Revised and re-adopted by the Louisville Public Library Board of Trustees,
November 17, 2004.

The purpose of the Louisville Public Library is to provide effective delivery of library and information services that meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of the community.

Responsibility for Selection

The authority and responsibility for the selection of library materials are delegated to the Library Director and professional staff who are qualified for this activity by reason of education and training. Purchase suggestions from the general public and staff are encouraged, and are given serious consideration within the framework of policies determined by the Louisville Public Library Board of Trustees.

Criteria for Selection

The Library will provide a wide variety of materials which may include books, periodicals, pamphlets, videocassettes, films on DVD, musical CDs, and books on compact disc, audiocassettes, CD-ROMs, pictures, maps, games, and electronic databases. Selection of all library materials shall be made in consideration of the following:

• Contemporary significance or permanent value
• Popular demand, even if not enduring in value, interest, or accuracy
• Purpose and quality of the material
• Representation of important viewpoint, trend, or cultural movement
• Author's reputation, skill, and significance
• Authority of the publisher
• Listing in professionally recognized selection aids
• Favorable reviews in professional, literary, or general periodicals
• Suitability of physical form for library use (size, paper, print, binding)
• Price, format, and ease of use
• Scarcity of information in subject areas
• Size and extent of the current materials budget
• Size and extent of the existing collection
• Holdings of other libraries within the region
• Materials of regional interest
• Present and potential needs of the community

Materials are neither excluded nor proscribed because of the race, nationality, political, social, or religious views of the author, or because of diverse views of individuals or groups within the community. The Library seeks to obtain presentation of all points of view and all sides of issues. Inclusion does not constitute endorsement of any particular viewpoint. The Library does not promulgate particular beliefs or views, nor is the selection of any given material equivalent to endorsement of the viewpoint of the author expressed therein.

Areas of Limited Acquisition

Selection of materials in certain areas is limited to very general or basic works which are not too specialized or considered beyond the province of public library service. These areas include:

• Textbooks: The Library will not attempt to supply textbooks and other materials required for school coursework, but will provide materials supplemental to, or correlative with, various courses of instruction. Textbooks will be purchased only when they supply the best or only source of information on a subject.
• Genealogy: The Library will not attempt to supply specialized genealogy sources but will purchase general guides to help patrons learn how to trace their ancestry.
• Religious Materials: The Library will endeavor to build religious collections which offer a broad spectrum of information on the texts, doctrines, history, and leaders of all major religions and religious philosophies. To achieve this end, the Library will ordinarily purchase or accept as gifts only religious material of broad general interest. Materials which proselytize, propagandize, or foster intolerance toward other religions will not be included in the Library's collection. Materials published by church-owned or church-sponsored organizations will be accepted as gifts or be purchased only when they meet selection criteria.

Gifts

Gifts shall meet the same selection criteria as purchased materials. Gifts are accepted subject to the following limitations: (1) the Library retains unconditional ownership; (2) the Library makes the final decision on acceptance, use, or disposition.

When the Library receives a cash gift for the purchase of materials, whether as a memorial or for any other purpose, the general nature of subject area of the materials to be purchased will be based upon the wishes of the donor. Selection of specific titles, however, will be made by the library staff in accordance with the needs and selection policy of the Library.

Withdrawal of Materials

To ensure a vital collection of continued value to the community, materials which have outlived their usefulness will be withdrawn. An up-to-date, attractive, and useful collection is maintained by retaining or replacing essential material, and removing, on a systematic and continuous basis, those works that are worn, outdated, of little historical significance, or no longer in demand.

Challenged Materials

The choice of library materials by users is an individual matter. Responsibility for the use of library materials by children rests with their parents or legal guardians. Selection should not be inhibited by the possibility that materials may inadvertently come into the possession of children. The Library does not stand in loco parentis. While a person may reject material for himself or herself and for his or her children, an individual may not exercise censorship to restrict the freedom of others to read, see, or hear. It is not the purpose of the Library to stimulate or to cater to trivial, antisocial, prurient, or immoral interests. But no one, least of all a free public library, has the right to judge what another may read, view, or hear.

Citizen requests for reconsideration of specific materials or subject matter shall be made in writing and submitted to the Library Director. The Library's written consideration procedure will be followed and the Board of Trustees will review the complaint and render a final decision.

The Louisville Library Board of Trustees adopts and declares that it will adhere to and support, and include as part of this policy:

1. The Library Bill of Rights
2. The Freedom to Read statement
3. The Freedom to View statement

All three of which are made a part hereof. These three items are included, in toto, in their respective sections of the Policy Manual.