Library Policies

Oversight of Collection

The physical and digital resources of the college are overseen by the Head Librarian in consultation with the Provost and the Faculty Council.

 

Parameters of Service 

The Saint Constantine College Library serves the student body, faculty, and staff of Saint Constantine College. This includes visiting professors, lecturers, and clergy, as well as alumni of the college.

 

Parameters of Selection

The library acquires physical and/or digital copies of all required texts for all courses offered in the College, as well as research resources, including monographs, periodicals, and online databases, that are most necessary for the scholarly study of the required course texts. These necessities are determined by the library staff in consultation with and at the recommendation of the Provost and Faculty Council, and in accordance with the course information and program requirements described in the Academic Catalog. 

At the outset of each semester, the library staff consults with the Provost and Faculty Council to determine which acquisitions are necessary to maintain a collection in accordance with the following levels of priority:

1. Course texts for all required courses, including 100 - 400 level GRT courses and non-GRT general ed courses.
2. Course texts for all non-required courses, including 100 - 200 level elective courses and 300 - 400 level upper division electives.
3. Research resources for all 100 - 400 level GRT courses and non-GRT required courses.
4. Research resources for all elective courses.
5. Research resources for faculty research not related to required or elective courses.
6. General resources in the liberal arts not covered by the above criteria.

 

Evaluation and Deselection of Materials Policy

On a yearly basis, the library staff, in consultation with the Faculty Council, evaluates the extent of current holdings, including all digital subscriptions, in order to determine whether there are materials that are no longer relevant or necessary to the priorities of the library. Likewise, this evaluation will also include the identification of damaged materials in need of repair or replacement. 

 

Collection Policy

The library acquires, organizes, and maintains a collection of resources to support the scholarship of the College community. All resources are categorized into one of the following categories:

 

Books and Monographs: These are the primary physical holdings of the library. Books and monographs may be either hard or softbound, and consist of primary sources required by course syllabi, or secondary sources relevant to research in those disciplines covered by the College’s courses.

 

Periodicals: When deemed necessary by the library staff in consultation with the Faculty Council, periodicals are acquired individually or, on occasion, through subscription. These may be either hard or softbound, and consist of academic journals, magazines, serials, that publish work relevant to research in those disciplines covered by the college’s core courses. Physical periodical subscriptions, when undertaken, will be pursued in consultation with faculty who oversee the relevant academic courses in the periodical’s field. However, most of the periodical access at the library is made though electronic resources.

 

Electronic Resources: In order to maintain access to contemporary scholarship in the core disciplines of the college, the library maintains subscriptions to a group of electronic databases, including digital journal collections widely covering the liberal arts and religious studies, and eBook databases that include titles in the liberal arts and religious studies.

The library accepts donations of relevant materials on a case-by-case basis that are relevant to the mission and priorities of the library. The library staff work with potential donors to determine which areas of acquisition priority best match the books to be donated. Those potential donations which are deemed outside of the purview of the library’s priorities will not be accepted. To inquire about making a gift or donation, please contact collegelibrary@saintconstantine.org.

The library has a duty to protect and make available the learning resources that the library staff and College academic leadership deem necessary to fulfill its mission. Because of the dialectical pedagogy of the College and the wide viewpoint diversity of the Great Texts and the liberal arts traditions, the library is obligated to protect its collection against biased, prejudiced, and otherwise unwarranted attempts to censor its materials. 

In the event that a student, faculty, or staff member believes that there are materials in the library antithetical or detrimental to the mission of the library and/or College, they may submit a Resource Objection Form, which will be reviewed by the library staff.