Approved August 12, 2020
Tidewater Community College Library is committed to teaching and promoting information literacy, providing equitable access to information resources and services, and supporting the curriculum and diverse information needs of the college community.
This policy is intended to give guidance to the library staff and provide consistency in the selection and maintenance of the TCC Library collections. This policy will set quality standards for selection and deselection of materials in order to build and maintain a collection that will meet the needs of the TCC Library’s clientele.
The service community includes primarily the faculty, staff, and students of Tidewater Community College and, secondarily, community patrons. Furthermore, in an age when library budgets are constrained, it is critical that the TCC Library maintains cooperative collection efforts, meaning that this policy should enhance communication, cooperation, and coordination among TCC Libraries. In addition, this policy will promote internal operating efficiency as it increases library staff awareness of the purpose and goals of the Library ensuring both short- and long-term continuity.
The TCC Library collections emphasize those subject areas most directly related to the TCC curriculum, are in alignment with TCC Guided Pathways, and meet program and institutional accreditation requirements. The Libraries contain resources in various formats: print, digital, electronic, audio, and video. This includes books and e-books, newspapers, magazines, journals, media, electronic databases, and worldwide web resources.
The Associate Vice President for Libraries, with the input of Coordinators, is responsible for library fund allocations, including proportional funding by programs and/or disciplines and retains the right to shift such funds when special needs arise. The librarians are consulted in the purchase of standing orders, periodicals, and electronic resources. This flexible budget will allow for selected growth and reductions among campuses and formats based on determined criteria and budget constraints.
The TCC Library supports the principles of intellectual freedom described in the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and allows for the review of challenged items through established procedures.
The TCC Library complies with the Copyright Law of the United States. Library services including electronic resources, reserve materials, photocopying, and acquisitions procedures must comply with U.S. copyright law.
The Library participates in a number of cooperative agreements in support of sharing materials and resources. Items repeatedly requested will be evaluated for purchase.
Cooperation can result in an integrated, interdependent collection but should not be a substitute for development of adequate individual collections. Selections should be compared to avoid unnecessary duplication. Examination of existing items should be made to combine holdings for completion of sets..