Selection Criteria
General criteria for all categories:
- relevance to community interests and needs
- attention of critics, reviewers and the reading public
- cost and format
- number and nature of interlibrary loan requests
- materials for enlightenment and recreation even if not of enduring value, interest or accuracy
- Canadian materials will be emphasized, especially items relating to Saskatchewan and the prairies
- Budgetary considerations
Criteria for Adult non-fiction:
- readability, accuracy and clarity of the material presented
- quality of writing
- public demand for the material
- authority of the author
Criteria for Adult fiction:
- originality
- maintenance of a full range of genre, trends, popular authors
- serious works which present an honest reflection of life are not excluded for frankness of expression
- young adult (YA) books for ages 13 to 18 are included
Criteria for Children’s books (pre-school to age 12)
- literary and artistic worth
- suitability of content and vocabulary to the age of the readers
- accuracy and clarity
- positive reviews
- high interest / low vocabulary items which satisfy the needs of reluctant readers, including series books of questionable quality
- popular areas will be emphasized.
Everyone is encouraged to read widely and to use all the resources of the library. Local library boards may separate the children's non-fiction from the adult non-fiction or integrate the collections in order to provide greater variety to both children and adults. Adult fiction is to be shelved separate from children's fiction.