Policies of the Gonzales Public Library

I. POLICY FOR CHECKING OUT BOOKS

A. Books may be checked out for a period of two (2) weeks. A total of 3 books/magazines/audiotapes may be checked out per patron. A total of 2 videos per household may be checked out. They may be re-checked once if there is not a great demand for such book. Books may be re-checked in person or by telephone.

B. A fine of .10 cents per day shall be required on all adult overdue books/magazines/audiotapes; only regular library days shall be included in the amount of days overdue. There shall be a maximum fine of $1.00 per book if the book is returned in good condition.

C. A fine of .05 cents per day shall be required on all juvenile overdue books; only regular library days shall be included in the amount of days overdue. There shall be a maximum fine of .50 cents per book if the book is returned in good condition.

D. Projectors may be checked out for a period of one (1) day. They may be rechecked once in person or by telephone. A fine of $1.00 per day shall be required on all overdue projectors with no maximum fine.

E. Videos may be checked out for a period of one (1) day. They may be rechecked once in person or by telephone. A fine of $1.00 per day shall be required on all overdue videos with no maximum fine.

F. The library user may check out a maximum of three library items at a time. Subsequent check-outs are dependent on the return of all or part items previously issued so that he or she never has more than three items in his or her possession at any one time. VHS tapes are counted separately. Library policy permits two per household.

G. No person with overdue items shall be permitted to check out additional materials.

II. THE GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE GONZALES PUBLIC LIBRARY SHALL BE:

A. To assemble, preserve and administer in organized collections, books and related educational and recreational material in order to promote through guidance and stimulation the communication of ideas, an enlightened citizenship and enriched personal lives.

B. To serve the community as a center of reliable information.

C. To provide a place where inquiring minds may encounter the original, sometimes unorthodox and critical ideas so necessary as correctives and stimulants in a society that depends for its survival on free competition in ideas.

D. To support educational, civic, and cultural activities of groups and organizations.

E. To provide opportunity and encouragement for children, young people, men and women to educate themselves continuously.

F. To seek continually to identify community needs, to provide programs of service to meet such needs, and to cooperate with other organizations, agencies, and institutions which can provide programs of service to meet community needs.

G. To provide opportunity for recreation through the use of literature, music, films and other art forms. 

H. To support the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement. 

I. To stimulate learning as a lifelong activity and to increase the visibility of the Library within the community, by offering free educational programs of public interest.

J. To provide an effective formal planning process and to conduct informal reviews of the library’s effectiveness in the community.

III. WHO MAY USE THE LIBRARY

A. The library will serve all residents of the community. Service will not be denied or abridged because of religious, racial, social, economic, or political status. Persons residing outside the geographical area but owning property or attending an educational institution in the area shall be considered residents. Persons residing within the geographical area of Gonzales County shall be considered residents. Residents of DeWitt and Lavaca Counties who already hold library cards and are in good standing will be allowed to continue their usage without fees.

B. Residents of other surrounding counties may pay a borrowers non-refundable fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) to be renewed annually to obtain same privileges as above.

C. The use of the library or its service shall be limited when excessive demands of groups or individuals tend to curtail service to the general public. Such demands may include those made by students, puzzle contestants, and other whose demands for staff time, available materials, or space would prohibit attention and service to other individuals or groups.

D. The use of the library or its services may be denied for due cause. Such cause may be failure to return books or to pay penalties, destruction of library property, disturbance of other patrons, or any other objectionable conduct on library premises.

IV. SERVICES OF THE LIBRARY

A. The library will select from the mass of available materials, and organize for easy access, those books and materials, which best meet the needs of the community.

B. The library staff will provide guidance and assistance for people to obtain the information they seek as recorded in print and audio-visual resources.

C. The library will provide information and materials to help people to:

1. Equip themselves for efficient activities in useful occupations and practical affairs, including vocational information, parent and home education, child care, nutrition, physical health, emotional stability and growth, budgeting and consumer information and specialized business, industrial and agricultural information.

2. Increase their competence to form sound judgements on public problem and to encourage them to express their opinions and to act according to their judgement.

3. Increase their understanding and appreciation of literature, the arts, sciences, and the political and natural world.

4. Promote personal and social well being and develop creative and spiritual capacities.

D. The library will initiate programs, exhibits, book lists, etc., to stimulate the use of library materials for the enlightenment of people of all ages.

E. The library will cooperate with other community agencies and organizations to determine and meet the educational needs of the community and help them with their programs through such services as special materials and exhibits.

F. The library accepts a responsibility for securing information beyond its own resources by:

1. Collecting information about, and listing for referral, resources of agencies, institutions, organizations, and individuals in and beyond the community.

2. Borrowing for patrons with serious interests’ materials which are not owned by the library and which cannot be purchased or materials for which the demand does not justify purchase.

G. The library will lend to GISD materials which are requested for patrons with serious interest and which are not available in the school library. Patrons of this library have a priority in the use of materials.

H. The library will endeavor to maintain a balance in its services to men, women, young people, and children. The public library will cooperate with, but cannot perform the functions of school or other institutional libraries, which are designed to meet curricular needs.

I. Library services will be provided during the hours which best meet the needs of the community.

J. Periodic review will be made of library services to determine whether the needs of the community indicate the present services should be discontinued or other services should be added.

