Agenda Item A.7
CPMS CONSENT CALENDAR
Meeting Date: July 15, 2025
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
SUBMITTED BY: JoAnne Plummer, Neighborhood Services Director PREPARED BY: Elizabeth Saucedo, City Librarian
SUBJECT: Update to the Collection Development Policy for the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve an update to the existing Collection Development Policy for the Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries for compliance with current State legislation.
BACKGROUND:
The Collection Development Policy was adopted by City Council in June 2018 when Goleta Valley Library transitioned to an independent library system managed by the City of Goleta.
As part of routine policy review, the Collection Development Policy was updated in July 2024 to include current forms and terminology, in alignment with similar policy revisions presented to the Library Advisory Commission for input.
In September 2024, the California Freedom to Read Act (California State Law Assembly Bill No. 1825) was passed. This bill (AB 1825) requires every public library jurisdiction that directly receives state funding to establish, adopt, and maintain a written and publicly accessible collection development policy for its libraries , and to submit the policy to the State Librarian by January 1, 2026. Additionally, AB 1825 requires specific statements of acknowledgement to be included in all public library collection development policies.
DISCUSSION:
The Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy has been updated to include the language required by California State Law (see highlighted areas in Attachment 1) . It has been shared in draft form with the California State Library ’s collection development policy review team, who provided confirmation that i f it were approved as-is and made publicly available, it would meet the requirements of the California Freedom to Read Act.
1 Meeting Date: July 15, 2025
FISCAL IMPACTS:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the approval of this item.
ALTERNATIVES:
As updating the Collection Development Policy ensures legal compliance, an alternative could not be identified. Further, compliance with these policy update requirements maintains the City’s eligibility for state funded projects and initiatives, including the Building Forward and Zip Books grants; therefore, a decision not to approve and submit this item to the California State Library by the end of calendar year 2025 would risk significant loss of grant funding.
LEGAL REVIEW BY: Isaac Rosen, City Attorney
APPROVED BY: Robert Nisbet, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Proposed Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy 2 Attachment 1
Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Dev elopment Policy 3 City of Goleta
Neighborhood Services Department
Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries
Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Policy Name:
Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy
Policy No.:
GVL-007
Date Adopted:
June 5, 2018
Date Revised:
July 16, 2024
Adopted/Revised by:
City Council
Published Location:
https://www.goletavalleylibrary.org/about/policies/policies-forms
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of the Collection Development Policy is to provide guidance within budgetary and space limitations for the evaluation, selection , and de-selection of materials which will anticipate and meet the needs of County Zone 4 and its patrons.
SCOPE OF THE COLLECTION
The Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries (Library) collection is developed and maintained to meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of the residents of the City of Goleta and its neighboring Zone 4 communities in various formats, including non - English, audiovisual, online, and large print. The Library endorses the Library Bill of Rights, Freedom to Read, and Freedom to View Statements as adopted by the American Library Association (see attachments).
Further, California State Law, AB 1825 - California Freedom to Read Act passing in 2024, requires the following statements to be included in all public library collection development policies:
1. The collection meets the broad and diverse interests of the community and respects both the library’s autonomy and their specific community needs.
2. The public library serves as a center for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas.
3. Library materials should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people, and should present diverse po ints of view in the collection as a whole.
4. The right of the public to receive access to a range of social, political, aesthetic, moral, and other ideas and experiences is acknowledged.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR COLLECTION MANAGEMENT
Ultimate responsibility for collection management rests with the City Librarian, who operates within the framework of policies determined by the City Council. City employees under the general supervision of the City Librarian manage the Library collection. 4 City of Goleta
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
SELECTION PROCESS
Materials are selected for the Library ’s collection based on professionally accepted guidelines. The collection is developed to provide materials that offer a wide variety of views suitable for all ages and abilities. It is the responsibility of parents or legal guardians to decide what material is appropriate for their children.
