Advisory board briefed on collection development policy and materials‑reconsideration process

Jason, the Buncombe County library system’s lobby director, presented an overview of the library’s collection development policy and the materials‑reconsideration process, stressing that selection decisions should be guided by established criteria rather than staff or public opinion.

"The collection development policy is our framework that establishes how the library makes fair, consistent, and professional decisions about developing and maintaining our collection," Jason said. He said selection criteria include community need, accuracy and quality, relevance, diversity of viewpoints, demand, cost, space and long‑term value.

Jason said the policy is grounded in principles of intellectual freedom, including the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements, and emphasized that the presence of an item in the collection does not indicate library endorsement of its content.

He described the materials‑reconsideration process: complaints are submitted via a form (available online and in print), the library redacts personally identifiable information, the collection development committee (staff at varying levels) performs a full review and makes a written recommendation that is shared with the advisory board alongside the redacted original request, and the board sets aside time at a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss and typically passes a resolution recommending retention or removal or reclassification. Jason said he makes the final determination after considering the committee and board recommendations and responds in writing to the requester.

Board members praised the transparency and the time‑consuming, deliberative nature of the process. One member asked whether the library had received pushback after delivering decisions; Jason said he had not experienced that in his current role and noted the committee’s written reports and SharePoint documentation provide staff with transparency about how decisions were reached.

A practical question on the policy arose when a board member asked about the minimum age for a child to obtain a library card without parental consent. Tammy, identified in the meeting as one of two Zoom program coordinators, answered, "I think it's 16," and added that children under age 11 generally may not check out items without a parent present under current practice described in the meeting.

Jason said past materials‑reconsideration requests handled during his tenure had resulted in resolutions supporting the item remaining in the collection, but he noted that outcomes could differ in the future depending on committee findings.

The board will incorporate the collection development policy into new‑member orientation and the board manual, and the advisory board will continue to play a role in reviewing whether the policy has been applied fairly and consistently.