Tacoma Community College Library: Pearl A. Wanamaker (TCC) Library Collection Development Policy: Special considerations

Special considerations

Duplicates

Duplicates in print are not normally purchased. Duplicate materials will be added to the collection if warranted by heavy usage of copies already held by the Library.

Contemporary Literature

The Library will attempt to purchase titles receiving major literary recognition. This includes awards such as the National Book Awards for Poetry & Fiction, National Book Critics Circle Awards for Poetry & Fiction, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction, Poetry and Drama.

Local and regional writers, whose works are favorably reviewed and/or meet other selection criteria, will be represented in the Library's collection.

Textbooks

Some heavily used and very expensive textbooks are purchased when special funds are available. Ordinarily, textbooks are not purchased unless they happen to fit other criteria listed above. Instructors are encouraged to place extra copies of textbooks on reserve for students whose financial aid is late in coming or who cannot afford the textbooks at all.

Self-help and Laymen’s Medical Books

Books on individual conditions and diseases are rarely purchased, due to the sheer number of possible titles and the lack of funds to keep such titles updated. However, general health and wellness titles, including self-help books, are purchased in support of HD and HSP courses and for students who may not be able to use a public library. Faculty counselors are consulted regarding topics of highest interest/need.

Test Preparation Guides

The Library purchases study guides for the GED and for Washington state and national professional/technical examinations associated with the programs offered at TCC.

Paperbacks

To keep costs down, paperbacks rather than hard bound volumes are generally purchased when available. Reinforced covers, at a small additional prince, will be ordered as judged necessary. Exceptions are items judged to be heavily used, especially certain reference items.

Foreign Language Materials

Acquisition of foreign language materials is generally limited to dictionaries and other general reference tools. Other pertinent materials in foreign languages are represented in English language translations.

Advanced Research Materials

In general, materials suitable for advanced levels of research are acquired only as needed for institutional purposes. Except as they can be served through interlibrary loan, faculty members and others pursuing graduate studies or otherwise engaged in non-institutional research projects are referred to university libraries for such materials.

Faculty Requested Film

For faculty-requested films, DVDs are the preferred format for face-to-face courses. If available, streaming video will be considered for purchase for online and hybrid courses.

Periodicals

Criteria for selection of individual periodical titles and periodical databases

The periodical or database contents should support the curriculum
The individual periodicals titles (or database contents) should represent the “most requested” titles academic departments wish students to access or titles necessary to accreditation (for professional-technical programs)
With rare exceptions, individual periodicals should be indexed in a periodical index/database to which the library subscribes or which is freely available on the internet; otherwise, back issues are of little value
Periodical database interfaces must be relatively easy to use and accessible from both on and off campus
There must be adequate storage space if print back issues are to be retained

Adding Subscriptions

The person(s) making the request will be asked to confer with their colleagues and provide the librarians with a departmental/division recommendation. The librarians will gladly provide information as to current subscription costs and indexing. The intention is to control subscription expenditures while attempting to meet the changing needs of the college and its programs.

Donations of periodicals

Occasionally, faculty members or community residents offer to donate periodicals to the Library. These may include back issues as well as ongoing subscriptions. The Library staff always appreciates such gestures of generosity. However, at times we must turn them down. The following is a consideration in determining our response to such offers:

Donated titles are added only if there is reasonable assurance that the source will continue to provide that title for a period judged by the librarians to be adequate. (Having titles which cover short time periods are of limited use but require paperwork comparable to that of ongoing titles.)

The Library accepts as needed loose copies of back issues of periodicals to which it subscribes. (We may accept more than needed but reserve the right to recycle what we cannot use.)

Re-evaluation of Materials

Because evaluation for selection involves subjective judgment, opinions may differ as to the usefulness and merits of materials acquired. Any student, faculty member, staff member, or adult citizen of the community who seriously questions the inclusion of a particular item in the print or non-print collection may call for a re-evaluation of that item. In the process of re-evaluation, the Pearl A. Wanamaker Library will adhere to the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries. The following procedures are established to provide a systematic and objective re-evaluation process:

Each request for re-evaluation shall be presented, in writing, to the Library Director.
Each written request shall be made by filling out, as completely as possible, the Request for Re-evaluation of Material form for each title in question, with specific objections cited.
Each request for Re-evaluation of Material shall be signed and identification of the initiator shall be supplied so that proper reply can be made.
Within two weeks of receipt of a Request for Re-evaluation of Material, the Library Director or the Library Faculty Chair, as his/her designee, shall appoint a committee to review the item in question and make recommendations concerning its disposition.
The committee shall consist of one instructor representing a discipline to which the material in question is related and one faculty librarian.
Within fifteen (15) days of appointment the committee shall have reviewed the material in relation to the selection policy defined herein and shall report its conclusions, including recommended dispensation of the material, in writing to the Library Director.
Within one week of receipt of the committee's report, the Library Director shall submit it to the College President with his/her endorsement or an alternative recommendation.
The initiator of the request for re-evaluation shall be notified in writing of the action taken by the President.
The decision of the President shall be implemented immediately by the Library Director, the questioned material remaining in the collection pending that decision.

REQUEST FOR RE-EVALUATION OF MATERIAL IN TCC LIBRARY COLLECTIONS