These guidelines refer to the general circulating collection, econtent, databases, and nontraditional material types. Please contact the Maryland Room for information related to that collection.
FCPL’s Materials Selection Guidelines provide a framework for implementing FCPL’s Board approved Library Collection Policy.
FCPL staff use professional experience and expertise as well as the considerations below to select materials that reflect the community’s diversity and meet community needs and interests. The considerations are intended to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Items are not required to meet all conditions below, but all will be considered in the selection decision.
The Library collects materials in languages other than English to meet the needs of a diverse community, focusing on languages that are actively used by our community members and for which materials can be selected, purchased, and cataloged.
Selection Considerations:
- Alignment with FCPL’s guiding documents, including Mission, Vision, Values, and strategic priorities.
- Evidence of ongoing community interest or demand, such as customer requests, use of similar materials, vendor sales data, or media attention.
- Contribution to diversity, equity, inclusion, and breadth of collections.
- Demographic data, including languages spoken, limited English proficiency, and adult literacy rates.
- Professional reviews or critical acclaim.
- Author's, artist's, or publisher's qualifications and/or reputation.
- Long-term or historical significance; replaced as needed based on customer demand and use.
- Subject matter relevance and importance to Frederick County customers.
- Timeliness, accuracy, or relevance of information.
- Cost, especially given anticipated long-term demand.
- Availability in the collection of similar materials, both physical and digital.
- Availability for purchase from FCPL’s vendors.
- Format, including durability and suitability of the physical format for library shelving.
- Ownership and demand at other library systems of similar size or scope.
- Availability of the item through Interlibrary Loan.
- Suitability of subject, style, and reading level for the intended audience.
- Frederick County Public Libraries will only purchase or add to its collection items that conform to U.S. laws (e.g. copyright, trade laws).
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Considerations:
Human authorship is the standard. The library makes reasonable efforts not to purchase AI generated content or AI audio editions of human created works. AI material inadvertently added to the collection will be labeled as such in the catalog record but will not be removed unless it meets one or more criteria for deselection as outlined in the Collection Policy. In rare circumstances, FCPL may select materials to add to the collection that are generated by or produced with AI assistance. These items must align with the criteria above, and meet the following conditions:
- A compelling need exists that cannot be met through human authored or recorded resources
- A human individual or organization assumes full legal and authorial responsibility for the resource including copyright, and licensing rights
- The role of AI in the creation of the resource is fully disclosed