Coll. Dev. Policy Table of Contents Copyright Statement Introduction Policies Selection Process Collection Evaluation Adult 000 - Computers Adult 100 - Psychology, Philosophy Adult 200 - Religion Adult 300 - Social Sciences Adult 400 - Language Adult 500 - Pure Sciences Adult 600 - Applied Sciences Adult 700 - Arts, Recreation Adult 800 - Literature Adult 900 - History, Geography Adult - Biography Adult - Fiction Adult - Mysteries Adult - Science Fiction Adult - Young Adult Adult - Videos Adult - Ref. CD-ROMs Adult - Circ CD-ROMs Adult - Popular Recordings Adult - Classical Recordings Adult - Spoken Recordings Adult - Reference Adult - Online Databases Adult - WWW Sites Adult - Large Type Adult - Paperbacks Adult - Govt. Documents Adult - Local History Adult - Periodicals Adult - Literacy Adult - Foreign Lang. Adult - Phone Books Adult - College Catalog Adult - Pamphlets Juv. - Non-Fiction Juv. - Easy Reader Non-Fic. Juv. - Fiction Juv. - Easy Fiction Juv. - Easy Reader Fiction Juv. - Picture Books Juv. - Paperbacks Juv. - Sound Recordings Juv. - Spoken Recordings Juv. - Reference Juv. - Periodicals

Religion (200-299)

The religion collection is an overview of topics of interest to the general public, including such topics as theology; concepts of God; good and evil; immortality and evolution; biblical studies; Christian theology, history, and doctrine; moral and devotional literature; and titles on comparative religion and religions other than Christianity. At present, the collection is strongly Christian and Jewish in content.

Influencing Factors

A significant influx of East and South Asian immigrants indicates the need to build collections oriented to Buddhist, Islamic and Hindu traditions. The prominence of an author in the area of Christian moral theology is of prime importance in the selection of materials from reviews in the standard sources. Christianity and its response to socioeconomic phenomena and problems are of constant interest to religious readers. Media reporting of current events can have a strong influence on selection.

280-289
A strong influence is the denominational representation in Morton Grove: Roman Catholic, United Church of Christ, Wisconsin Synod Lutheran, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Another factor is patron interest, regardless of denominational affiliation or lack thereof. For example, there is a continuing interest in the Mormon faith. There is a similar interest in cults.

290-299
Morton Grove has a substantial but declining Jewish population. The Library has collected virtually anything well-reviewed on Judaism and the Jews as an ethnic group. In recent years, there has been an influx of immigration from East Asia and South Asia to Morton Grove. The newly established Muslim school donated a basic collection of books on Islam. A few titles on religion in Korea were obtained with funds from a state grant.

Using Reader's Advisor and Books in Print, the Library should augment its present collections in Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism with materials of interest to lay readers and relevant to current social issues. Attention should also be given to religious best seller lists, such as those found in Publishers Weekly. All religions and denominations are represented as fairly as possible, but sectarian materials of a proselytizing nature may be excluded in favor of unbiased, informative presentations.

290-299
The Library should focus on selection of titles on Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and the other religions of South and East Asia -- Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Confucianism; perhaps titles on the faiths, as practiced in the countries of interest, i.e. Islam in India and Buddhism in Korea, could be acquired if patron interest should so indicate.

Condition of the book determines to a great extent its retention. The 200s are a more stable area with regard to retention and weeding than are many other areas. Classic works, histories and sacred texts of major religions, and important commentaries are retained. Books in poor condition and titles of an ephemeral nature must be withdrawn on annual cycle to maintain space for newer titles.

Some modest retrospective buying is needed to represent the traditions of immigrant residents and to fill noticeable gaps, i.e., biographies of prominent church founders; however, the collection should remain fairly stable in size.

290-299
Concentration should be on popularly written or layperson-accessible titles of potential interest to practioners of non-Christian faiths and to interested other parties.

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First published on the Web: 1/26/98
Last updated: 10/17/2006, 3:07 PM