Collection Development

Mission and goals of service

By connecting people, stories, and ideas, the Amherst Town Library enriches people’s lives. The library supports informational, educational, and recreational needs by providing a diverse collection in a variety of formats for people of all ages. The library strives to

  • foster early literacy and a lifelong love of reading
  • provide engaging, interesting, and entertaining opportunities to learn and recreate, and
  • enhance and affirm a sense of community.

Responsibility for Materials Selection and Borrowing

  • The responsibility for collection development coordination and supervision lies with the Library Director, who is accountable for the growth and maintenance of the collection.  The library will apply established professional standards in the selection and retention of its materials.  
  • Selected staff members have collection development responsibilities for specific collections, subject areas, or formats.  
  • The Library Board of Trustees holds the final authority for appeals to the Resource Reconsideration process.
  • Patrons are responsible for selecting and using the materials that best meet their needs. Parents/ caregivers retain responsibility to oversee their children’s use and borrowing of library materials. The library neither denies nor abridges access to materials because of a person’s age.

Consortial Selection and Purchasing / Resource Sharing

In order to expand the range of accessible materials beyond the holdings of the Amherst Town Library, the library has cooperative agreements (NH Downloadable Books Consortium, GMILCS) and sharing networks (ILL). The collection development policies of these groups may differ.

The Library's Collections

The Library provides print collections (such as fiction, nonfiction, periodicals, noncirculating reference materials), non-print collections (such as audio and visual formats),  digital resources (such as downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, online databases, digital historical files) and a very small collection of “library of things” (ex. cake pans, telescope). Collections are developed in three major areas: for adults, teens, and children.

The Adult Collection

This collection is selected to reflect the wide spectrum of life-long learning, informational, and recreational interests among its adult patrons.

The Teen Collection

Materials in the Library’s teen collection are selected for youth in approximately grades six through twelve.  There is an emphasis on popular materials. 

The Children’s Collection

Materials in this collection are selected in a variety of formats for children from infancy through approximately fifth grade. Materials are chosen to reflect the wide range of interests, and cognitive and reading abilities within this age group and to instill a love of reading and learning.  

Breadth and Depth of Coverage

As a small public library, the collection is made up of general-interest materials with broad appeal. These materials are generally of a non-specialist nature. The library is unable to maintain a collection used for academic research or the pursuit of highly specialized and professional interests. Primary curriculum support for Amherst schools is the function of the school libraries and the role of the Amherst Town Library is merely supplemental.

Languages

The majority of the Library’s collections are in English.

Factors Influencing Selection

The following criteria are considered when adding new items to the collection.

  • Timeliness, public appeal or local interest
  • Accuracy, clarity, logic, and effectiveness of material
  • Diversity of viewpoints
  • Relevance to the present and potential needs of the community
  • Current or historical significance of author or subject
  • Accessibility, durability, and ease of use
  • Technical requirements, licensing terms, privacy policies or use of collected data
  • Ease of use
  • Critical acclaim, literary merit, artistic quality, originality, and creativity
  • Price and availability
  • Format suitable for library use
  • All criteria need not be met for purchase consideration.

Patron Suggestions

Patron suggestions are considered using the same selection criteria. Should the library decide not to purchase suggested materials, the library will attempt to obtain them via InterLibrary Loan for Amherst Town Library cardholders. Because of the time involved in evaluating suggestions, patrons are limited to 6 purchase requests per year.

Self Published Materials

Self-published materials will be considered when they are written by an Amherst author and/or there is substantial community interest in the work or if the topic is of local significance.

AI-Generated Materials

The library is committed to maintaining a collection that reflects human creativity, knowledge, and expertise. As such, the library seeks to provide works that are primarily generated, written, or narrated by humans.

Gifts

The library does not accept the donation of books/ magazines/ other media. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of library staff.

Maintenance and Criteria for Withdrawal

The Library’s collections are regularly evaluated to ensure that the materials they contain remain current and in good condition, and that they continue to reflect the interests and needs of the community. Statistical tools (ex. circulation reports, collection turnover rates) and visual inspections of the collections help staff determine how and to what extent individual items and categories of works are being used and which materials are candidates for withdrawal, minimal repair, or replacement.
Library materials are withdrawn based on the following criteria:

  • The information the item contains is outdated or inaccurate.
  • The number of copies owned of a particular title is more than required.
  • The item is not used or seriously underused.
  • The item is damaged or in poor condition.
  • The item is no longer within the scope of the collection.
  • The item is no longer relevant to customer and community interests and needs.
  • The cost of maintaining access or licensing is not appropriate for the use of value of the content.
  • The technical requirements are obsolete or the materials are in unsupported formats.

Controversial Materials and Intellectual Freedom

The inclusion of an item in the collection does not imply the Library’s endorsement of the author, publisher, or subject matter. The Library provides materials representing a wide variety of opinions and perspectives, which can apply to important, complex, and controversial questions, including unpopular and unorthodox viewpoints. Language, situations, or subjects that may be offensive to some community members do not disqualify material, the value of which is determined in its entirety and measured against the selection guidelines described in this policy by the Library in its sole discretion.

The Library recognizes parents and legal guardians as the parties responsible for the reading and viewing habits of their children. The selection of materials for the adult collection is not impacted by the possibility that children may obtain materials their parents or guardians consider inappropriate.

The library endeavors to apply the highest professional standards to its acquisition and collection maintenance activities, as outlined in the ALA Code of Ethics.

Request for Reconsideration

Amherst residents who are cardholders may request that a specific item be reconsidered for inclusion in the collection by completing a Request for Reconsideration Form. *If the item is part of a shared digital collection, the process for reconsideration may differ.

Once the form is submitted to the library, a committee including the Library Director, at least one other staff member, and one member of the Board of Trustees will review the item in its entirety and within the framework of this policy. The committee will make a decision regarding the retention, relocation, or removal of the item. During the reconsideration process, the material will remain in the collection. Once a decision has been reached regarding the status of the item, the Library Director will send a letter explaining the decision to the patron who initiated the Request for Reconsideration. All stages of this process will be completed in a timely manner. 

If the patron does not agree with the committee’s decision, they may appeal the decision to the Board of Trustees by sending a copy of the original reconsideration form to the Board of Trustees, along with a cover letter explaining the reason for the appeal. The decision of the Board of Trustees will be final. Patrons must submit one request at a time, and must wait until a request is resolved before filing an additional request. Any resource reconsidered under this procedure will not be the subject of a review again for a period of three years from the date of the library’s receipt of the initial Request for Reconsideration Form.  

Approved by Library Board of Trustees 08/19/2025