Kingston Public Library

KINGSTON, MA.

The role of the Kingston Public Library in collection development is to provide the community with access to a wide range of materials for their educational, informational, cultural, recreational, and social benefit. To accomplish this, the Library collects material in various formats (written, filmed, recorded, electronic), provides a place to hold the material, and allows the material to be borrowed or used in the Library. In the case of electronic resources, remote access is also provided whenever possible. The Library offers professional guidance on locating the material and, when budget permits, sponsors programming to promote awareness of the collections. Since the community is diverse, the approach of the Library must be similarly diverse. Within the limitations of its budget, the Library seeks to obtain as wide a range of materials as possible. To augment its resources, it participates in an automated network with a shared catalog and circulation system, the Old Colony Library Network. It also joins together on a regional basis with other libraries and information providers.

In its collection development policy, the Kingston Public Library fully supports the principles adopted by the American Library Association in its Library Bill of Rights and its Freedom to Read Statement. The key principle underlying both documents and this policy is that of free speech. In all its activities, the Library will support that principle, providing an unbiased platform for the exchange of ideas.