Community Description
Mashpee, with a population of 14,006, occupies roughly 27 square miles on the southwest end of Cape Cod. Incorporated in 1870, the town has a rich cultural heritage. It is one of the few remaining homes of the Wampanoag Nation, the Native American tribe which met the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Mashpee is known for its natural beauty and conservation lands. It is home to over five miles of beaches and four of the largest fresh water ponds on Cape Cod. In the New England tradition, Town Meeting, aided by a Town Manager, elected boards, and volunteer committees governs Mashpee.
In 2010, a newly constructed Mashpee Public Library opened its doors in a 22,000 square foot building. This building replaced the existing Library, built in 1987. The Mashpee Public Library is a busy place and true community center. Our environmentally friendly, LEED certified building is a welcoming spot for Library users to stop in and browse. The Library circulated 185,514 items in FY 12, ranking 3rd in the CLAMS Library Network for circulation. Furthermore, a large percentage of our circulation is to non-residents from neighboring communities. This is attributable to our comfortable appealing building, convenient location, easy parking, availability of Internet access, and friendly service. According to the 2010 Census, the service population estimate is about 14,006. This number expands to nearly 30,000 during the busy summer months.
Mission Statement
The Mashpee Public Library promotes life-long learning, discovery, enrichment, and civic engagement through materials, technology, and experiences. By serving a diverse population, the Library facilitates access to information, the love of learning, and the building of community.
Adopted by the Mashpee Public Library Board of Trustees – September 11, 2012.
The appropriate selection of material is central to carrying out this mission.
Guiding Principles of Collection Development
Mashpee Public Library supports, and is supported by, the American Library Association`s Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, Freedom to View Statement, and Free Access to Libraries for Minors, which affirm that free and convenient access to ideas, information, and the creative experience is of vital importance to every citizen. These documents are guiding principles for this collection development policy.
The Library selects materials considering the work as a whole and does not exclude materials because of isolated passages. Staff will not automatically included or excluded an item based on the race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability, or political views of an author, frank or coarse language. In addition, the controversial content of an item, or the endorsement or disapproval of an individual or group in the community will not cause an item to be included or excluded from the collection.
Access to Library material shall not be restricted based on a Library user’s age, race, gender, income, sexual orientation, education, religion, national origin, or disability. Library material will not be marked or identified to show approval or disapproval of its contents.
Responsibility for choosing what an individual will read rests with the individual. Responsibility for the use of Library material by children and young adults rests with their parents or legal guardians. At no time will Library staff act in place of the parent or guardian. Selection of Library material will not be inhibited by the possibility that it may come into the possession of children.
Copyright Law
Mashpee Public Library abides by copyright law. Customers using Library material are responsible for the legal use of that material.
Scope of the Collection
The Library provides, within its financial limitations, a general collection of material on a wide range of topics of interest to the general public. The collection intends to meet the cultural, informational and recreational needs of all ages and to reflect the diversity of the population it serves. The Library recognizes that patrons have different learning styles and preferences for how they receive information. Material is purchased in a range of formats to meet the various accessibility needs of the community:
- Print – Hardcover, Paperback, and Large Print books, Magazines, Newspapers, and Graphic Novels.
- Non-Print – Audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, and Video Games.
- Digital Resources – Online databases, eBooks, and eAudiobooks.
- Recreational Materials – Children’s games, Toys, Puzzles, and Puppets.
- Reference Materials – The Library maintains a small collection of ready reference books consisting of non-circulating titles on a variety of topics.
- Cape Cod Collection – This collection consists of primarily circulating fiction and non-fiction titles about Cape Cod.
- Native American Collection – This collection consists of primarily circulating non-fiction books and audio visual materials on the history of Native Americans with special attention to the local Wampanoag Tribe.
The Library does not purchase textbooks to support educational curriculums. However, textbooks that provide the best or only source of information on a subject will be considered for the collection. Additionally they may be purchased to complement an existing area with another perspective.
Staff may purchase multiple copies of high-demand titles in order to satisfy customer needs.
