New York State Library Policies

Disposal Policy and Procedures Statement

The New York State Library selects and retains materials according to the guidelines in its Collection Development Policy. For the most part, materials added to the collection are retained indefinitely.

Bibliographic selection staff are responsible for retention and disposal decisions for the materials in their respective subject areas.

Gift materials are dealt with in the Gift Policy and Procedures Statement. The categories of Library materials to be evaluated for retention or disposal in this statement are:

• Uncataloged duplicate materials;
• Cataloged duplicate materials that may no longer be needed;
• Original materials of poor quality, when copies are acquired in another format;
• Materials selected for withdrawal for appropriate reasons, such as, the material is damaged beyond repair, or the material is no longer appropriate to the collection based on the Library's Collection Development Policy.

General Rules for the Decision-Making Process

1. A minimum of three original print copies of all New York State documents shall be retained. Any additional print copies shall be sent to the warehouse.
2. Duplicates may be retained if the material is rare, has artifactual value or is heavily used.
3. Generally, materials should be withdrawn when so damaged that they are completely unusable. Items of importance to the collection will be examined by the Associate Librarian for Preservation and the appropriate subject librarians for a decision on replacement, reformatting or other appropriate preservation treatment.
4. In rare instances, specific items, may be considered for withdrawal under the approval of the Collection Development Committee, the Executive Group and the Board of Regents.

Disposal Responsibility and Process

Recommendations of the respective bibliographic selection staff, concerning retention or disposal of Library materials, will be conveyed to the following supervisory staff for appropriate action:

For Duplicate Materials - Supervisors for the following units: Acquisitions and Gifts; Circulation and Stacks/Public Services; Documents; and Manuscripts and Special Collections.

For Materials Withdrawn for Other Reasons - Supervisors for the following units: Acquisitions and Gifts; Cataloging; Circulation and Stacks/Public Services; Documents; Manuscripts and Special Collections; Preservation.

For Original Copies Replaced by Reformatting - Supervisors for the following units: Acquisitions (Monographs Only) and Gifts; Cataloging; Circulation and Stacks/Public Services; Manuscripts and Special Collections; and Preservation.

Disposal of Material

The decision for and method of disposal of materials shall be a responsibility of the Executive Group or their appointed designee.