Library Policies

Collection Management Policy

For all library collection related questions please contact

Oliver Schulz - 303-963-3257

Revised 2015

The University:

Founded in 1914, Colorado Christian University (CCU) is a four-year, private Christian university in the Rocky Mountain region.  CCU offers degree programs through the College of Undergraduate Studies for traditional students and for adult students through the College of Adult and Graduate Studies. 

The Library:

The Clifton Fowler Library is located on the main campus and a virtual library is accessible to students from any computer with Internet access.  A Music Library is located in the School of Music.  The library supports all CCU students and students at the CCU Centers (Lakewood, Denver Tech, Northglenn, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Sterling and Global Online) are served by online databases and reference services from the central library.  Four professional librarians, one and one half staff, and work study student staff provide these library resources and services.

Mission Statement, 2016:

"The Clifton L. Fowler Library fosters resource exploration and knowledge creation in support of the academic programs of the university community". 

The library supports CCU’s thirteen Strategic Objectives which include:

• Teach students how to learn
• Teach students how to think for themselves
• Teach students how to speak and write clearly and effectively
• Become a great university

The Library’s Collection and Resources:

The library’s collections include print and e-books, a current print journals collection, DVDs and CDs, a Curriculum collection and a Music Library with print music scores and additional recordings.  The library is a Prospector and MOBIUS member library allowing students access to almost 60 million additional items located at over 45 Colorado and Missouri libraries.  The library offers full-text journal article databases across a variety of academic disciplines and includes streaming audio and streaming video. 

Our Consortia & Partnerships  (Marmot, Prospector, and MOBIUS)

The Marmot Library Network hosts our integrated library system (ILS), maintains a union catalog of 1.7m titles, and provides related services for our library as well as other academic, public, and school libraries in Colorado; we joined Marmot in 2010.  Prospector is a unified catalog of academic, public and special libraries in Colorado and Wyoming; our membership provides access to 30 million books, journals, DVDs, CDs, videos and other materials held in these libraries.  MOBIUS’ more than 27 million items come from 72 member libraries which include 62 academic libraries, 5 public libraries, 4 special libraries, and the Missouri State Library.

The Collection Development Policy

Academic libraries need to assess their physical and electronic collections to make certain that their resources adequately support the research interests and needs of faculty and students.  Additionally, changing curricula and new programs increases the demands for new materials. Both qualitative and quantitative tools are used for assessment.  A Collection Development policy is important for this critical library activity.

The Collection Development Policy:

• articulates and communicates the Library’s philosophy of selecting materials
• guides the Technical Services Librarian and all librarians in selecting materials for the library
•  These materials are intended:
  • to support the teaching and learning of the curriculum of CCU programs for all students
  • to support the research of faculty, students, and staff
  • to foster critical thinking and develop informed, involved students
  • to support the Strategic Objectives of CCU

General Policy:

The library offers a collection of books, electronic resources, journals, music scores and audio-visual materials typically needed by students and faculty at Colorado Christian University.  An item is appropriate for the collection under these general guidelines:

1. The content is relevant and supports the curriculum of a CCU major, program and/or course

2. The content relates to meeting the needs of the development of the whole, spiritual person

3. The reading level is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate students

4. The value of the work is recognized by informed readers

5. The medium is appropriate, durable and suitable

6. The cost is reasonable

7. The publication complies with copyright laws and other statutes

8. The item is likely to be used by students and faculty, and

9. The item supports the CCU strategic objectives and the mission of the university

General  processes  for  selecting materials:

Collection development is the primary responsibility of the Technical Services Librarian (TSL) and carried out in cooperation with faculty, staff and students and at times outside members of our community. Faculty, staff, student and members of the CCU community have an opportunity to submit suggestions or requests for consideration via traditional forms of contact or using our automated “button” request generator on our homepage. Outreach to faculty includes occasional email messages announcing new arrivals and also direct requests for new materials. 

A monthly report is generated listing titles that have been requested through Prospector by both faculty and students.  A review of the titles informs the TSL of possible purchases.  The TSL’s role provides maintenance of the physical book and e-book collection as well as the purchasing of new resources.

