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Collection Development Policy

Preface

The collections of the Mercer County Library System can be used free of charge by anyone
who lives, works, or owns property in East Windsor, Ewing, Hopewell, Lawrence, Robbinsville
and West Windsor Townships and Hightstown Borough. Since the Mercer County Library
System cannot acquire and retain all available materials, it must utilize a policy of selective
acquisition and collection maintenance. Collection development is a judgmental, interpretive
set of processes applied by professional librarians. These processes require: knowledge of
community needs; familiarity with the library system's collections and appropriate
bibliographic tools; a general knowledge of subject literature; and consideration of the
library's financial resources.

The library's collections include materials in a variety of formats, at many intellectual levels,
to serve a wide range of ages, reading, listening and viewing skills, and educational
backgrounds. Its collections are developed to provide the resources needed by its
service population, in accordance with the Library Mission Roles and Goals Statement. Staff
members assigned to collection development for any library branch shall obtain an accurate
profile of the population served, in order to recognize and meet its needs. Public demands
shall be treated as an indicator of need. Because resources should reflect the changing
requirements of our patrons, collection development policy shall be subject to continuous
review.

Page 2: Responsibility for Collection Development

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