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Collection Development at the Cabrillo College Library

Guiding Principles

The Cabrillo College Library develops and maintains its collections to advance the educational, community-building, and outreach missions of the College. We are committed to principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our materials and spaces, and curate our materials with these in mind. 

  • The Library takes an evidence-informed and holistic approach to developing and sustaining collections to advance scholarship and learning at Cabrillo College. We analyze many data points to understand the evolving interests, priorities, and experiences of our community. We develop the library’s collection through both human interventions and automated processes. We select resources and develop services focusing on flexible and accessible resources that are responsive to curricular needs.
  • The Library’s circulating collection is not static. We do not retain every item purchased in perpetuity; however, items accepted into the Cabrillo College Archives are retained in accordance with its own collecting mandate.
  • Similarly, our digital collections are not static. We do not offer long-term preservation for every item.
  • Print books continue to play a vital role in research, scholarship, and personal exploration.
  • In support of Cabrillo College's status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), the Library specifically seeks out and collects scholarship, literature, and other materials that are by, for, and about students and others from minoritized communities.
  • We use our library personnel's extensive expertise to connect the Cabrillo College community with more resources than it would be possible to obtain through traditional acquisitions methods and our limited institutional budgets. We leverage our local, regional, and national networks as active collaborators in student learning, teaching, and research. We recognize the future is shared.
  • The Library is committed to making collections accessible to all community members.
  • We champion the success of every student through investigating, promoting, and supporting the use of instructional materials in open and alternative models, and specifically support the California Community College's commitment to Zero Textbook Cost and Low Textbook Cost course materials wherever possible. We recognize sustainability comes from open and no-cost curriculum and scholarship as well as infrastructure.

General Information

The Cabrillo College Library collects materials in a deliberate, sustainable, and purpose-driven way to support our communities. We recognize that none of the metrics, benchmarks, or tools used to evaluate, arrange, and describe the collection are free from bias. Library faculty, staff, and administration work on individual and systemic levels to address those biases. 

 

Intellectual Freedom & Controversial Materials

Cabrillo College subscribes to the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights. The college attempts to keep a representative selection of materials on subjects that contribute to the academic progress and the needs of students and faculty. Materials representing different points of view on controversial issues provide an opportunity for open thought and communication. 

Academic and intellectual freedom allow members of the campus community to engage with a variety of sources. This can include works that are uncomfortable or offensive. The fact that an item is in the Cabrillo College Library collection does not suggest an endorsement of the contents of the item by the Cabrillo College District.

The Cabrillo College Library does not consider the requests of unaffiliated individuals or groups seeking the removal from the collection of materials chosen according to this collection development policy, nor will the Library consider requests to add to the collection materials if their addition contradicts the objectives of the policy. We will not purchase or accept gifts that contain xenophobic content or any materials that incite, encourage, or otherwise endorse violence, hate, or exclusion towards human beings.

Sources & Dates of Review/Adoption

Thank you to our colleagues at the following institutions for sharing their language documenting their collection development policies. We have adapted information from them with permission.

  • Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI)
  • Olin College of Engineering (Needham, MA)
  • University of Guelph (Guelph, ON, Canada)

Adopted November 17, 2022

Amended May 10, 2023

Review scheduled for November 2024