What criteria are used in ordering DVDs for the Calcasieu Parish Library? I recently checked out an R-rated movie and was really sorry I had. The blatant heterosexual and homosexual scenes were a shock to me simply because it came from the library.

According to its collection development policy, the Calcasieu Parish Public Library chooses DVDs based on several criteria — including “popular demand”; “favorable reviews in standard library reviewing sources”; “appropriateness of the subject to the collection”; and “artistic merit and reputation of the performers.”

The policy says the selection process is overseen by a collection development librarian, who is also expected to keep track of the materials budget “to insure a flow of new materials throughout the year according to budget allocations.”

“Ultimate responsibility for material selection rests with the Director who operates within the framework of policies determined by the Board of Library Trustees,” reads the policy, which is posted on the library’s website.

“Because the Library Director must be able to answer to the Library Board and the general public for actual selections made by staff, he/she has the authority to reject or select any item contrary to the recommendations of the staff.”

The library has established a procedure to allow patrons to ask that an item in the collection be reconsidered. To do so, patrons must fill out a “Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials” form, which can be downloaded from the website and printed.

Once the library receives the request, the policy says, officials will evaluate critical reviews of the item and may forward a patron’s request to the director, who would then respond in writing to the patron.

Patrons who are unsatisfied with the response can submit a written request to speak with the Library Board of Trustees and ask it to reconsider the item in question.

Two final notes

The library notes on its website that it subscribes to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which calls for open access to information.

The ALA Library Bill of Rights:

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

One way to avoid being caught off guard by material in the films you check out is to take note of the DVDs’ rating boxes, which usually offer brief descriptions to explain the reasons for the ratings — “sexual content,” “crude humor,” “action violence.”

Online: http://calcasieulibrary.org/collectiondevelopment.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

(www.publicdomainpictures.net)