Collection Policy

Introduction

This policy guides the development of Madeleine Clark Wallace Library’s collections as the core source of scholarly information for the Wheaton community. In support of the College’s mission, the library’s mission and guiding principles, and the values of our profession, we select resources that align with the curriculum and represent a variety of perspectives.

Library Collections

Information about Wallace Library’s current collections is available on our website.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We are deeply committed to social justice and to supporting the Wheaton community’s diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion efforts. We understand that there are gaps in the collections and continually works to make collections more inclusive by:

  • Developing expertise in inclusive descriptive cataloging terms and metadata schema;
  • Expanding vendors for monographic purchasing, including local independent bookstores; and
  • Identifying collection gaps in underrepresented subject areas and works by authors from marginalized communities, and involving students, experts, and community members in selecting materials that address those gaps.

Responsibility for Selection

The Director of Discovery & Access, Collections Manager, Director of Research & Instruction, and Research & Instruction Librarians have primary responsibility for selecting materials based on the criteria within this policy. Faculty members are encouraged to recommend materials that support the curriculum. All Wheaton community members may recommend materials for purchase.

We reserve the right to refuse any request for materials that are not in alignment with this policy. Ultimate responsibility for collection development resides with the Director of Discovery & Access.

Collection Levels

The Library of Congress provides guidelines that describe the depth to which a subject might be collected. We select most materials at the Instructional Support Level:

“A collection that in a university is adequate to support undergraduate and most graduate instruction, or sustained independent study; that is, adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of works of more important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject.”

Selected subjects may be collected at the Research Level when sufficient scholarship warrants. Subjects not specifically covered in the curriculum may be collected at Minimal or Basic Levels.

Criteria for Selection

The general criteria considered for selecting library materials include:

  • Importance of subject matter in relation to the College’s educational goals and curriculum;
  • Balance of the collection’s coverage of all subject areas;
  • Timeliness or permanence of the material;
  • The author’s or editor’s reputation and significance within their field;
  • Authoritativeness based on recommendations and/or criticism by respected authorities and reviewers;
  • Relative importance to similar materials;
  • Clarity of presentation, readability, and accessibility;
  • Reputation and standing of the publisher;
  • Availability of title from resource sharing partners via interlibrary loan; and 
  • Price.

The following criteria address additional factors considered during the selection process.

Physical Formats

We purchase materials in a single format. Priority is given to digital formats that enable multiple simultaneous users and remote access. We purchase materials in physical format when the required content is only available in that format, when there is a prohibitive price difference between digital and print, when the functionality of digital format is inferior to the print, or when the print format provides an important inherent functionality that cannot be duplicated digitally.

  • Condition: We only purchase new materials or used materials in excellent condition.
  • Currency: We prioritize purchases of newly published works. We may also buy older works in certain subject areas. We make a good faith effort to purchase requested out-of-print materials when necessary. All purchase requests must be accompanied with information about the program that the purchase supports.
  • DVDs: We purchase DVDs only when content is unavailable via streaming video and required for a course.
  • Editions & Sets: We purchase the latest edition of any material unless an earlier edition is specifically requested, complete texts rather than abridged editions, and complete sets rather than individual volumes unless the cost is prohibitive or a complete set is not essential.
  • Language: English is preferred, except for materials used by foreign language or literature courses.
  • Price: Purchases over $1,000.00 require approval from the Provost’s Office.
  • Print Periodicals: We typically do not purchase print periodicals.
  • Recreational Materials: After primary curricular needs have been met, we may collect other materials that are of interest to the community.
  • Reimbursement for Purchases for the library by Faculty: Individual faculty are sometimes in a position to purchase hard-to-procure materials for the library’s collection, e.g. while in another country, a professor may have access to materials not available through US library suppliers. Faculty must get approval from both the Director of Discovery & Access and the Office of the Provost before making purchases on behalf of the library. Once the item has been received by the library, expenses will be reimbursed upon submission of receipts.
  • Repair: Certain damaged materials are repaired at the discretion of the Collections Manager.
  • Replacements: Circulation history is the primary criteria determining whether we replace missing or damaged items, followed by price, availability for purchase, and availability through interlibrary loan.
  • Scores and Sheet Music: Music faculty are the sole selectors of scores and sheet music.
  • Spoken Recordings: Spoken recordings are only purchased to support the teaching of a subject, e.g. an author reciting her own works or for practice of a special language. We do not purchase other audiobooks.
  • Textbooks and Course Materials: To support equity and inclusion, we purchase, whenever possible, all texts and films required and recommended for courses and submitted by faculty to the College bookstore or directly to the library via our form. We do not purchase textbook access codes, except when one is incidentally included with the physical book. The access codes are sent to the Dean of Students.
  • Wheaton Authors: We purchase two copies of works fully authored or edited by Wheaton alumni, students, faculty, staff, and emeriti. One copy is retained in the non-circulating Wheaton Authors collection or its subset, Faculty In Print; the other copy circulates. We also purchase two copies of works with chapters or introductions by faculty members. Gifts of these titles are encouraged.

