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Library Policies



Library Acquisitions and Weeding Policies


General Philosophy Clearwater Christian College is a four-year, fundamental, Christian, liberal arts, co-educational college which is denominationally unaffiliated and dedicated to sound academic instruction while propagating the historic Christian faith. The College is committed to building a library collection which supports the courses and programs offered by the college, acquaints users with varying points of view, provides recreational reading, and enables students to develop special interests.

The entire College community is invited to suggest materials for inclusion in the Library collection. The Library Committee utilizes a book budget allocation formula to dispense funds to the Library and the academic divisions.

As the collection is developed, the following assumptions govern the acquisition and selection process:
  1. The primary function of the institution is teaching undergraduate students.
  2. A liberal arts education acquaints students with a broad program of study.
  3. As an institution adhering to the fundamental principles of the Word of God, Clearwater Christian College endeavors to develop in students Christian character which will find expression in Christian service.
The Library
  1. Gives priority to materials which support the undergraduate programs of the college.
  2. Develops resources which support areas of study within the liberal arts tradition.
  3. Develops resources to help students in their Christian training and service.
  4. Selects standard reference works as well as the classics and major works in the College's programs of study.
  5. Acquires books and media in the English language, unless they are to be used for foreign language courses.
  6. Selects materials for faculty research and development and some recreational reading material, funds permitting.
The following media should be reviewed by the librarians and faculty when considering materials for purchase:
  1. Retrospective works will be checked for inclusion in the Books for College Libraries.
  2. Choice, Library Journal and recognized scholarly journals are available to check current works.
  3. The Library has additional reference sources, subject guides, and lists that may be consulted for the selection of materials.
Materials selected on a limited basis:
  1. Outdated materials, especially in rapidly changing fields such as science and business.
  2. Textbooks, especially those for introductory or survey courses. Elementary and high school textbooks will be placed in the Media Center.
  3. Materials in poor condition.
  4. Duplicate titles, unless frequently used.
  5. Pamphlets of less than 40 pages will be placed in the vertical file if useful for college-level research.
  6. Collections of sermons, devotional calendars, unless considered classics.
Gift Policy:
  1. Gifts not meeting the selection guidelines may be sold, traded with other libraries, given to Christian organizations, individuals, or discarded.
  2. The Library will only accept gifts given without special restrictions.
  3. If desired by donors, gift acknowledgements for donated materials will be given by the library. It is the donor's responsibility to assign a dollar value for income tax purposes.

Weeding Policy Systematic weeding maintains the integrity and currency of the collection. Weeding eliminates obsolete volumes and allows space for newer ones which will support the College objectives and courses of study. Faculty will be involved in the weeding process.

Books to be considered for weeding:
  1. Irreparable materials with caution to avoid discarding rare books.
  2. Superseded editions
  3. Obsolete books of no current or historical significance to the College.
  4. Excessive duplicates
Journal titles to be considered for weeding:
  1. Few volumes or issues
  2. Publication has been discontinued
  3. No longer indexed
  4. No longer shows value to the mission of the College.
Procedure for weeding:
  1. The Director of the Library selects the subject areas to be weeded. The collection will be reviewed in two year cycles.
  2. The Director, or a designated librarian, identifies titles to be considered for weeding.
  3. The Director, or a designated librarian, notifies faculty from selected subject areas to visit the Library or to review a list of titles to help decide which volumes should be weeded. The faculty may suggest other volumes to be weeded.
  4. The faculty are given three weeks to come to the Library or to respond to the invitation. If they do not respond within the time period, the library staff proceeds with weeding.
  5. The Library staff stamps "Withdrawn" on weeded books and marks over the call numbers. Records in the public access catalog and the shelf list are changed.
  6. Weeded books may be offered to students and staff in book sales. The Library staff decides how to dispose of weeded books.
  7. The Library staff is responsible for weeding areas of the collection not represented by the teaching faculty who have an expertise in an area of the collection.
  8. The Library staff provides a challenged materials form for anyone who wishes to remove books because of moral, theological, or ideological reasons. The procedures must be followed before an "objectionable book" will be weeded.
Revised May 1993, Jan. 1995, Dec. 1997