Being that the University of Mount Olive is a private university, owned by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptist and governed by its own Board of Trustees, criticisms of library-owned materials or attempts at censorship originating outside the corporate structure of the University or supporting denomination will not be considered.
The following policy shall apply in evaluating the criticism submitted by persons or groups legitimately related to the University. Such criticism must be submitted in writing to the library. A reconsideration form is available for this purpose and a copy is attached to this policy.
Although many important materials have been added to Moye Library as gifts, much of what is offered is of little marginal value. Because such gifts often involve public relations concerns, a clearly stated policy on gifts is necessary. No commitments to accept gifts shall be made except by the Director of Library Services, and offers of gifts made indirectly shall be referred to the Director of Library Services. With respect to gift materials, the following policy will be followed:
Except for materials acquired primarily for use in the modern language department, books and materials printed in languages other than English will not be acquired. Exceptions to this policy will be foreign language dictionaries for reference use and other materials determined necessary for collection development by the Director of Library Services.
University textbooks of a general survey nature published primarily for classroom use will generally not be added to the collection. Exceptions will be made by the librarian in consultation with faculty or departments involved. In some cases such general survey works may be added in areas not in the curriculum in order to have available some materials should individual interests or projects be pursued. Copies of textbooks currently in use at the University are not purchased by the library.
Newly-released, recreation reading titles will be added to the collection. Most of these books will be acquired through the Baker and Taylor Leasing program and will rotate out of the collection when popularity wanes. Occasionally, the library will purchase a new fiction title and add it to this collection if demand and special circumstances warrant it.
Audio and visual non-print materials will be acquired by the library as needed to support curricula and faculty needs. Such will be selected under the same criteria as printed materials. Whenever possible, the library will purchase video recordings in DVD format. Non-book material created primarily for group or laboratory use will not be acquired. Some cross-campus curriculum use will be a guiding principle in selection. Non-book materials requiring the use of specialized auxiliary equipment not generally available to borrowers will not be acquired except as that material and equipment may be necessary for in-library use only. Computer-based materials are judged for their compatibility with existing systems, ease of use, information retrieval power, and convenience.
Microforms will only be actively acquired to meet a need for the Free Will Baptist Collection or specific faculty request. Microforms acquisitions are for items deemed critical to research but are unavailable in paper or electronic form, unusually expensive in another format, or difficult to acquire and maintain in print or electronic form.
Electronic resources are collected when the electronic form is the best format for the particular item, due to availability, accessibility, or interactivity of the electronic resource. The library is increasingly adding eBooks to the library’s collection to increase access to library materials.
While traditional criteria apply to the selection of most electronic titles, the management of this format is more complex. Additional criteria to consider include: access restrictions; licensing requirements; ease of use; currency of the information and update schedules; duplication of content with other products; spread of disciplinary coverage among selected titles; and appropriate retrospective and current coverage. Periodically, library staff will review electronic books resources (excluding NC LIVE resources) to determine if weeding of older materials is necessary.
The type of binding on a book will not be a consideration in the decision to purchase or not purchase. The library staff will exercise judgments of economy when a book is available both in paper and cloth bindings, selecting format based on projected use and time before material will be dated or superseded.
Paperback monographs for the regular collection are acquired when hardback editions are not available or when there is a significant price difference between the hardback and paperback editions to increase the purchasing power of the materials budget.
Sets, series, or individual titles costing more than $100 will be subject to review before purchase by the librarian in consultation with the person making the request. Likewise the librarian will consult with the department or division persons before purchasing such materials that he has question about. (General encyclopedias are exceptions, of course.)
Suggestions for new periodicals from faculty and students will generally be held until September of each year, at which time a general evaluation of all holdings and subscriptions will be made. Short-term subscriptions will generally be avoided. Serials differ from monographs in that a serial subscription is an ongoing financial commitment. In addition, serials prices have historically increased at a rate that far exceeds such standard economic indicators as the Consumer Price Index and great care must be taken to ensure that the Library’s ongoing commitment to serials does not consume a disproportionate share of the total acquisitions budget. Price may be a factor that determines whether a new serial is purchased and whether it is acquired in print or electronic format. Standing Orders of Reference materials will be carefully reconsidered periodically to make sure that these resources continue to best meet the needs of library users.
