Library board adopts local-author collection policy after discussion on residency and purchases

The West Bend Community Memorial Library Board voted to adopt a local-author collection policy at its Nov. 19 meeting that will allow the library to accept and temporarily shelve donated books by local authors, with staff review and removal if titles do not circulate.

Steve, the library director, described the proposed policy as a tool to filter self-published and donated works so the collection does not become filled with low-demand materials. "Our policy just is, you can donate your book... we're gonna keep it on a shelf for a while. And if it gets used, it stays. And if it doesn't get used, then it goes away in time," Steve said.

Nut graf: The policy is intended to balance support for local writers with the library’s limited staff capacity to evaluate and process self-published donations. Board members pressed staff for clarity about residency rules and how the policy would handle high-quality works from authors who later move away.

Discussion and vote: A board member asked what happens if a Wisconsin resident donates a history of West Bend and then moves out of state. Steve replied that a high-quality title would still be considered for purchase or retained regardless of a later change in the author’s residence: "If it's a quality book... we would seek that out anyway," he said. After brief discussion the board moved to accept the policy as written; the motion carried on a voice vote.

Ending: The board directed staff to apply the policy, to consider a writers fair next year to encourage local authorship, and to limit staff time spent reading multiple donated manuscripts at once.