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• To provide a statement of philosophy and identify key objectives respecting the selection of material which will reflect the Mission Statement and Goals of the Hamilton Public Library System.
• To define responsibility for selection and identify the delegation of selection responsibility.

• To establish procedures to deal with recommendations for purchase and objections lodged against particular materials by community residents.

• The ultimate responsibility for the selection of all materials lies with the Chief Librarian acting according to the general policies established by the Library Board. In practice, this authority is delegated to professional staff.
• The Hamilton Public Library endorses the Statement on Intellectual Freedom adopted by the Canadian Library Association in 1985 and the Statement on the Intellectual Rights of the Individual adopted by the Ontario Library Association in 1998. These statements are reproduced in the Intellectual Freedom Policy.
• The Library Board, in establishing a Materials Selection Policy, was cognizant of the Constitution Act, 1982, Part 1, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 2b, which guarantees "everyone the following fundamental freedoms... b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication." 

Materials are selected:

• to satisfy the need for recreational reading, listening and viewing materials for customers of differing tastes, interests, purposes and reading skills;
• to enrich human understanding by dealing informatively with social, personal, racial, multicultural, religious and scientific issues;
• to educate by providing basic factual information in as broad a base as possible.

Specific Criteria:

1.  
   1. suitability of physical form for library use;
   2. relation to existing collections and other material on the subject;
   3. accessibility of material in other libraries;
   4. interests and composition of the community and region;
   5. popular demand and current trends;
   6. attention of critics, reviewers, and public;
   7. quality of writing and/or visual art;
   8. reputation, skill, competence and purpose of the originator of the work;
   9. special value as a contribution to social questions and problems of continuing or topical interest;
   10. timeliness or permanence of the work;
   11. availability of funds and space;
   12. comprehensiveness and depth of treatment;
   13. clarity, accuracy and logic of presentation;
   14. balance of viewpoints in the collection (challenging though extreme or minority points of view are often represented, though quantity may be limited).

• An item need not meet all of the above criteria in order to be acceptable. Materials that do not meet these criteria may be purchased to satisfy demand.
• While people have the right to reject for themselves material of which they do not approve, they do not have the right to restrict the freedom of others.
• If there is considerable topical interest in the subject and a manifest public desire to read and judge the book first-hand, a title may be included which is not considered accurate, according to expert opinion.
• The Library does not buy textbooks specifically related to courses of study in the community. However, textbooks may be purchased if the subject information is not available in any other form.
• The Library acquires materials not only for its present customers but also for those who have not traditionally been Library customers.

Controversial Issues

• The Hamilton Public Library is a resource where many points of view and modes of expression can be examined without hindrance. No ideas and opinions have universal acceptance or condemnation in a pluralistic society. The use of language, either descriptive or expressive, can in itself stimulate controversy.
• The Hamilton Public Library, therefore, recognizes the right of individuals to express opposition to authors' ideas or to their creative exercise of language in materials selected for the library. However, the Hamilton Public Library will not engage to satisfy customers by removing items purchased in compliance with the principles of this policy. Selection of material cannot be influenced by any anticipated approval or disapproval of its intellectual content by sectors of the community.
• The Hamilton Public Library complies with any law enacted at the federal, provincial or municipal level, and therefore does not collect or maintain material which has been adjudged obscene or pornographic, or has been banned by the courts. The relevant sections of the Criminal Code of Canada are: sedition, hate propaganda and obscenity.
• The presence of an item in the collection does not indicate an endorsement of its contents by the Hamilton Public Library, but rather is an affirmation of the principle of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Canadian Library Association Statement on Intellectual Freedom.
• The following will not cause an item to be automatically included or excluded from the collection:
  • race, religion, nationality or political views of an author;
  • frankness or coarseness of language;
  • controversial content;
  • endorsement or disapproval of an individual or group;
  • language of the text.
• The Library will neither undertake to mark items to show approval or disapproval nor expurgate any materials.
• Physical access to materials will not be restricted except for the express purpose of protecting an item from damage or theft. As per the access guidelines, Library customers have open access to all the Library's collections with certain limited exceptions.

Handling Challenged Material

In the event of objection or complaint by a Library customer, the steps for resolution are as follows:

• When a customer objects to any piece of library material, ask the customer to complete either a Request for Reconsideration - Adult Materials form or a Request for Reconsideration - Children's Material form. It is not intended that all complaints, no matter how minor, be recorded. However, if you are unsure about whether or not the customer is genuinely concerned, simply ask the customer to complete a form.
• The customer should fill out the form and return it to the staff member who will ensure that the customer's name, address, telephone number etc. have been recorded properly. The staff member should make a photocopy for the customer.
• All written complaints are forwarded to the Director of Collections who will read, review or listen to the material, discuss the complaint with the appropriate Manager and, when necessary, check with outside review sources. When the review is completed, the customer is provided with a written explanation for the decision. The decision should reflect the principles outlined in the Library's Material Selection Policy.

Recommendation for Purchase and Gifts

• Purchases: Suggestions from the public for the purchase of books and other materials not in the Library's collection are referred to appropriate staff and are considered according to the Library's selection policies.
• Gifts: The same principles of selection that are applied to purchases are applied to gifts. No condition may be imposed relating to any book or other item after its acceptance. Donations that are not added to the collection are discarded or sold at the annual book sale.

Maintenance of the Collection

• The Library maintains a policy of on-going discarding of materials based on the Materials De-selection Policy.
• If the material is regularly subject to loss or damage, the Library may protect it by various precautionary measures such as transferring it to the Reference Collection. In some cases, no replacement will be bought.

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Principles of INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

Adopted November 1985, by the Canadian Library Association.

"All persons in Canada have the fundamental right, as embodied in the nation's Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to have access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to express their thoughts publicly. This right to intellectual freedom, under the law, is essential to the health and development of Canadian society.

Libraries have a basic responsibility for the development and maintenance of intellectual freedom.

It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those that some elements of society may consider unconventional, unpopular and unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.

It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee the right of free expression by making available all the library's public facilities and services to all individuals and groups who need them.

Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups.

Both employees and employers in libraries have a duty, in addition to their institutional responsibilities, to uphold these principles."

Statement on the Intellectual Rights of the Individual

- Adopted 1990, by the Ontario Library Association

"In affirming its support of the fundamental rights of intellectual freedom, the freedom to read and the freedom of the press, as embodied in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Ontario Library Association declares its acceptance of the following propositions:

That the provision of library service to the Canadian public is based upon the right of the citizen, under the protection of the law, to judge individually on questions of politics, religion and morality.

That it is the responsibility of librarians to maintain this right and to implement it in their selection of books, periodicals, films, recordings and other materials.

That intellectual freedom requires freedom to examine other ideas and other interpretations of life than those currently approved by the local community or by society in general, including those ideas and interpretations which may be unconventional or unpopular.

That freedom of the press requires freedom of the writer to depict what is ugly, shocking and unedifying in life when such depiction is made with serious intent.

That free traffic in ideas and opinions is essential to the health and growth of a free society and that the freedom to read, listen and view is fundamental to such free traffic.

That it is therefore part of the library's service to its public to resist any attempt by an individual or group within the community it serves to abrogate or curtail the freedom to read, view and listen by demanding the removal of any book, periodical, film, recording or other material from the library.

That it is equally part of the library's responsibility to its public to ensure that its selection of materials is not unduly influenced by the personal opinions of the selectors, but determined by the application of generally accepted standards of accuracy, style and presentation."

Policy Level: Library Board

Date of Formal Board Approval: March 19, 2003