The library will select books, periodicals and electronic resources that support the curriculum of Ripon College, that are of general and historical interest to the city of Ripon and the college and that are written by Ripon College faculty and alumni.

New Books

• Departmental Recommendations: The library will allot the academic departments of Ripon College an annual (fiscal year) budget to purchase books for their respective disciplines. Funds that have not been spent by March 1 will go into the general library fund to be spent by the librarians on books for those disciplines.
• Librarians will try to find at least one favorable review for items selected. Librarians will buy in hardcover those items that they anticipate will stay in the collection for a long period (i.e. seminal works, items that are not superseded annually, etc.)
• Staff and students may recommend materials for purchase that will be evaluated and decided on by the Librarians.
• In the interest of saving shelf space, the library will strive to maintain one copy of the most current edition added to the collection. Multiple editions will be kept only if there is significant differences in content between the editions. Librarians will make exceptions only in cases of prolonged heavy usage. Librarians will continually evaluate the need for these multiple copies and/or editions
  

Gifts

• Once in our possession, gift items will be added and discarded at the discretion of the librarians.
• No itemized lists will be given for tax purposes.
• No review copies of books will be accepted.
• Librarians will accept only gifts that conform to the guidelines of the above stated collection development policy.
  

Special Collections

• Faculty/Alumni Collection: The faculty/alumni collection will include works by current and former students and faculty of Ripon College. The alumni collection will include works by students, regardless of whether the student graduated or if the student was here for only a short period of time. The faculty collection will include works by Ripon faculty, regardless of the length of their employment at the College. Works by trustees who were never faculty or students of Ripon will go in the faculty collection. Works by students or faculty who are now trustees will go in the alumni and faculty collection, respectively. Works by Ripon College students who later became faculty members will go in the faculty collection.
  
  The faculty/alumni collection will include works in which faculty and alumni were contributors. Copy one of faculty/alumni publications will go into its corresponding collection. Second copies (if available) of faculty/alumni works will go to the stacks. If relevant to the curriculum, the library will purchase a second copy of a faculty/alumni work for the stacks. The third copy of faculty and alumni publications will go in closed stacks. The fourth and subsequent copies of faculty/alumni publications will be evaluated by the librarians for possible inclusion in closed stacks. The faculty/alumni collection will not be weeded and does not circulate. Faculty and Alumni publications not in the faculty/alumni collection will be marked with a gift plate to prevent accidental discard.
  
• Western Americana Collection: The Western Americana collection will not be added to or weeded. Some of the more valuable materials in the collection will be housed in closed stacks.
• Juvenile Collection: Librarians will work to create a juvenile books collection that supports the education curriculum at Ripon College. Priority purchases will include classic works of children’s literature, current winners of literary awards (Caldecott, Newberry, Coretta Scott King, etc.), recommendations of the CCBC in Madison and nonfiction that can be used by Ripon students and faculty for pedagogical purposes.
• General Reserves: The general reserves collection will include materials that should circulate but are likely to be damaged or stolen if left in the stacks (expensive items, CD ROMs, etc.). Librarians will evaluate candidates for general reserves.
• Closed Stacks: Items in the closed stacks do not circulate and must be used in the reference area with a staff member present. Closed stacks will include: copies 3+ of faculty/alumni materials; books valued at more than $200; books in poor condition that could not withstand circulation (out of print, seminal works that we don’t want to discard). Also books signed by major authors; and rare books pertaining to the history of the college, the city of Ripon, Wisconsin, Ripon, England, Fond du Lac County and the state of Wisconsin will be housed in closed stacks. No alterations will be made to items in closed stacks.
• Reference: Reference includes items such as encyclopedias and handbooks that can be used in a brief research period and generally are not intended to be read cover to cover. These items generally include background information on a topic, short synopses of information, tables, graphs and statistics. Librarians will evaluate materials for inclusion in the reference collection and use the reference space sparingly.
• Government Documents: The government documents librarian will update item selections and weed the collection on a regular basis, discarding selected items that are 5+ years old or that are part of the Federal Depository Library Program’s permanent full-text databases. Discards will be made according to the procedures of the FDLP.
• Periodicals: Current periodical subscriptions will be evaluated by the librarians and the appropriate departments. Subscriptions may be added and deleted as the evaluators see fit.
• Archives: The archives will keep items of historical interest to the college. Up to four copies of items (Crimsons, Catalogues, Student handbooks, etc.) will be kept in storage.
• Quarto: The Quarto section is for books measuring greater than 28.5 inches. The cataloger will determine which items go in Quarto.
• Electronic databases: Electronic (online) databases may be added or deleted as seems most appropriate by the librarians. Special consideration should be given to cost versus number of potential users and support for the curriculum. General resources will take precedence over resources for one department unless special or cooperative funding is secured.
  

Removing Items from the Collection
An item may be removed from the collection if it satisfies the following conditions:

• It has not circulated (either in or out of the library) in 20 years.
• It is not by a Ripon College alum or faculty.
• It is not a seminal work.
• It does not support the curriculum.
• It is outdated or a newer edition is available.
• It is in bad condition.

A periodical title may be completely removed from the collection if it satisfies the following conditions (for current subscriptions, see above):

• It is no longer a current subscription of the Library and the Library has not received a new issue in 15 to 20 years.
• The library holds only a small portion of the journal run.
• The journal is not indexed in any index to which the Library subscribes.
• The title has been superceded by another title.
• Other libraries in our area own the title.
  

Librarians will replace worn-out copies of major works and consolidate copies to save shelf space. If unsure about a particular work, librarians will consult the appropriate academic departments. Discarded items will go to the public library book sale.

Intellectual Freedom
“The Library Bill of Rights” published by the American Library Association applies to the acquisition of library materials at Ripon College Library. The sole test of a controversial item will be its contribution to the academic program of the College, and the needs of the students and the faculty members.

October 23, 2002; Revised: November 1, 2004