Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials
Statement
Be advised that the New Providence Memorial Library Board of Trustees unanimously passed Resolution 2023-9 on September 19, 2023 that the Library will not ban books.
The library seeks to provide a collection of materials which it believes will be of interest and of use to the entire community. The community includes a variety of ages, races, cultures, and ethnicities. Members of the community have different interests and different religious and political beliefs. Within the library’s budget, we strive to obtain a variety of materials that will be utilized by our community.
The library’s professional staff relies on their education, experience, reviews, knowledge of the collection and knowledge of the community to make decisions about purchases. As stated in the library’s Collection Development Policy, all materials are reviewed periodically for their interest and use to the community.
Occasionally, a library patron will question the inclusion of a particular item in the collection and may request that the library reconsider that item. This policy and the accompanying form detail how such reconsideration may take place. Any patron wanting to initiate a materials review must sign off that they have read/watched/listened to the item in question in its entirety. During the process of reconsideration, the item or program in question shall remain in the collection or continue to be offered to the community. The New Providence Memorial Library adheres to the principles of intellectual freedom, adopted by the American Library Association, as expressed in the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read and Freedom to View statements.
Procedure
- A library patron who wishes to have the library reconsider an item will fill out the Request for Reconsideration Form and submit it to the Director.
- Within two weeks of receipt of the form, the library director will collect at least three published reviews of the item.
- Within three weeks of receipt of the form, the library director will read/view/listen to the material and write an analysis of the item.
- Within four weeks of receipt of the form, copies of the item, published reviews, and the analysis will be forwarded to the Collection Review Committee of the library board of trustees with a recommendation.
- The Committee will read/view/listen to all of the materials, discuss the item under consideration, and meet with the patron asking for reconsideration within one month after receiving the materials.
- The Committee will recommend to the board at its next regular meeting its decision.
- The library director will communicate the decision of the board to the patron within two business days of the meeting.
Revised May 18, 2004; revised November 21, 2023