The Library provides access to research databases provided by the CLAMS network, through the Massachusetts Library System (MLS), and through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). In addition, we subscribe directly to databases that support our mission and comply with our selection criteria. Due to the large expense associated with providing electronic resources, renewal will be assessed on an annual basis.
Material beyond the scope of the Library`s collection may be available through the CLAMS Consortium, statewide Virtual Catalog, and Interlibrary Loan.
Collection Selection Criteria
Professional librarians of the Mashpee Public Library are responsible for the selection of material. The Library encourages suggestions from patrons and staff and gives serious consideration to suggestions in the selection process. The final responsibility for selection rests with the Director, who administers under the authority of the Library Board of Trustees.
The Mashpee Public Library selects material that is of optimum use to the citizens of our community. Because of budget limitations and space constraints, the Library must be selective. Enlarging the scope of the collection to reflect expanding fields of knowledge and to emphasize those areas of greatest community interest is the Library’s goal.
The Library recognizes the importance of having a variety of topics and viewpoints available, realizing that a resource which might offend one person may be considered meaningful by another. The addition of material to the Library does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of its content. It assures representation of a variety of differing points of view. Selection of Library material is not influenced by the liability of material to theft or mutilation.
The Mashpee Public Library bases its selection on criteria developed by its professional staff and on criteria generally recognized in the public Library field. A resource which does not meet the standards for its type may still be selected. The Library considers if it presents a point of view not otherwise represented in the collection or if community demand justifies purchase or access.
Criteria include one or more of the following:
- Community need and interest
- Subject matter and the scope of the material
- Reputation and authority of the author and publisher
- Literary merit as indicated by professional review sources
- Timeliness of the material
- Accuracy of the material
- Suitability of format to Library purposes
- Quality of technical production
- Cost of the material and shelving limitations
- Availability of the material elsewhere
- Balance of viewpoints
- Popularity of an author
The Library Director, Reference/Adult Services Librarian, and Youth Services Librarians read reviews in professional journals and consult publishers’ catalogs as well as other review sources to aid in selection of material. An attempt is made to include material by Mashpee and Cape Cod authors that meet the criteria stated above.
Collection Maintenance
The Library maintains an attractive, up-to-date collection through continual evaluation of material. The process and decision to remove an item follows the same criteria as when the item was first selected for inclusion in the collection. In addition, the Library considers criteria such as obsolete information, insufficient use, excessive wear and tear, space availability and changing customer interests are considered. Staff may review duplicate copies and items superseded by newer editions for possible removal.
The Library may sell discarded material as surplus property for fund-raising purposes and to benefit the Library.
Gift Material
The Library welcomes gift material in accordance with the Library Gift Policy. The Library accepts gifts with the understanding that they become the property of the Library and can be retained or disposed of at their discretion. Items added to the collection are judged according to the same criteria as new material. The Library can provide a receipt for tax purposes stating the number and type of items donated but cannot assign a monetary value to them.
Gifts of large collections will receive careful study. The Library must consider the implications of cost, maintenance and growth before acceptance.
Memorials, Bequests, and Trusts
The Library welcomes gifts, trusts, or bequests for the purchase of every type of Library material. An appropriate bookplate will identify the donor and organization or person for whom the donation was made.
Reconsideration of Library Material
The Library will re-evaluate the selection or placement of a specific item in its collection upon submission of a properly completed Request for Reconsideration of Library Material form. These forms are available at the First Floor Public Service Desk. Cardholders who are residents of the Library’s legal service area and who have read, viewed, or listened to the material in its entirety may submit a form.
For reconsideration and requested action, patrons must complete forms in their entirety, including the date, and the cardholder’s name, address, phone number, Library card number, signature, and rationale.
The appropriate Librarian, in consultation with the Director, makes the initial decision regarding the item’s disposition. The Librarian’s decision may be appealed to the Director. In such cases the Director, in consultation with professional librarians, makes a decision regarding the item’s disposition. The Director’s decision may be appealed to the Library Board of Trustees, whose decision is final and binding. However, material will remain in circulation during the reconsideration process.
