Selection Policy
The South Shore Public Libraries' purpose is to make recorded expressions of intellectual activity available to the residents of the municipalities of Lunenburg and Queens. The prime objective of the library is to meet the informational, education, recreational, and cultural needs of the public with a well-organized collection of materials. Materials in the Library's collection represent manifold points of view on countless subjects, are in various formats, and are intended for audiences of many educational levels and all ages.

The South Shore Public Libraries' Selection Policy guides staff in choosing materials to be added to or withdrawn from the Library's collection and informs the public about the principles by which selections are made. This policy was approved and adopted by the South Shore Regional Library Board in October 1988, and revised and approved in May, 2008.

All residents of the Library's service area and all Library staff are welcome to recommend materials for inclusion in the Library's collection. Library Assistants and Librarians on staff regularly read reviews of available material and suggest items for acquisition. The Chief Librarian, operating within the Policies of the Library Board, is responsible for the ultimate choice of materials acquired and withdrawn.

Material is selected according to the needs and demands of the community. Published reviews, publishers' advertisements, examination of the material, and requests from Library users are substantial factors in selection. Selectors consider each item as a whole, heedful of any or all of the following factors:

• intended purpose
• intended audience
• attention of critics, reviewers, and the public
• popular demand, present and anticipated
• accuracy
• permanent value and timeliness
• presentation and intelligibility
• importance to our collection
• availability of similar material and information
• suitability of format for library use
• price

Although materials are purchased in all subject areas, we do not select materials specifically in support of school or university curricula.

The Library's collection may include:

• duplicate copies of material in high demand
• reference materials to be consulted on library premises
• audio books
• magazines and newspapers
• talking books for those unable to use printed materials
• information files containing pamphlets, newspaper clippings, etc.
• government documents
• paperbacks
• microforms
• video and other multimedia materials
• bibliographic tools, selection aids, and material dealing with library issues and development

All material is selected considering the factors listed above.

The resources of the entire collection are available to borrowers of all ages. Adults are responsible for guiding the choices of minors under their care and rejecting materials they find unsuitable.

A collection of materials for people up to fourteen years old is maintained to foster skill development, education, and recreation for this skill group. Some materials housed in the adult collection are designated as particularly suitable for teenagers.

Reconsideration of Material
The South Shore Regional Library Board has adopted as policy the Canadian Library Association Statement of Intellectual Freedom.

Library users may suggest that material be withdrawn from the collection. A library user may also formally request that a particular item be withdrawn, by completing a Request for Reconsideration of Library Material form. The Chief Librarian and appropriate staff will discuss requests with the individual. If the individual is not satisfied, the issue will be considered by the Library Board.

Gifts
The Library accepts donations of materials in any format with the understanding that staff may dispose of them in any way. We make decisions about adding a donation to the collection on the same basis as we decided to purchase an item. When we do not add gift items to the collection, we normally sell them and use the resulting funds to purchase other materials.

The Library welcomes gifts of money and issues numbered receipts (for income tax purposes) for gifts over $10.00. Gift funds are normally used to enhance the collection and gift materials are chosen according to the selection policy. A donor may suggest a special area in which a gift might be used. We place a bookplate identifying the donor (and the person honoured by the gift, when appropriate) in books purchased with gift funds. Gift books are part of the total collection, available to all borrowers, but are normally housed in the Library service point used by the donor.

Collection Maintenance
Library Assistants and Librarians on staff regularly review collections in the area for which they are responsible, removing from public service points outdated or damaged material and items for which there is little demand.

Librarians decide whether these items can or should be repaired, replaced or removed from the collections. The same factors considered in selecting material for acquisition apply to these decisions.