Materials Consideration and Reconsideration

Guidelines for Materials Consideration and Reconsideration 

On occasion, an FCPL customer may want to suggest a purchase, or may have concerns regarding an individual item within the collection. FCPL responds to these suggestions or concerns in a timely and professional manner by reviewing the community member’s inquiry and thoroughly analyzing the item in question according to our Materials Selection Policy and our guidelines for consideration or reconsideration of materials.  

Materials Consideration 

Materials that are submitted for consideration will be reviewed against our Materials Selection Policy, professional guidelines set forth by the American Library Association, and the professional experience of FCPL staff. Customers may submit a title for consideration through the “Suggest a Purchase” feature on the library’s website. 

Several factors may impact the library’s decision or ability to purchase an item including cost, availability of the item in question, and our ability to obtain the item through interlibrary loan. Additionally, we rely on the expertise of the publishing industry and professional reviews to guide our selections for our collections. When those are not available for specific items, we apply our professional experience to make those determinations. The Library does not respond directly to these requests. Customers who request an item and ask for it to be placed on hold for them will receive a standard hold notice when the item becomes available. 

Materials Reconsideration 

Materials that have been added to FCPL’s collection have met the criteria of the Materials Selection Policy, professional guidelines set forth by the American Library Association, and the professional experience of FCPL staff. Once an item has been added, it will not be removed unless it can be shown to violate those criteria.  

Library card holders may submit an item for reconsideration here. Only one item may be submitted at a time. Submissions will only be considered from individuals, not organizations, who are library card holders. Submissions will be evaluated by the Library Collections Department and submitted to the Library Director for determination. Customers will receive a response via email. The Library Director’s decision is final.