K. The library will maintain an up-to-date computer card catalogue, which provides easy reference for patrons, using the current edition of Dewey for classification.

L. The library will arrange and display materials so that the patrons may easily find their selections.

V. LIBRARY MATERIALS

A. The library will provide any material, which helps to meet its objectives. Materials may include books, periodicals, pamphlets, newspapers, pictures, videos, maps, recordings, reference materials, and microfilm.

B. Materials acquired will meet high standards of quality in content, expression, and microfilm.

C. The library will keep itself informed of other publicly available resources of books and other materials in the area to avoid unnecessary duplication.

D. The library will not attempt to furnish materials needed for formal courses of study offered by elementary and secondary schools and by institutions of higher learning. The public library has materials for self-study, but is not primarily designed to furnish reading required for academic study.

E. All materials will be lent for home use under library regulations and procedures, except those which are in special demand, cannot be duplicated, or are rare or fragile items.

F. Books or library material selection is and shall be vested in the Library Director, and under his/her direction, such members of the staff who are qualified by education or training. Any book or library material so selected shall be held to have been selected by the board.

G. The library subscribes to the Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association, which affirms its belief in the following basic policies:

1. As a responsibility of library service, books and other reading matter selected should be chosen for values of interest, information and enlightenment of all the people of the community. In no case should any book be excluded because of the race or nationality, or the political or religious views of the writer.

2. There should be the fullest practicable provisions of material presenting all points of view concerning the problems and issues of our times (international, national, and local), and books or other reading matter of sound factual authority, which should not be proscribed or removed from library shelves because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

3. Censorship of books, urged or practiced by volunteer arbiters of mortal or political opinion or by organizations which would establish a coercive concept of Americanism, must be challenged by libraries in maintenance of their responsibility to provide public information and enlightenment through the recorded word.

4. Libraries should enlist the cooperation of allied groups in the field of science, of education, and of book publishing in resisting all abridgement of the free access to ideas and full freedom of expression that are the tradition and heritage of Americans.

5. As an institution of education for democratic living, the library should welcome the use of its facilities for socially useful and cultural activities and discussion of current public questions. Such facilities should be available on equal terms to all groups in the community regardless of the beliefs and affiliations of their members, contingent upon the development and availability of such facilities.

H. The library also subscribes to the Freedom to Read statement prepared by the American Library Association and the American Book Publisher’s Council.

I. Materials, which are no longer useful in the light of the stated objectives of the library, will be systematically weeded from the collection according to the accepted professional practices. Such materials will be destroyed. The library will not be guilty of lowering the standards of institutional and individual collections by giving away soiled, damaged, mediocre, or obsolete materials.

VI. COOPERATION WITH OTHER LIBRARIES

A. The Library Board recognizes that no single library can meet all demands in its community. Libraries in different political subdivisions working together, sharing their services and resources, can meet more nearly the full needs of their users.

B. The Library Board and the Library Director will be alert to opportunities of cooperation with other libraries to strengthen the services and resources of the library.

VII. PHYSICAL FACILITIES

A. To achieve the goal of good library service the Library Board accepts the responsibility to see that public library building facilities are provided which will adequately meet the physical requirements of modern, progressive library service. Such facilities will offer to the community a compelling invitation to enter, read, look, listen and learn. Each building or bookmobile will fit an expanding program of library service.

B. The library’s site shall be readily accessible to all residents and will have no barriers, which would restrict the very young, elderly or handicapped.

C. The Library Board will recommend acquisition of sites and/or new buildings only after a service program has been adopted and the Library Director or consulting librarian has prepared a written outline of the community’s library building needs.

D. The Library Board accepts the responsibility to assist in securing the funds for needed facilities.

E. The Library Director, architect and the Library Board as a planning team, with the assistance of consultants, will endeavor to plan facilities to meet recognized standards and the needs of the community.

VIII. GIFTS

A. Within the provisions of the state laws, the Library Board adopts the following policies:

1. Gifts of books and other materials will be accepted on the condition that the Library Director has the authority to make whatever disposition he or she deems advisable. (See policy on library materials.)

2. Gifts of money, real property, and/or stock will be accepted if conditions attached thereto are acceptable to the Library Board and to the City of Gonzales or other governing bodies involved.

3. Gifts of personal property, art objects, portraits, antiques, and other museum objects will not be accepted. Any exception will be made upon specific authority of Library Board action.

4. The library will not accept for deposit materials, which are not outright gifts.

5. Gifts of monies for memorial purposes will be accepted and encouraged.

IX. PUBLIC RELATIONS

A. The library public relations aim is to conduct coordinated community outreach measures, which communicate positive images of the library promoting use of the library’s materials, services, and programs. Some of the goals of the library public relations include:

1. The understanding of the library’s objectives and services by governing officials, civic leaders, and the general public.

2. The active participation of people of all ages in the various services offered by the library.

3. To seek out non-readers and new people in the community and encourage their interest in the wide range of services offered by the library.

B. The Library Board recognizes that public relations involve every person who has any connection with the library. The Board urges its own members and every staff member to realize that he/she represents the library in every public contact. Good service supports good public relations.

C. The Library Director and professional staff will be expected to make talks and to participate in community activities. A reasonable amount of library time will be allowed staff for preparation and speaking. Materials to be used by press, radio, or television will be approved by the Library Director or the Library Board.