Introduction
The purpose of the Collection Development Policy is to provide guidance to librarians and faculty responsible for selecting materials for Mason Library's collections. Rising costs, increasing publisher output, new technologies and expanding demands for information necessitate careful materials selection, based on an understanding of the goals of the Mason Library and Keene State College and an understanding of the user population.

Goals
The collection supports the educational programs of Keene State College as defined in the College's "Mission & Values" and the Mason Library "Mission".

Community Served
The students, faculty and staff of Keene State College constitute the community served.

Library Liaisons/Selection Responsibility
Overall responsibility for the selection, development, and maintenance of the collection rests with the librarians, who are familiar with appropriate selection tools and the specific informational needs of library users. Librarian liaisons are responsible for the following:

• Selecting materials
• Developing and maintaining collections
• Ensuring that teaching faculty have a voice in collection development

Fund Allocations
The funds available for each subject area take into account the following criteria:

• The number of students enrolled in 100 and 200 level courses
• The number of students enrolled in 300 or higher level courses
• The number of courses offered in each discipline
• The number of faculty members in each discipline
• The number of majors in each discipline

Selection Guidelines
To meet the stated goals, the library will collect representative materials in all areas of knowledge focusing on subject areas relating to the College's academic curriculum. Additional materials will be acquired to develop the library's special collections.

Ownership of an item by Keene Public Library does not preclude its purchase by Mason Library. If an item is deemed of importance for scholarly or historical purposes, it will be purchased even if owned by Keene Public Library.

Specific criteria in choosing individual items include some or all of the following:

• Lasting value of the content
• Appropriateness of level of treatment
• Strength of present holdings in same or similar subject areas
• Suitability of format to content and compatibility with college-owned equipment
• Authoritativeness of the author or reputation of the publisher
• Favorable reviews in reputable sources such as:
• Choice
• The New York Times Book Review
• Booklist
• Demand
• Need
• Circulation statistics of similar items
• Number of other libraries that hold the item
• Availability of funding

Mason Library purchases select literary and media prize winners and major works of literary or historical significance, and fiction in support of the curriculum.

Textbooks are not normally purchased. Textbooks are purchased, however, if they are:

• Classics in the field
• The only or best source of information on a particular topic
• Written by a member of the College community

Other Considerations

• Duplicate copies of materials are purchased, or accepted as gifts, only under unusual circumstances determined by demand, circulation, reference, or reserve statistics.
• While the need for retrospective items is recognized, the emphasis is on purchasing current items with perceived long-term worth
• The Library acquires material in diverse supported formats
• Materials with an emphasis on local College, University System, and New Hampshire-related topics are collected whenever possible
• Lost and stolen materials will be replaced, if available and deemed to be still pertinent, as funds allow - if the original material is no longer available, it may be replaced by similar materials
• When there is an option between paper and hard-bound copy, the choice is based upon expected use, lasting value of content, and cost differential
• The Library will purchase materials in support of multicultural and diversity initiatives that take place on campus

Reference
Selection of reference materials is the collective responsibility of all the librarians. The following types of materials are collected:

• Almanacs and yearbooks
• Directories
• Concordances for authors and works
• Dictionaries, unilingual and bilingual
• Specialized dictionaries
• Major encyclopedias
• Geographical sources, such as maps, atlases, and gazetteers
• Handbooks
• Indexes and abstracts
• Basic legal materials
• Statistical compilations
• Style manuals

Periodicals
Periodical subscriptions require and receive substantially more consideration than the purchase of a single monograph because of increasing subscription rates and a future commitment to the title.

Back runs of periodicals will rarely be purchased.

The following criteria are used in evaluating periodicals for acquisition or cancellation:

• Support of the present academic curriculum
• Collection balance
• Amount of current use, or projected future use
• Authority of the periodical or, if a new title, of the publisher
• Reviews in such sources as Magazines for Libraries
• Number of recent interlibrary loan requests for a specific title
• Whether indexed in standard sources

Government Documents
The Library, although not a federal depository library, collects those federal documents that are deemed essential to support the curriculum. The Library is a depository for New Hampshire state documents.

Newspapers
The Library subscribes to local and select state newspapers, as well as a small selection of national and international newspapers.

Gifts
Gifts are accepted with the understanding that they become the property of the College, which may dispose of them or add them to the collection at its discretion following the same selection guidelines as for purchased materials. The Acquisitions Supervisor has responsibility for receiving and acknowledging the gift. The Collection Development Librarian or appropriate librarian liaison decides whether to accession the gift. Gifts with restrictions may be accepted upon review based on the guidelines established in this collection development policy, and approval of the Library Director and/or College Development office, which will fully consider the restriction's potential future implications. In compliance with current tax law, the Library does not provide appraisals for gifts received. The appraisal of a gift to the Library for tax purposes is the responsibility of the donor who benefits from the tax deduction.

Equipment
The Library recognizes its responsibility to provide the necessary equipment to access its collections.

Collection Maintenance
Weeding, or the removal of material from the collection, is an integral and ongoing aspect of collection management. The major criterion is the value of the content to the curriculum. Other criteria used for consideration include:

• Physical condition of material
• Presence of a duplicate copy
• Presence of other works by the author
• Extent of the Library's holdings in the subject area
• Date of publication
• Availability of newer or revised editions
• Material now in electronic format
• Usage statistics
• Potential future use
• Importance for historical purposes
• Outdated, inaccurate information

Some of the sources used to make weeding decisions may include:

• Feedback from librarians and discipline faculty
• Standard evaluative sources
• WorldCat - to determine how many and which types of libraries hold the item and its availability via interlibrary loan

Special Collections

Curriculum Materials Library

Intellectual Freedom
The Mason Library supports the American Library Association's "Statement of Intellectual Freedom" including the "Library Bill of Rights" and respects the privacy of its patrons as stated in the "Mason Library Privacy Policy".

The Library attempts to purchase materials that represent differing opinions on controversial matters. Selection is without partisanship regarding matters of race, gender, sexual preference, religion, and moral philosophy. The Library opposes all forms of censorship.