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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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Collaborative effort picks library books
Question: Why does the Ewa Beach Public School and Community Library have a dozen L. Ron Hubbard books on its "New Books" shelves? This has been going on for several months. These are not new books by the Scientology founder. Is someone using a public facility to promote his quasi cult-religion?
Answer: The books were gifts to the library and have since been moved into the regular library collection.
"They were new and in mint condition and thus added to our collection," according to Caroline Coleman, branch manager of the Ewa Beach Public and School Library. But she said it "may have been an oversight" by staff that kept the books on the "New Books" shelves.
Coleman said her library "does not promote any one viewpoint. ... We provide equal access to all forms of information."
We asked Paul Mark, spokesman for the Hawaii State Public Library System, to explain how books were selected for public libraries.
By law, public service librarians have "sole authority" to select books and other resources to be purchased for their respective branch libraries. The branch library manager then has the final overall authority to approve all selections of books and other resources made for the branch.
(A "public service librarian" could be the branch library manager, any librarian who works regularly with library customers or any library technician assigned by the state librarian to select books. A "branch librarian" is the person responsible for the overall administration of a public library.)
However, Mark said books have to be selected following the Collection Development Policy, set by the state Board of Education.
Each library also has the authority to decide which donated books will be accepted, again based on the Collection Development Policy, he said.
"In some cases a library may forward the gift to another library should it be deemed more suitable for that library's collection," Mark said. "Gift donations are subject to the same selection criteria which are applied to library materials that are purchased."
The Board of Education's Collection Development Policy says, "Selectors in each library consider both the needs of the community, and the content and scope of materials in the collection. The library system serves a public embracing a wide range of ages, education and cultural backgrounds. Selectors choose materials in accordance with law on a range of subjects and intellectual levels in various languages and formats."
The policy also says selectors at public and school libraries "are responsible for a collection which meets the day-to-day needs of its users."
On top of that, librarians at regional libraries are responsible for a collection that provides supplemental materials for use within its region, while collections at the Hawaii State Library -- a "large metropolitan library" -- should also "serve as a resource of in-depth materials for public libraries."
Got a question or complaint? Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered. E-mail to
kokualine@starbulletin.com.
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