Policy by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images Under CC BY-SA 3.0
“What are some of the components of a Library Policy,” a friend from our library tribe asked me last week, this triggered me to write this blog post.
It doesn’t matter whether the library is in an International School, a CBSE, ICSE or even an SSC school. A library policy defines who the patrons of the library are and describe the services the library provides. When policies are in place, the credibility of requests for funds and services receive due notice and acceptance. And, there is scope for enhancing the services and place for growth.
Policies establish a standard for services that can be understood by users and providers. It ensures equitable treatment for all and provides a framework and standards for delivery of service. All policies are not set in stone and these are guidelines that will need to be revisited every two years and revised. Revisions allow libraries to grow and meet the changing needs of the patrons.
Components of a basic library policy:
- The mission statement of a library: This statement can be created by keeping the mission statement of the educational institute or the institute that the library is associated with.
- Description of the library: This includes the number of books and other resources including the online databases, magazine, and toys that may be available.
- Patrons of the library: Describes who the clients are and who does the library services, of course, not forgetting the community at large you serve.
- Services of the library: Includes the timings, the number of resources available to check out, photocopy services, computers available for research and the rules and norms that go with it (including fines and lost items fee).
- Collection Development: This may include how the librarian develops the collection, the different criteria used by the librarian to develop the resources.
- Online Databases available: This may include details for membership
- Weeding Procedure: Without weeding, the collection of the library can never be an alive and current and cannot serve the present community. Therefore, criteria for weeding should be specified too.
- Events hosted by the library: It could be author visits, storytelling sessions, readers theatre, puppet shows, drawing & art programs, maker engagements or simply poetry slams.
Should you need support to create your library policy, you may contact me at bhojwaniheeru@gmail.com