All acquisitions, whether purchased or donated, are evaluated by the following criteria:
Patron demand
Favorable reviews in professional library journals
Positive attention by critics and reviewers
Accuracy
Reputation of author, publisher, producer or illustrator Cost and availability
Relationship to existing material
Format and ease of use
Inclusion in lists of recommended titles and/or award winners
Requests for purchase by the public are given serious consideration and evaluated based on the guidelines for selection as outlined in this policy.
Space and budget constraints prohibit the Library from duplicating materials and specialized collections that are available elsewhere l ocally. Materials not owned by the Library may be available through interlibrary loan.
PRINT MATERIALS
Nonfiction Criteria. The Library acquires materials of both permanent and current interest in all subjects. In addition to the general selection criteria, nonfiction titles are selected based on sustaining value, current information, demand, cost, and appropriateness of format. Goleta Valley Library emphasizes non -scholarly materials.
Materials for children are selected to generate and support inte rest in popular subjects and provide supplemental materials for typical school assignments.
Fiction Criteria. The Library's fiction collection includes a wide variety of contemporary works representing all genres, as well as classics and important novels of the past. An effort is made to purchase in multiple fiction genres including mysteries, science fiction, graphic novels, fantasy, westerns, and romances. Reasonable efforts are made to complete series and purchase books written by local authors or that have local interest.
The collection for teens includes all of the above genres and is generally for ages 12 – 18+. The children's fiction collection includes materials designed to initiate, encourage 5 City of Goleta
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
and develop reading ability. In addition to the general selection criteria, fiction is selected based on favorable published reviews, popular demand, reputation of the author and publisher and appropriateness for Library patrons.
Periodicals. Periodicals are collected in print format. Periodicals are selected based on reviews and local interest. Periodicals may be available in downloadable format through the Black Gold Cooperative Library System.
Reference. Reference materials provide quick, concise and up to date information and include indexes, encyclopedias, biographical resources, dictionaries, almanacs, and directories. Selection of reference materials is based on favorable published reviews, reputation of author or publisher, accuracy and currency of information, and cost (including the cost to maintain items requiring frequent updates). Increasingly, these materials are most up to date in online format, so the physical collection has decreased in size.
NON-PRINT MATERIALS
DVDs. The Library collection includes DVDs for both educational and recreational use.
The criteria for selecting DVDs include patron demand, favorable reviews in standard library reviewing journals, cost, and nationally recognized award winners. The Library also purchases a portion of titles in Blu-ray format.
Audiobooks. The Library provides fiction and nonfiction titles in audiobook format that parallel the print collection. Narrators are also taken into consideration when selecting audiobooks. Audiobooks are purchased in standard compact disc format for adults, teens and children. Unabridged formats are the only ones purchased. Some children ’s audiovisual formats are in mp3 or CD format with the inclusion of the accompanying book.
Recorded Music. The Library selects music compact discs in a variety of genres. In addition to the general selection criteria, historical significance and enduring popularity are taken into consideration when selecting recorded music.
Library of Things. This collection of 3 -dimensional objects includes a wide variety of items such as virtual reality goggles, cake pans, robots for children to code, technology for adults to test, Home Energy Savings Kits, and much more. Selection of these items is primarily done through research into other library systems ’ Library of Things collections and a de termination of the most popular items. Although at this time there is no professional review source for Library of Things collections, Consumer Reports is a reliable and credible source of reviews and is used as a guide for purchase.
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Online Resources. The Library subscribes to online databases on a variety of subjects to supplement its print collection. Selection criteria for these databases is dependent primarily on patron demand for the subject, cost, vendor reputation, and the database ’s ability to sup plement heavily-used or less robust areas of the collection. Selection for some of these items is shared by members of the Black Gold Cooperative Library System.
E-Library. The Black Gold Cooperative Library System pools its resources each year to purchase eBooks and eAudiobooks for the Overdrive collections. The Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries also purchase additional eBook and eAudiobook materials through a locally funded Overdrive Advantage account to increase access to digital content.
Selection criteria is based on patron requests, popularity, positive reviews, currency of information, cost, and many of the same qualifications used for purchasing physical materials. The library also provides digital access to eBooks, eAudiobooks, and music via Hoopla and access to films, documentaries, and television shows via Kanopy.
