be directed in writing to the Library and Learning Resources Dean, signed by the person raising the matter, and indicate specific objections. Material will not be removed from the collection while a request for reconsideration is being evaluated. Anonymous complaints will not be investigated. Questioned materials will then be reviewed by the full-time librarians. At the completion of the review, the Dean of Learning Resources and Vice President of Academic Affairs will be informed of the decision. A formal response will be sent to the complainant from the Dean.  The complainant may accept the review or present an appeal through VPAA to the Board of Trustees.  

11. Criteria for Deselection 

In order to maintain currency and relevance to the college’s overall educational goals and the research needs of its users, and to meet shelf space requirements, the library will evaluate and weed the collection. The responsibility for reviewing and identifying materials for deselection is shared by every librarian.  

Considerations for deselection include: 

  • factually inaccurate or outdated content; 
  • availability of new or updated editions; 
  • worn out or damaged beyond repair; 
  • unneeded duplicate copies; 
  • lack of use; 
  • space considerations 
  • not meeting accessibility standards (digital)  

12. Copyright & Licensing 

The library complies with existing copyright laws and promotes copyright compliance among its users and staff. For online subscription resources, the library complies with vendor licensing agreements. 

13. Patron Privacy  

Under California law, library patron records and circulation records are confidential. The El Camino College Library respects the privacy of all its students, faculty, staff and other patrons regarding the use of any of the library, in person, or online. All library records that identify a patron as having requested or obtained specific materials or services or has used the library are considered confidential. Confidentiality may extend to information sought or received, and materials consulted, borrowed or acquired and includes such records as electronic resource usage, reference interviews, circulation records, interlibrary loan records and other personally identifiable records of the use of library materials, facilities, and services. This information includes the name of a person to whom a book is charged, past circulation records (including interlibrary loan, course reserves, and audio-visual materials), personal information contained in circulation patron records, or otherwise identify users of any library services, including users of computer terminals on the library premises. 

Library records may, however, be consulted and used by library employees and agents while conducting library operations and by authorized college employees to determine compliance with college policy. Library records may be disclosed 

  • pursuant to the requirements of federal, state, and local laws, including law enforcement subpoenas, court orders, or search warrants 
  • pursuant to Board Policy and Administrative Procedures 
  • with written consent of the patron. 

Library users should know that computer terminals and other ECC information technology resources accessed through them are subject to the Board Policy and Administrative Procedures on computer and network use. Library users should also be aware that the use of networked resources (e.g., the internet, third-party databases, software) may result in the creation of records that are not controlled by the library. 

Library patrons who have questions, concerns, or complaints about the library's handling of their privacy and confidentiality rights should file written comments with the Dean of Library & Learning Resources. 

14. Policy Review & Revision 

This policy will be reviewed periodically by the library faculty no less than once every five years. 

Revisions will be approved by the Dean of Library & Learning Resources relying primarily upon the advice and judgment of the library faculty. 

References: 

Board Policy 4040: Library & Learning Support Services 

Administrative Procedure 4040: Library & Learning Support Services 

California Senate Bill 602: California Reader Privacy Act 

California Assembly Bill 1825: California Freedom to Read Act 

American Library Association Freedom to Read Statement 

Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2014) 

Attribution: This policy is a modification of City College of San Francisco and College of the Canyons’ Collection Development Policies. 

Developed and Approved: May 2024