ES4775 - Handling Request for Reconsideration of Library Material

1. Institutional Regulations
   
   Intellectual freedom is essential for development of library collections and services offering diverse perspectives to meet the educational and research needs of the Des Moines Area Community College academic community. The DMACC Libraries endorse the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and the Association of College and Research Libraries’ adoption of Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries.
   
   The DMACC Libraries incorporates these tenants as part of our Collection Development Policy (ES4705 ) and has established the Request for Reconsideration of Library Material procedure to ensure due process for requests to remove, or for the addition of, library resources. The Library will not remove any challenged materials until a formal review mandates such action.
    
2. Procedure
   1. Individuals requesting a reconsideration will be given, and are encouraged to read, the Libraries’ Collection Development Policy (ES4705 ) and to visit with the appropriate campus librarian and/or Director of Library Resources.
   2. A Request for Reconsideration of Library Material form must be completed and submitted to the Director of Library Resources, regardless of the campus on which the item (book, etc.) may reside:
      
      ankenylibrary@dmacc.edu,
      or
      Director of Library Resources
      2006 S. Ankeny Blvd
      Ankeny, IA 50023
       
   3. Upon receipt of a completed form, the Director of Library Resources, in consultation with librarians, will call for an ad hoc review committee to be formed. This committee will be composed of an appropriate campus librarian, a second librarian (or the Director of Library Resources) who will serve as the committee Chair, and at least one faculty member, the Dean from an academic program related to the subject of the material, and three students. If the material to be reconsidered is highly interdisciplinary in nature, additional faculty may be sought at the discretion of the Chair. The committee should meet to review the material for relevancy based on the Collection Development Policy (ES4705 ) and make a determination for the status of the item in a timely manner.
   4. Challenged material will remain in collection during the reconsideration process.
   5. The Review Committee Chair will compose a written response to the request for reconsideration, explaining the committee’s rationale for the decision to retain, withdraw, add, or not add the item to the library collection. The Chair will also submit a completed form detailing the challenged materials to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom for inclusion in their confidential database on challenged materials.
   6. Copies of the decision will be forwarded to the Director of Library Resources, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and the individual who completed the written request, within 30 working days of submission. The Director of Library Resources will retain records of all requests and decisions.
   7. Appeals must be presented in writing to the Director of Library Resources. The Director of Library Resources and the Vice President of Academic Affairs will review all appeals.
   8. Items to be removed from the Library’s collection, as directed by the review committee, or the Vice President of Academic Affairs as a result of the appeals process, will be withdrawn within 30 business days of the decision. Items that are challenged and not removed from the Library’s collection, as directed by the review committee, or the Vice President of Academic Affairs as a result of the appeals process, may not be challenged again within a 3 year period. However, such items may be withdrawn from the Library’s collection according to standard weeding practices of the Library.

May 16, 2022 - Removed the form that was linked to the procedure.

August 30, 2022 - Added the appropriate link back to the form per Rebecca Funke. 

Related Form: ES4775-Form-Request-for-Consideration-of-Library-Materials-20090401  
Approved for Catalog: Executive Vice President, College Operations