1. Mission Statement
Parmly Billings Library is where our community connects and grows together, discovering the love of reading, the joy of learning, and the sharing of creative expression.

2. Library Goals The Library’s goals are:

Connect to the Online World: Patrons have free access to online services that expand and enhance their knowledge and provide resources and learning and leisure opportunities.

Know Your Community: Patrons have easy access to information about community resources programs, services and activities in order to actively participate in the community.

Learn to Read and Write: Patrons of all ages can learn to read or improve their literacy skills to meet their personal educational and occupational goals.

Satisfy Curiosity: Patrons in all stages of their lives have access to programs and material needed for personal enrichment.

Stimulate Imagination: Patrons enjoy stimulating and inspiring programs and materials that make their leisure time more engaging and enjoyable.

Visit a Comfortable Place: Patrons can conveniently pursue individual, group, or community interests or interact socially at the main Library or Library branches in a safe, comfortable, and appealing environment.

3. Purpose of Collection Management Policy
The purpose of the collection management policy is to support the Library’s mission and service responses and the general public’s expectation for public library collections and resources. It explains and analyzes the principles upon which selection is made and clarifies criteria that selectors use in their choice of materials and formats.

In addition, it serves as a guide and reference for use by the Library Board and patrons in understanding the choices that are made in building the collection and in the way materials are handled.

4. Philosophy of Selection
The Library’s patrons represent different reading levels and interests and, while the collection cannot be all things to all people, it does take into account the fact that patrons have a variety of points of view, reading preferences and preferences for different formats, and these need to be represented in the collection.

When selecting new materials, staff will read commonly used reviewing sources to stay familiar with the latest materials that are being published to determine which authors, titles and subjects might be most appropriate for the collection. Customer demand will also be an important factor in selecting materials. Patrons will be encouraged to make recommendations to the staff for additions to the collection and, though this is no guarantee that the item will be added, staff will review these recommendations to see if they are appropriate. In order to keep up with high demand requests, the Library will monitor the number of reserves on an item and this will frequently trigger the purchase of additional copies.

The selection process takes into account that Library users represent different points of view, some of which may be controversial, and the collection will try to represent these by offering, whenever possible, a balanced view of issues.