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Stock Management Policy

The Stock Management Policy tells you:

• How books and other library materials are selected.
• How we present those materials to you.
• How we try to increase choice for you by circulating our stock around our libraries.
• How we deal with requests.
• Why library materials are withdrawn, and what happens to them.
• What we offer in our various collections.
• The aims that guide us when managing library collections.
• The results of consultation with our users about this policy.

Calderdale has a range of libraries varying greatly in size and serving a diversity of communities and individuals. The amount of library materials available for purchase is great, and funds limited. It is important that funds are spent wisely.

These are the aims which underlie how we select and manage our stock –

We view literacy and reading as essential skills and a source of enjoyment.We aim to provide a wide choice of popular materials to meet the leisure needs of our communities, and promote the positive and creative use of leisure time.

We will support formal and informal lifelong learning and the development of skills by providing a wide range of educational materials.

Our diverse communities have wide and varied interests and needs. A vast range of materials is available to us, from popular bestsellers to little known and hard to obtain titles.We will respect the demand for popular, material, but will provide a wide diversity of stock, and give customers access to lesser known authors, artists, publishers and labels, in order to widen choice. The national media highlights a very limited selection of the rich diversity of materials available.We will provide a much wider choice. This will mean that we will not always be able to provide bestsellers in quite the quantities that some customers might expect, and we will sometimes buy titles that do not issue as well as we hoped.

We intend to provide materials that support and reflect a wide diversity of cultural backgrounds and social views, encourage a sense of self-esteem in people of all cultures, foster an awareness of different cultural values, and keep abreast of cultural changes, Our collections will not only reflect diversity, but also celebrate it, and challenge cultural stereotypes.

Whilst reacting positively to expressed demand, we will also try to cater for customers who are not confident in making their needs known, and we will try to identify the possible requirements of non-users.

One of the strengths of the public library is the ability to provide out of print materials. This, together with the range of our collections, means that we offer far more diverse collections than will be found in bookshops.We will maintain our store collection of older material, and ensure that important titles are kept in store instead of being withdrawn.

We will provide current reference materials, convenient access to online resources and a wide range of information to empower people to make informed choices and a positive contribution to the community.

Materials in a diversity of formats will be provided – to improve choice and coverage, and meet special needs.

Materials will be relevant, up to date, of good quality and exchanged regularly to increase choice.

We aim to support local heritage, improve the quality of life and the enjoyment of living in Calderdale, and support and strengthen the economic life of the community.

Customers should be able to find the book or information they need on most of their visits to the library, and the majority should consider the service to be good or very good.

We will seek and respond to feedback from customers, and try to identify, assess and meet the needs of lapsed customers and non-users.

The document describes the service that we offer and the procedures that we will use to deliver this service. It is intended to both inform the public, and act as a working tool for staff. It will be updated at least every three years. The full policy, as revised and published in February 2009 is available here for to download.

If you would like this information in another format or language, please contact:

• Name
• Geraldine Jones
• Email
• geraldine.jones@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone
• 01422 393204.

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