DRAFT LIBRARY POLICY

INTRODUCTION

The Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education (ABETICOE) Library was relocated to its current building in 2013. Since then the Library has made significant strides and progress from strength to strength as an integral part of the College. The Library is poised to maintain its services to high standards in every aspect of library management. The Library is well located directly opposite the College’s main administration with a seating capacity of one hundred and seventeen (117) users.

The Library provides a congenial environment for study and valuable scholarly resources for teaching, learning and research. Top notch computers are available for students, faculty and staff. The Library is equipped to support not only Tutors and Students, but also Researchers and Scholars.

MISSION

To support teaching, learning and research with state of the art information that complements, education, reflective thinking and development of thought using contemporary knowledge in the teacher education field.

VISION

To promote a knowledge enriched learning community, which is committed to support the development and empowerment of the College communities we serve with integrity.

PURPOSE OF POLICY

This policy sets out the principles which guide the development of a quality Library collection that meets the information needs of a dynamic community. The policy will ensure that the quality of the collection is maintained through consistency in selection and deselection processes and a process of continuous evaluation.

SCOPE/ APPLICATION

The library policy applies to all students, academic support and non-academic staff of Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education as well as outside persons and institutions who make use of the College library.

POLICY STATEMENT

This policy helps define the values in the library, and helps staff translate those values into service priorities. This will establish a standard for services that can be understood by users of the library. The policy will ensure equitable treatment for all, and provide a framework for delivery of services.

STRUCTURE OF THE LIBRARY POLICY

Important areas of library activities have been identified and policy guidelines and rules compiled in each of these areas to achieve the aims and objectives of library policy.

ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION RESOURCES

The library department is responsible for the acquisition of information resources to deliver library and information services tailored to the business of the College.

Acquisition section of the library will compile a list of selected books and materials from staff and students at the beginning of every academic year which will be acquired through the following means:

      1. Purchase; the main means through which materials in this library would be acquired is through purchase of materials from recognized book and information vendors. An authorized recommendation form for purchasing of information resources is required before an official order will be placed.
      2. Donations; another means of acquisition in this library will be through donations received in the library from organizations and private individuals.
  • The library department will use the most appropriate supplier for the acquisition of information resources to ensure that the required resources are received in time and cost effectively.
  1. The library may limit the number of copies to be ordered according to factors such as need for the items, price, available funds etc.
  2. Gifts of either information resources or money to purchase them will be accepted provided they fit into the above policies and provided that there are no conditions attached.
  3. The library must be free to dispose of any resources that are not needed. The gift collection will be integrated with the library collection.
  • An acknowledgement letter shall be written to the donor.
  • Unwanted donations may be offered to other libraries, students, staff, and schools, sold or discarded.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

It is the responsibility of the library department to build a well-balanced and up to date collection of various information resources so as to always meet the ever-changing information needs of the college.

A large portion of resources in ABETICOE College library are print books covering different subject areas being taught.

Ready reference materials such as general dictionaries, thesaurus, encyclopedias, World book, yearbooks, atlases and others are also available in the library.

Information resources are acquired according to but not limited to the following criteria:

      1. Relevance to the academic programmes
      2. Authority of author and publishers, including book reviews
  • Physical format and technical quality
      1. Scope and contents
      2. Depth of the existing collection in the subject
      3. Price – including foreign currency
  • Timeliness
  • Appropriateness – language, currency, target readership

ELECTRONIC SUPPORT SERVICES

The electronic resources shall be used for educational or research purposes only. However, restrictions may apply to on-campus and off-campus users of certain databases. The terms and conditions of agreement between the user and vendors/publishers of these electronic resources shall regulate the use of the databases.

The Electronic support services to be provided shall include the following:

    1. Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) for Patrons
    2. Provision of electronic information resources namely, CD-ROMs, online databases and Internet services

The Library, through our required Information Literacy Skills training, will provide students with guidelines for evaluating websites and search strategies for finding the most appropriate information from the web. In addition, as students visit the library to conduct research on the Internet, we informally train them on how to use the Internet in a responsible and judicious manner

LIBRARY COMPUTER USE

The College Library supports the College’s teaching, learning and research. The Library’s Electronic Resource Section provides Computer equipment to enable library users (Students, Tutors, Staff and Researchers) to have access to computers connected to the internet to assist them in the preparation of lessons (presentation, notes) assignment, S.T.S. report preparation, teaching and information search.

The rules below apply to the use of computers in the Library’ Electronic Resources Section.

    1. First priority for use of computers is accorded to the College Students, Tutors and Staff.
    2. Use of computing resource is a privilege that depends on individual using the resources appropriately.
  • Sometimes, the demand for the library computer equipment exceed the availability. You are entreated to be sensitive to the needs of others and limit equipment use during times of heavy demand. The College library may put additional measures in place to regulate computer use such as setting time limits and restrict email access.
    1. Due to the public nature of the library, individuals should show respect for other individuals’ right to privacy and freedom from intimidation or harassment. Users are entreated to be sensitive to the fact that some on-screen images, sounds or messages creates an atmosphere of disturbance, intimidation or harassment. The College library may take steps to maintain an environment conducive for study and research.
    2. The use of computer equipment for recreational purposes such as charging phones/tablets, music/movie and game playing prevent others from using the computers for educational or research purposes and thus makes the College library less conducive to study. The College librarian, library staff or student librarians may intervene to ensure optimal access to computers for educational and research purposes.

 

CIRCULATION/ LOAN OF INFORMATION RESOURCES

All staff, students and persons holding valid college identification cards shall be afforded privileges to borrow information resources that are contained in the library.

    1. The number of information resources to be checked-out from the open-shelves and their corresponding loan periods differ per client type, resource type and location.
    2. Failure to return resources on or before the due date will result in the imposition of a late return fine/charge per day for open-shelf information resources or per hour for reserved/short loan collection and/or suspension of library privileges.
  • Day visitors or other persons who are not library members shall not be allowed to borrow information resources.

WEEDING OF COLLECTIONS

Weeding or the removal of materials from the library, should be considered an internal part of the total organized effort to study and develop the collection. Weeding is an essential element of collection development that ensures the library materials are useful and accessible. A library collection is limited by the space available to house it. Academic library collections change over time to reflect changing information needs of the programmes. Weeding is a periodic or continual evaluation of resources intended to remove items that are no longer useful from the collection. Weeding may involve the transferring of lesser used material to storage, or the discarding of excess copies of seldom used titles, irreparably damaged copies, and materials which contain inaccurate or outdated information.

DECISIONS ON WEEDING

Decisions to remove materials will be made by library staff in consultation with library committee and academic department most directly concerned with their possible future use.

CRITERIA FOR WEEDING

Criteria which may be used as guidelines for weeding are:

      1. Superfluous multiple copies
      2. Superseded editions (e.g. annuals, yearbooks, manuals)
  • Worn out, badly marked or mutilated volumes
      1. Works containing outdated or inaccurate information
      2. Works superseded by, or cumulated in, more comprehensive publications
      3. Textbooks and instructional material more than 10 years old
  • Subject areas no longer collected, i.e., irrelevant to client needs
  • Material that has not circulated for 10 years
      1. Trivial material of no discernable literary or scientific merit
      2. Material easily available elsewhere

RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION

  1. Academic Board
    • Library Committee
    • Library staff
    • College Management

RESPONSIBILITY FOR MONITORING

      1. Library Committee
      2. Academic Board
  • College Management

INITIATING BODY

  1. Library Committee