Electronic Formats

In addition to the criteria listed at the top of this section, electronic resources are evaluated for selection according to the following criteria:

  • COUNTER compliant usage statistics;
  • Documented progress towards WCAG 2.1 AA compliance;
  • Technical documentation and support for the duration of the subscription; and
  • Compatibility with library discovery layer and single sign-on integration.
  • Reasonable licensing agreements that do not impede fair use or require the library to assume responsibility for the behavior of our users or third parties. We consider factors such as the ability to perform interlibrary loan, text and data mining, and to share within a course.
  • Streaming video is the preferred video format when available at a reasonable price and required for a course. We do not purchase public performance rights.
  • All periodicals and newspapers are provided electronically. Subscriptions are reviewed at time of renewal.

Collection Maintenance and Assessment

We make every effort to maintain a collection that is current, relevant, and useful. Consistent maintenance of the collection through withdrawal of selected materials supports a balanced collection that best serves the College’s curricular needs. Retaining materials that no longer serve the curriculum impedes efficient access to suitable material. Materials are evaluated for their individual importance as well as in relation to the rest of the collection.

We reserve the right to refuse requests to remove materials from the collection and not to respond to removal requests. The Library Collections Manager will make all final deselection decisions regarding monographs. The library’s collection development team will make all final decisions regarding subscriptions.

The following criteria address factors considered during the deselection process:

  • Availability: The item is widely available at other libraries;
  • Duplication: Additional copies of the item are no longer in high demand;
  • Historical value: The item has no intrinsic or historical value;
  • Incomplete multivolume sets: If any part of a multi-part set is withdrawn, we may choose to withdraw the entire set;
  • Obsolete formats: When an item is not usable because the device required to use it is no longer available, and the item is ineligible for preservation, it is removed from the collection;
  • Outdated editions: Older editions may be withdrawn if a new edition is received;
  • Physical condition: The material is moldy, damaged, or otherwise irreparable;
  • Relevance: Materials purchased to support specific academic programs may no longer be required, and we will consult with affected faculty as appropriate; and
  • Usage: Materials that have low usage relative to their cost and/or have not circulated within an extended period of time.

Gifts

We accept donations of new individual books and used books in excellent condition to the following collections:

  • Faculty in Print
  • Visiting Artists
  • Wheaton Authors

Donations of entire personal collections are not accepted.

All donations to the library require prior approval from the Library Collections Manager.

Donations must follow guidelines within the Wheaton College Gift Acceptance Procedures, outlined in Section I, subtopic A (Outright Gifts), Section 6 (Tangible Gifts of Property and In-Kind Gifts). Outright gifts and gifts of tangible property will be submitted to the Gift Acceptance Committee for approval.

We cannot provide appraisals. Donors are responsible for obtaining an appraisal prior to donation.

The same criteria used to purchase new materials are applied when evaluating gifts. We reserve the right to decline gifts of materials that do not align with collection goals and policies. 

Once received, all gifts become the property of the College. We determine whether materials will be added to the collection, where they will be housed, how they will be cataloged, or whether they will be otherwise distributed or withdrawn. Materials that do not meet collection criteria may be transferred to Better World Books or a similar organization.

The following materials are generally unsuitable as gifts:

  • Complimentary desk copies or publisher samples;
  • Mass market paperbacks;
  • Materials that duplicate current holdings or other editions of titles already held by the library;
  • Materials that are marked, damaged, or in poor physical condition;
  • Workbooks, laboratory manuals, standardized tests, and other instructional supplies;
  • Outdated titles containing erroneous or misleading information;
  • Incomplete periodical sets, unless they complete an existing run or have historic value; and
  • Materials outside the scope of the collection or that would not otherwise meet selection criteria.

This policy was last reviewed October 19, 2026.