Other methods and procedures are employed for the selection or procurement of materials by the TSL including the use of online tools.  One tool developed exclusively for our use is the “Suggest a Purchase” button previously mentioned.  Additionally, our vendors include, but are not limited to:

• Ingraham-Coutts
• EBSCO
• Springer
• ProQuest
• Salem Press
• Amazon
• Yankee Book Publishers

Some vendors provide subject-specific collections of electronic books as well as tools for online purchasing facilitated by approval plans and periodic notifications.  New title purchase notifications to the TSL have been filtered through a profile allowing for a more streamlined and partly vetted process. YBP’s GOBI and Ingraham-Coutts’ OASIS are tools currently in use. 

At this time, self-published books are generally not added to the collection.

School Accreditation

In order to be accredited by an outside agency several CCU schools have accrediting bodies which establish criteria for library resources for students.  Occasionally, CCU schools request reports detailing how library resources support their programs for their accreditation. For example, the National Accreditation of Music Schools (NASM), requires the presence and maintenance of a physical library in or in close proximity to a School of Music. Such a library was established inside the CCU School of Music center.  The Music library’s collection includes scores, music education resources, and audio-visual recordings in various formats.

Gifts/Donations

Gifts in Kind

To advance the instructional, learning, research, and spiritual mission of the University, the CCU Library is selective in accepting donated items. Accepting gifts requires significant resources and costs incurred in handling, processing, accessioning, cataloging, storing, conserving, preserving and providing access to contributed materials. For these reasons, the CCU Library does not accept periodicals, moldy, damaged materials or items which are in outdated formats and/or are already accessible from the CCU Library collection. The Library does not guarantee gifts will be added to the CCU Libraries collection.

Once donated, gifted items become the absolute and unconditional property of the University and will not be returned to the donor. Upon receipt, the CCU Library reserves the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations related to their use, maintenance, removal, or disposal. If unsolicited materials are mailed, dropped off or otherwise delivered, the CCU Library reserves the right to use or dispose of such materials in any manner it deems appropriate and without any obligation whatsoever to the person who donated the materials.

Electronic Gifts

At this time, we are not accepting donations of e-books. 

Gift Acknowledgment and Valuation

When donations are accepted, donors may receive a letter, signed by the University Library Director, acknowledging their gift if requested. This letter can be used to claim a tax deduction for charitable giving. Appraisals of gifts to the CCU Library for tax deduction purposes are the sole responsibility of the donor. The CCU Library does not appraise donated items. If you intend to claim a tax deduction for charitable giving, you should consult with a tax advisor regarding any applicable rules or conditions.

If you are interested in finding out more about making a donation to the CCU Library, contact Oliver Schulz, (303) 963-3257.  A list of offered materials is helpful before bringing or sending any gift materials to us, but not necessary.  Library faculty will review the list to determine whether the content is already available in the library and whether it supports the instructional, learning and research mission of the University. In rare occasions, the library staff may decline a donation due to a variety of reasons. 

Weeding (De-selection)

Maintenance of the collection includes the periodic culling of materials known as “weeding”.  The maintenance process is overseen by the TSL to ensure the collection stays current and relevant, providing adequate, factual, and credible material in an accessible format.  Weeding in both libraries uses traditional methods including weeding by librarians and by trained student staff and involves faculty participation providing hands-on deselection of “DUSTY” materials.  Additionally, the direct input from faculty familiarizes them with the collection as well as enhances our holdings using their direct input as to what new materials should be added and which require updating.  Materials to be weeded are subject to the following guidelines.

General criteria for weeding:

D=      Duplicates (2^nd copies)
U=      Ugly, in poor condition, worn beyond mending or rebinding
S=       Superseded by a new edition or by a superior book on the subject
T=       Trivial—no longer of literary or scientific merit and irrelevant to user
Y=       Year in question (“dated” materials or format)

The discarding of materials affords shelf space for newly acquired arrivals that may replace outdated formats.  A weeding schedule outlines a periodic review of the collection. Electronic collections/resources are subject to vendor contracts and are also reviewed.  

Library Committee

The Library Committee serves primarily as an advisory body for decisions and direction requiring outside perspective and support and meets as needed.  On the rare occasion that a title is challenged, the committee may meet, evaluate the material and recommend action.  The committee members are comprised of the librarians, selected faculty and administrative staff.

Challenges

A challenge can be initiated by contacting the library director. Challenges are initially reviewed by the Library Faculty who will evaluate the title using the guidelines established in the Collection Development Policy and may include the participation of the Vice President of Academic Affairs.  Ultimately the Library Committee may be convened.