Table of Contents
1. Mission Statement
2. Purpose
3. Collection Values
4. Scope of Collection
5. Selection Criteria
6. Recommendations
7. Collection Management
8. Requests for Reconsideration
Appendix I – ALA Library Bill of Rights
Appendix II – PA Confidentiality of Library Records
Appendix III – Recommend a Title Form
Appendix IV – Request for Reconsideration/De-selection Form
The Office of Commonwealth Libraries (OCL) within the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) supports, develops, and provides library services for learning and advancement.
POWER Library is a service of the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, Pennsylvania Department of Education, and is hosted by HSLC. This policy exists to define parameters for selection and management of titles added to the statewide ebook collection, as represented in the POWER Library.
The Office of Commonwealth Libraries is committed to supporting equity, inclusion, and belonging within the communities we represent and serve.
Selection of a given item for the POWER Library should not be interpreted as an endorsement of a particular viewpoint. No material is excluded because of the race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political or social views of the author. In following this policy, the Office of Commonwealth Libraries does not endorse every thought, expression or belief represented in the POWER Library.
The collection provides an impartial environment in which individuals and their interests are brought together with the universe of ideas and information spanning the spectrum of knowledge and opinions. The Office of Commonwealth Libraries affirms the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to View, and Freedom to Read policy statements in support of acquiring and managing collections.
The eBook collection will evolve as new formats become widely accessible. It may include eBooks and other downloadable media.
The eBook collection comprises fiction and non-fiction titles for a broad range of ages, selected according to the criteria defined in Section 5 – Selection Criteria.
The eBook collection will further personal enrichment and knowledge in the subject areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), health, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging using title lists as well as titles of specific interest to Pennsylvanians.
Textbooks are generally excluded.
The collection does not focus on best-selling items and popular fiction, as this is typically the responsibility of libraries at the district, county, or local level.
The following criteria (which are not listed in priority order) is used to assess titles suitable for addition to the statewide eBook collection:
- Price
- Availability of unlimited or perpetual licensing
- Authoritativeness (background and reputation of author, publisher)
- Recommendation in standard review journals or bibliographies
- Need for better coverage in subject area
- Adequate scope and depth
- Accuracy
- Impartiality
- Currency or Date of publication
- Relation to the collection and demand from library users
- Relevance to interests and needs of Pennsylvanians
Pennsylvania residents may request items not already included in the collection. Each request will be reviewed for inclusion in the collection using the selection criteria outlined above. Please note that eBook purchases are only possible when funding is available.
To recommend a title, please see Appendix III
The following criteria is used to determine whether titles are to be removed, maintained or updated in the statewide eBook collection:
Currency, accuracy, relevance, and/or availability of newer or more valid titles are considered. For example, removal generally considers the following criteria:
- No longer relevant to the needs and interest of the Pennsylvania community
- Infrequent use and lack of demand
- Misleading and/or factually inaccurate content
- Superseded by a new edition or a better source
8. Requests for Reconsideration
If a user wishes the Office of Commonwealth Libraries to reconsider material that is in the collection, a Materials Reconsideration Form is available. Upon receipt and verification of a completed form, a committee of professional librarians and a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Library Development appointed by the State Librarian is convened to review such requests and a written response is sent to the individual filing the request for reconsideration within 60 days. No group or individual will be permitted to impose partisan, religious or ideological emphasis upon the library’s collection, since all political, religious, and social opinions of all Pennsylvanians may be represented.
Upon conclusion of the Reconsideration process, the Office of Commonwealth Libraries’ decision is final. Final decisions regarding reconsideration requests are valid for five years. Reconsiderations for the same material and reason within the five-year timespan will receive the same conclusion as the previous decision.
To make a request for reconsideration, please see Appendix IV
Appendix I
American Library Association
Library Bill of Rights
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
VII. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.
Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; January 29, 2019.
Inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.
Appendix II
PA Confidentiality of Library Records
Records related to the circulation of library materials which contain the names or other personally identifying details regarding the users of the State Library or any local library which is established or maintained under any law of the Commonwealth or the library of any university, college or educational institution chartered by the Commonwealth or the library of any public school orbranch reading room, deposit station or agency operated in connection therewith, shall be confidential and shall not be made available to anyone except by a court order in a criminal proceeding. 24 P.S. § 4428
Appendix III
Recommend a Title Form
