Youth Collection Development Policy
Users & Programs Supported
Juvenile literature acquired by Pierce Library for the Youth Collection supports the elementary and secondary curricular, research, and scholarship activities of students and faculty of the School of Education programs. Although there is some use of the collection by members of the larger Eastern Oregon University community, materials selection is based primarily on teaching and learning curriculum. The collection contains fiction and non-fiction published for young people from birth to age 18. Some adult books may also be in this collection.
Selection Responsibility
The responsibility for the selection of juvenile literature materials is delegated to a professional librarian with input from School of Education faculty and Library Director.
Selection Criteria
- The collection includes picture books, chapter books, poetry, and nonfiction. [Reference materials, media of any type, kits, and Big Books are not actively collected.]
- The existing collection is evaluated to determine specific needs.
- Consideration shall be given to the Education program curriculum and requests by faculty.
- Emphasis is placed on acquiring books of high quality with consideration for the reputation of the author and publisher and authoritative reviews. Books that have won major literary awards are a priority.
- Special areas of interest include international folktales, and northwest regional interest publications.
Collection Scope
English is the primary language of the collection except for those materials acquired to support bilingual and ESL curriculum.
Materials selected shall be of durable format, preferably with hardback binding. One copy of each title shall be collected except in the case of those titles where high use is well known.
The geographic collection emphasis is on literature published in the United States. Literature from foreign countries is acquired selectively.
Collection Arrangement
The juvenile collection is separated into fiction and non-fiction sections. Fiction is further divided into picture books and chapter books. Nonfiction books are classified using abbreviated Dewey. Biographies are classified in 920/921.
Collection Maintenance
The library staff will arrange for regular, ongoing shelf-reading with the objectives of maintaining the physical organization of the collection, identifying items needing repair, and evaluating the collection to identify areas for collection development.
Collection Preservation
Worn or damaged books that merit retention will be repaired by the Library unless condition warrants replacement.
Collection Retention
- Because selection is an ongoing process and building space is limited, it will be necessary to remove materials from the collection from time to time. Materials should not be removed unless they meet at least one of the following criteria:
- They are deemed to be outdated or are rendered obsolete by a new edition or revision of the materials.
- They are no longer relevant to the curricular needs of the School of Education.
- They are no longer of interest to students and staff as evidenced by a lack of circulation.
- They are rendered unusable because of condition.
