The Vigo County Public Library was created for the benefit of all people who live or work in Vigo County and is supported by them so that information may be freely available to all. Its purpose is to acquire, organize, preserve and provide access to information in a variety of formats.

In order to carry out its mission, the Vigo County Public Library fulfills several roles:

• It serves as a center for reliable information for the entire community.

• It provides the opportunity and encouragement for children, young adults, and adults to continuously educate themselves.

• It creates opportunities for recreation and personal enrichment.

• It provides an open and nonjudgmental environment where information on different points of view is available to allow individuals to decide which ideas are meaningful to them.

It is these ideas that guide the selection of materials as well as the development of services and the allocation of resources.

Material Selection

The Vigo County Public Library serves a community with a wide range of needs, interests and points of view and therefore, has a responsibility to provide a diverse collection of materials, in a variety of formats, reflecting a wide variety of ideas. Consequently, some library materials may contain controversial points of view and may be unpopular or even offensive to some of the community it serves. What a library user chooses to read is an individual choice. All users have the right to reject certain materials for themselves or their families but do not have the right to restrict access to those materials by others. (See Vigo County Public Library Policy on Accessing Library Materials.)

Library materials are selected on the basis of literary, educational, informational, and recreational value. However, no single standard can be applied to each potential item for selection. As a result, materials are judged by several criteria. In some instances these criteria may include artistic merit, scholarship, or the value of the material to the informational needs of the community. In other instances the criterion may be patron or community demand. Each item for selection is judged by how well it will assist the Vigo County Public Library fulfill its mission and role. Standard literary and library reviewing sources and basic lists of standard works, as well as other sources, are used as guidelines in selection.

The Vigo County Public Library Board of Trustees affirms the American Library Association's "Library Bill Of Rights" and the "Freedom To Read" statement.

The Vigo County Public Library Board of Trustees delegates to the Library Director the authority and responsibility for selection and management of the library materials collection. The Director has delegated this responsibility and it is shared among the trained Library Reference staff who perform these tasks in accordance with this policy.

Gifts

The Vigo County Public Library welcomes gifts of print and non-print materials from individuals and groups. However, the Vigo County Public Library reserves the right to make the final decision on what materials will be added to the Library's collection. Gift materials will be evaluated with the same criteria used for purchased materials. Gift materials judged not suitable to be added to the collection will be submitted to the Friends of the Vigo County Public Library to be used for use in book sales, as gifts to other libraries, or to be recycled.

Objections and Concerns

The Vigo County Public Library is committed to providing library materials presenting all points of view and to the individual's right to access this information and is opposed to those who would try to restrict freedom of access to information and ideas. However, it does acknowledge the right of individuals to voice a concern about library materials found in the Library and to have this concern heard. An individual with a concern may complete a "Statement of Concern about Library Resources." (Statement attached to this policy). The Vigo County Public Library Board of Trustees will review the concern and inform the individual of its decision regarding the inclusion or deletion of the material from the library collection.

Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Vigo County Public Library on the 21^st day of August, 2000.