ABSTRACT
When most people think of libraries, they think of the collections of books and other materials that comprise a library. The collection is the central point of the institution. Employees and services exist to build, maintain, and provide access to the collection. Librarians have always used various methods to maintain control of these collections. One of the most important means for doing so has been the collection development policy. Whether existing as a formal and public statement or as a vague set of rules in the back of a librarian’s mind, the collection development policy has offered librarians a set of directions for regulating the content of their libraries. One major issue facing libraries is whether there ought to be a formal policy statement for collection development at all, what it ought to say, and how it should be publicized.
