REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Board Policy
Proposed BP 4040
Library Services
The District shall have library services that are an integral part of the educational program
and will comply with the requirements of the Reader Privacy Act.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND SERVICES
It shall be the policy of the Board, within budgetary constraints, to provide materials that support
the courses and programs of the College, that provide for the development of students’
information competency skills, and that meet the research and information needs of the students.
Such materials shall include reference books, library books, audiovisual materials, maps,
electronic resources or research tools, and any other supplementary resources as appropriate or
necessary.
It shall be the policy of the Board that there may be a charge to students for materials
commensurate with additional student use of supplies and/or materials.
References:
Education Code Section 78100;
Civil Code Section 1798.90
REDWOODS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Administrative Procedure
Proposed AP 4040
LIBRARY AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES
Under supervision of the appropriate administrator, the District’s librarians in consultation
with the faculty and dean from each academic area have the responsibility of coordinating
the development and maintenance of a well-rounded, well-balanced collection of
instructional materials and resources of the highest possible standard.
The library staff recognizes the obligation of college policies and procedures to promote free
and open discussions as an educative force and to prepare students to deal with
controversial issues. The library has the responsibility of providing materials on opposing
sides of controversial issues and representative of the many groups and opinions prevalent
in our society. The district librarians will establish procedures for materials selection.
As a measure of adequacy the library should review its collection against the recommended
lists of materials for community college libraries, professional journals in all disciplines
taught at the college, and current bibliographic publications. Broad objectives in
selection of educational materials include:
 Providing materials that will enrich and support the curriculum.
 Providing materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge.
 Providing a background of information, that will enable students to make
intelligent judgments in their daily lives.
 Providing materials representative of the diversity of the District.
 Placing principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in the
selection of materials.
If library materials are questioned or challenged by members of the community, the
questions should be directed in writing to the administrator of the library, signed by the
person raising the question, and indicating specific objections, page references, etc. The
questioned materials will then be reviewed by the supervising manager and the college
librarians. When this review has been completed, the supervising manager will respond in
writing to the question/challenge and forward copies of the letter to the
President/Superintendent. The questioner may accept the review, or present an appeal
through the President to the Board of Trustees.
References:
Education Code Section 78100;
Accreditation Standard II.C
LIBRARY AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES
The Eureka, Del Norte, and Mendocino Campus Libraries are the primary resource
materials centers of the Redwoods Community College District. Their main purpose is
to support the curriculum, the mission, and the goals of the college by providing
information resources and research materials as well as instruction, service, and
guidance in their use. The libraries are teaching facilities, in contrast to libraries at
research institutions; and they are committed to furthering information literacy as an
important component of any educational goal, as an appropriate learning outcome in
any course or program, and as an essential element for lifelong learning.
This collection development and evaluation policy reflects the mission and
institutional goals of the College as stated in Board Policy 1200, "District Mission."
Accordingly, the objectives in collection development are, primarily, to provide:
1.rigorous, high-quality educational resources and materials in support of AA degree
programs, AS degree programs, and certificate programs;
2.high-quality core-curriculum resources and materials covering lower-division
general- education subjects and/or major preparation requirements for transfer to fouryear colleges and universities;
3.high-quality professional and technical materials and resources that will support
students’ efforts to obtain skills necessary to enter the work force, to advance in the
work force, or to be better prepared for further education; and
4.current technological resources, innovative instructional resources, and broad-based
research tools;
and, secondarily, to provide:
1.resources that enhance lifelong learning and promote the general welfare of
the
community;
2.resources and materials that respond to local interests and needs;
3.resources for a vocational, recreational, and professional development needs;
4.resources that support cultural and community programs; and
5.resources that foster the economic vitality of the north coast.
To meet these goals, the college will purchase materials and resources:
that include all appropriate media and formats;
that enrich and support the curriculum;
that stimulate growth in factual knowledge;
that objectively present all reasonable sides of controversial issues;
that enable students to make intelligent judgments in their daily lives;
that are representative of religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity; and
that explain or illustrate opposing sides in order to develop the practice of
critical reading and thinking.
The college generally will not purchase for the collections the following materials,
which do not support the collection-development objectives:
extensive materials in subject areas not covered in programs or courses;
highly specialized technical publications and upper-division or graduate-level
research
tools, resources, and materials;
rare and out-of-print materials, first editions, signed editions, and collectibles;
resources and materials targeted to professional development of faculty;
textbooks; and
extensive or specialized resource collections of materials readily available at
other local libraries or institutions.
The following criteria will be applied to the selection of materials in the libraries:
anticipated use, accuracy, authority, scope, literary merit, level of treatment, format,
timeliness of publication, and cost. Students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to
suggest materials for acquisition. Faculty may volunteer as or may be appointed to
serve as library liaisons, who will assist in collection development. However, the final
responsibility for developing and maintaining a balanced collection remains with
the librarians and with the administrative supervisor(s) for the libraries.
The college encourages gifts of materials or of funds for purchasing materials.
Donated materials may be added to the collections if they conform to this collection
development policy, and unwanted gifts may be disposed of in accordance with Board
Policy 706, "Disposition Of Personal Property." The college does not appraise gifts
for tax purposes. All gifts and donations will be reported in accordance with Board
Policy 702, "Gifts, Grants, Donations."
The libraries purchase only those materials that will be catalogued and made a part of
the collections for faculty, student, and staff use.
Materials required for instructor, departmental, division, administrative, office, or
classroom use should be requested through the budget of the appropriate division or
office.
The development of effective resources and materials collections must include a
systematic evaluation of materials to be withdrawn. The librarians and the library
liaisons at each campus are responsible for recommending the resources and materials
to be withdrawn. The collections will be evaluated at least once every two years. Re
view of materials to be withdrawn is a careful one, involving the consideration
of the following factors:
Materials that are outdated, obsolete, or that contain misinformation;
Early editions that have been superseded by subsequent editions;
Supplemental texts that have been superseded;
Materials for which there is insufficient use or demand;
Materials no longer relevant tot he courses or programs; or
Materials that are damaged or in poor condition.
The college libraries recognize the value of resource sharing through interlibrary
loans, reciprocal agreements, resource networks, and cooperatives. Involvement
in resource sharing provides access to a more extensive pool of materials and makes
available resources that are not within the scope of the various collections. College of
the Redwoods is a member of the North State Cooperative Library System (NSCLS),
which provides access to materials in collections at academic, public, and private
libraries throughout Northern California.
The college is also a member of the Community College Library Consortium, a
service of the Community College League of California, which provides the
opportunity to purchase discounted online and electronic research tools and resources.
Library holdings at all district locations are represented in the online College Library
Book Catalog, and circulating items held at any campus library are available for
borrowing from any other campus library.