The University of West Florida (UWF) Libraries’ Collection Development and Management Policy provides the framework and guidelines for the selection, acquisition, evaluation, and maintenance of a collection of quality resources in appropriate formats that support the instructional, curricular, and research needs of the library community. The policy establishes the goals for cultivating a collection that supports the mission and values of the library, including support of learning, scholarship, and research; equitable access to information; and responsible stewardship in providing access to resources. In addition, it describes the scope and nature of existing collections, informs budgeting requests and allocations, ensures consistency in collection building practices, and defines accountability for collection development activities.
The University of West Florida offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degree programs and serves a diverse community of users. The UWF Libraries includes three physical facilities: the John C. Pace Library (JCPL) and the Professional Studies Library (PSL) on the Pensacola campus and the Emerald Coast Library (ECL) on the Fort Walton Beach campus. Primary users of the UWF Libraries are the university’s students, faculty, and staff. Additional users include visiting university and college faculty, staff, and students, and other researchers not affiliated with the University of West Florida, and members of the general public.
The UWF Libraries support the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read Statement, and Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights regarding Intellectual Freedom. Guiding principles also include the First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. With these basic principles providing the guidance, library staff strive to build collections which provide a variety of viewpoints on subjects related to UWF’s teaching and research interests, current events, and important intellectual issues of the day. The viewpoints presented include not only current, prevailing perspectives, but also those viewpoints which may be unpopular, out-of-favor, or at variance with local community standards. As such we will resist censorship leading to the prevention of acquiring and easy access to library resources based on content and opinions about said content.
The UWF Libraries support ALA’s Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights. We are committed to providing equitable and accessible collections reflective of global awareness as well as fostering inclusion, and Librarian selectors have a professional responsibility to be inclusive in their collection development decisions.
The materials budget supports the recurring and one-time purchases of all formats designated in the collection development policy. Faculty may use those funds to request books and other materials needed to support the university’s instructional and research needs. That part of the library materials budget not directly allocated to academic departments is used to support interdisciplinary and planned collection development.
The Library is committed to the creation and maintenance of a collection that is balanced in terms of content and format. However, the ability to purchase print, media, and electronic resources varies with the size of the annual budget and funds allocated for each fiscal year. When budgetary restrictions are necessary, the Library will use available funds to provide resources to meet the most immediate instructional needs and to maintain its course-related research function and its basic collection strength. Purchase of expensive items and specialized material may be deferred or eliminated at such times unless alternate funding sources can be identified.