Future requests for reviewing the same item will be addressed only if the grounds for reconsideration are substantially different from previous requests.
Procedure:
1. Deliver forms, as appropriate, to the Library Director.
2. Within two weeks, the Librarian in consultation with the Director will make an initial assessment of the request and contact the cardholder in writing.
3. Cardholders not satisfied with the Librarian’s decision, may appeal in writing to the Director within two weeks. In such cases, the Director reviews the request.
The Director will:
- Read, watch, or listen to the item in question in its entirety;
- Read reviews of the item from authoritative review sources;
- Judge the overall merit of the item based on its entirety rather than individual parts, passages or excerpts;Prepare a report with a recommendation regarding the item’s disposition;
- Deliver the final report.
4. The Director will make a decision on the disposition of the item in question, and will inform the cardholder in writing within thirty days.
5. The cardholders may may appeal in writing to the Library Board of Trustees within two weeks if unsatisfied with the Director’s decision.
By the date of the second regularly scheduled meeting following its receipt of the appeal, the Board of Trustees will:
- Consider the rationale used by the Librarian and the Director in reaching their decisions;
- Read, watch, or listen to the item in question in its entirety;
- Read reviews of the item from authoritative review sources;
- Judge the overall merit of the item based on its entirety rather than individual parts, passages or excerpts;
- Apply the Library’s selection criteria to the item;
- Meet to discuss and prepare a report of its recommendations regarding the item’s disposition.
6. Within two weeks the Board will notify the cardholder and the Director in writing of its decision regarding the item’s disposition.
Appendix
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 that 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.
Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.
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 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.
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 variety 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 until 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 strengthened 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.
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping 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 librarians 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 inhibit 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 responsibility 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 whenever 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 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 which 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 originally 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
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
Free Access to Libraries for Minors
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.
Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states, “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.” The “right to use a library” includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and facilities the library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources, based solely on the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation of users violates Article V.
Libraries are charged with the mission of developing resources to meet the diverse information needs and interests of the communities they serve. Services, materials, and facilities that fulfill the needs and interests of library users at different stages in their personal development are a necessary part of library resources. The needs and interests of each library user, and resources appropriate to meet those needs and interests, must be determined on an individual basis. Librarians cannot predict what resources will best fulfill the needs and interests of any individual user based on a single criterion such as chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation.
Libraries should not limit the selection and development of library resources simply because minors will have access to them. Institutional self-censorship diminishes the credibility of the library in the community, and restricts access for all library users.
Children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights, including the right to receive information in the library. Constitutionally protected speech cannot be suppressed solely to protect children or young adults from ideas or images a legislative body believes to be unsuitable for them. 1 Librarians and library governing bodies should not resort to age restrictions in an effort to avoid actual or anticipated objections, because only a court of law can determine whether material is not constitutionally protected.
The mission, goals, and objectives of libraries cannot authorize librarians or library governing bodies to assume, abrogate, or overrule the rights and responsibilities of parents. As “Libraries: An American Value” states, “We affirm the responsibility and the right of all parents and guardians to guide their own children’s use of the library and its resources and services.” Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents — and only parents — have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children — and only their children — to library resources. Parents who do not want their children to have access to certain library services, materials, or facilities should so advise their children. Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child.
Lack of access to information can be harmful to minors. Librarians and library governing bodies have a public and professional obligation to ensure that all members of the community they serve have free, equal, and equitable access to the entire range of library resources regardless of content, approach, format, or amount of detail. This principle of library service applies equally to all users, minors as well as adults. Librarians and library governing bodies must uphold this principle in order to provide adequate and effective service to minors.
1 See Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 U.S. 205 (1975) -“Speech that is neither obscene as to youths nor subject to some other legitimate proscription cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable [422 U.S. 205, 214] for them. In most circumstances, the values protected by the First Amendment are no less applicable when government seeks to control the flow of information to minors. See Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist., supra. Cf. West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).”
Adopted June 30, 1972, by the ALA Council; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991, June 30, 2004.
Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials
If you have found library materials about which you have concerns, please complete this form below: