The Library holds that unrestricted and responsible traffic in ideas and opinions, even when they deal with unpalatable aspects of life, is essential to the health and growth of a free community. The Library will defend the right of Canadians to judge for themselves, within the limits of the law, all matters pertaining to politics, religion, ethics and morality. Concrete expression of this right is given by the acquisition of books, periodicals, films and recordings for public use, provided only that such material does not contravene laws relating to treason, sedition and obscenity. The Library will resist by all proper means any attempt to abrogate or curtail these freedoms.
Responsibility for any restrictions on their children’s use of library materials rests with parents and legal guardians. Selection will not be inhibited by the possibility that books may inadvertently come into the possession of children.
Selection Criteria:
Staff members involved in the development of materials collections select materials to reflect a variety of viewpoints. Materials are selected on the basis of favorable review in reliable journals or standard bibliographic tools. Important criteria include:
- Public demand as expressed in requests for the title.
- The author’s reputation.
- The title’s timeliness.
- The title’s relation to the existing collection, e.g. The need for new coverage on the subject, opposing points of view, curriculum related materials, etc.
- Local authorship/subject matter. This consideration in some cases overrides literary/artistic considerations.
Responsibility for Selection:
Using criteria listed above, materials are selected and acquired by staff and board members designated by the Seba Beach Public Library board. Final responsibility for selection rests with the Seba Beach Public Library Board.
Special Collections:
DVD Selection:
- Academy award best picture winners
- Popular TV series
- Movies adapted from books
- Walt Disney classics/hot kids movies/animated
Young Readers Choice Awards, Alberta and local history
Graphic novels
Withdrawals from collection:
Systematic removal of materials (known as weeding), which are no longer useful, is essential to maintaining overall collection quality. Staff members with collection evaluation responsibility shall continuously evaluate materials for accuracy, currency, condition and user appeal. Materials no longer needed by patrons, including obsolete works, superseded editions, superfluous duplicates and worn-out or badly-marked materials, shall be withdrawn or weeded in order to ensure the efficient use of limited space.
Gifts:
Materials donated to the Library are evaluated according to the same standards as purchased materials. All donations become the property of the Seba Beach Public Library. A member of the staff will retain the final authority in the disposition of accepted material. The Library does not provide patrons with assessment of the monetary value of gifts for tax deduction purposes.
The Seba Beach Public Library supports the Canadian Library Association’s Statement on Intellectual Freedom, which follows.
All persons in Canada have the fundamental right, as embodied in the nation’s Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to have access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to express their thought publicly. This right to intellectual freedom, under the law, is essential to the health and development of Canadian society.
Libraries have a basic responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those, which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.
It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee the right of free expression by making available all the library’s public facilities and services to all individuals and groups that need them.
Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups.
Both employees and employers in libraries have a duty, in addition to their institutional responsibilities, to uphold these principles.
