Book / Material Selection

Responsibility for Selection & Maintenance of the Collection

The selection and maintenance of the library’s collection lies administratively with the Library Director, who delegates to appropriately trained and skilled staff members.

The Chesterfield County Public Library manages the selection of materials through a coordinated system of shared responsibility among a specially trained selection team. Selectors make choices based on a thorough knowledge of community interests, needs and current library holdings.

Selection Criteria

Selectors use their subject knowledge and expertise in combination with the standards listed below to select and evaluate materials for the collection. Gifts and purchases are selected for the collection using the same criteria.

  • Significance and/or usefulness to the community
  • Evaluation presented by critical reviews
  • Comprehensiveness and depth of treatment: clarity, accuracy, objectivity, and organization of information
  • Reputation and authority of author, artist, producer or publisher
  • The contribution the work makes to a diversity of viewpoints
  • Currency or timeliness of information
  • Production quality and suitability of physical format for library use, including issues related to durability and possible obsolescence of format
  • Relationship to existing material in the collection
  • Cost and availability
  • Popular demand as related to above criteria

In addition, electronic materials are also subject to the following selection criteria:

  • Accessibility, both in the library and remotely
  • Quality of access relating to product’s ease of use and availability of online help
  • Currency and frequency of product maintenance and updating

Suggestions for Purchase


Please complete the Suggest Materials for Purchase form.

The library encourages input from the community concerning the collection. A suggestion for purchase may be made online or in person. All suggestions are subject to the same selection criteria as other materials and are not automatically added to the collection.