The following criteria will be used in evaluating additions to periodical holdings:
Subscriptions requested by departments or specific faculty will be dropped only after consultation with the Department Chairman or faculty member most directly concerned.
Out-of-print books requested by faculty and students will be acquired from various out-of-print dealers after requesting availability and price quotations. Orders not filled within a year will be canceled unless the requester insists upon further efforts.
As a rule only one copy of a title will be purchased. If faculty members intend to make broad and long-range requirements of specific titles, more than one copy may be necessary, but additional copies (maximum of 3 copies) will be purchased in paperback, if available, to fill the need. The library cannot be expected to supply several copies of a book which is in actuality serving as a textbook for a course.
The selection of sources for the purchase of library materials will be left to the discretion of the librarian.
Evaluation of holdings as compared against standard bibliographies and check lists in different subject areas is done on an on-going basis by the library staff. (All relative CHOICE "In the Balance" bibliographical essays and lists are checked systematically against collection holdings.) The results of these surveys are generally referred to the appropriate divisions or individual faculty members for their evaluation and suggestions.
Periodically "in-depth acquisitions" in a particular subject area (i.e. Black studies, Faulkner) is undertaken in an effort to build depth and quality. These areas are chosen through mutual agreement of the librarian and a division or department.
The library does not automatically replace all lost, damaged or worn out materials. Factors such as duplicate copy availability, existence of adequate subject coverage or similar materials and demand are considered before replacement is decided. The same factors are considered when a decision is necessary regarding binding of paper material, re-binding of worn materials, whether purchased, gift, or government depository acquisitions.
An ongoing program of in- house book and binding repair is regularly practiced in order to help maintain the appearance and utility of the book collection. This program is also intended to eliminate a large volume of professional rebinding. Paperbacks judged to be heavily used are purchased with some form of prebinding or cover/spine reinforcement to extend their lives. The bindings/spines of all paper items not prebound are reinforced in house when use merits.
Weeding is an important aspect of collection maintenance. A systematic program of weeding superseded editions and broken files of unindexed journals is carried out routinely by the library staff. The faculty is requested periodically through department heads to review their areas of interest and instruction and to suggest for removal obsolete and worn materials. The library staff also makes periodic reviews of various sections of the collection in order to weed and remove such materials. However, no material is ultimately discarded without consultation with faculty most directly concerned with those materials. Final disposal of such materials (sale, exchange, discard or storage) rests with the librarian.
In order to facilitate the matter of routine weeding the following guidelines may provide help in making withdrawal decisions.
Generally the age of a book should not be the determining factor unless it falls within other guidelines for weeding. However, the following guidelines may be useful in making decisions.
With the exception of dictionaries, materials in a language not taught in curriculum should not be retained.
Generally only one copy of a title is purchased/added unless anticipated use warrants.
In general, use, like age, should not be determining factor for weeding unless material falls also within other guidelines for withdrawal. The following criteria may be useful in making decisions if lack of use should become a key factor.
Moye Library adheres to all provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law (17 U.S.C.). The library actively promotes compliance by the University community. Library staff produce guidelines and other literature to aid University students, faculty, and staff in the changes in Fair Use guidelines. Moye Library supports the Fair Use section of the Copyright Law which permits and protects citizens’ rights to reproduce and make other uses of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching, scholarship, and research.
A periodic review of this selection policy shall be made by the Director of Library Services in cooperation with the Library Committee.
Revised in part 10/83; 3/84; 2/89; 2/90; 11/93; 11/99; 11/09; 8/11; 3/14; 2/22
American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.
Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; January 29, 2019.
Inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.
Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices. See the documents designated by the Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.
"Library Bill of Rights", American Library Association, June 30, 2006. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill (Accessed February 21, 2022) Document ID: 669fd6a3-8939-3e54-7577-996a0a3f8952