COLLECTION MAINTENANCE
Examination of materials is an ongoing process. Materials determined to no longer be of value are withdrawn from the collection. Materials are withdrawn f rom the collection due to a variety of reasons including space limitations, accuracy of information, physical condition, lack of circulation, duplicate titles, and lack of interest or demand. Gifts, including memorial items, are subject to these withdrawal and replacement policies.
REPLACEMENTS
The Library does not automatically replace all items withdrawn because of loss, damage or wear. Need for replacement is weighed with regard to several factors, including number of duplicate copies, availability o f better or newer materials on the subject, and demand for the item.
STATEMENTS OF CONCERN
The Library collection includes materials that represent a variety of viewpoints; it does not endorse particular beliefs or views. Selection of a particular item does not imply an endorsement of the viewpoint expressed by the author.
An individual who disagrees with a selection decision may request the Library relocate or withdraw an item from the collection by submitting a written Statement of Concern Form available via the Library website. Anyone submitting a Statement of Concern For m must have active Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries card showing usage at least six months prior to the request. The City Librarian and collection development staff will review the request in relation to the selection criteria and this collection development policy. Once 7 City of Goleta
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
a decision is made, the individual will be notified of the decision in writing. If a title has been reviewed and the determination is made to keep it in the collection, it will not be reconsidered for the next five years.
GIFTS
Gifts will be evaluated in the same way as purchased materials and will only be added to the collection if they meet the selection criteria. The Library accepts only unconditional gifts. Gifts become the property of the Library upon receipt and with the unde rstanding that the Library may make use of the gift in any way deemed appropriate. For further information on gifts, please refer to City of Goleta’s Gift Policy.
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Attachment 1: American Library Association Library Bill of Rights
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
VII. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.
Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; January 29, 2019.
Inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.
Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices. See the documents designated by the Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Attachment 2: ALA - The Freedom to Read Statement
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the f reedom to read.
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in scho ols, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppressi on are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy:
that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.
These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet.
The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.
Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference. 10 City of Goleta
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range and va riety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.
The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.
We therefore affirm these propositions:
1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.
Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel unt il that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthene d by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process.
Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helpin g to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librar ians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to i nhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
To some, much of modern expression is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters values differ, and values cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised that will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.
6. It is the respons ibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people's freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whene ver it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.
It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide 12 City of Goleta
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with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive. Further, democratic societies are more safe, free, and creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by governmental prerogative or self-censorship.
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a "bad" book is a good one, the answer to a "bad" idea is a good one.
The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader's purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by whic h the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all Americans the fullest of their support.
We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free.
We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.
This statement was origi nally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.
Adopted June 25, 1953, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004.
A Joint Statement by:
American Library Association
Association of American Publishers
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Subsequently endorsed by:
American Booksellers for Free Expression
The Association of American University Presses
The Children's Book Council
Freedom to Read Foundation
National Association of College Stores
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Council of Teachers of English
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
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Policy No. GVL-007: Goleta & Santa Ynez Valley Libraries Collection Development Policy Adopted/Revised: July 16, 2024
Attachment 3: ALA - The Freedom to View Statement
The freedom to view, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In a free society, there is no place for censorship of any medium of expression. Therefore these principles are affirmed:
1. To provide the broadest access to film, video, and other audiovisual materials because they are a means for the communication of ideas. Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.
2. To protect the confidentiality of all individuals and institutions using film, video, and other audiovisual materials.
3. To provide film, video, and other audiovisual materials which represent a diversity of views and expression. Selection of a work does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content.
4. To provide a diversity of viewpoints without the constraint of labeling or prejudging film, video, or other audiovisual materials on the basis of the moral, religious, or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker or on the basis of controversial content.
5. To contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public's freedom to view.
This statement was originally drafted by the Freedom to View Committee of the American Film and Video Association (formerly the Educational Film Library Association) and was adopted by the AFVA Board of Directors in February 1979. This statement was updated and approved by the AFVA Board of Directors in 1989.
Endorsed January 10, 1990, by the ALA Council
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