This document explains the main principles for how Birmingham Newman University’s Library chooses and manages its books and other resources. It covers both the physical items in the library and the electronic books, journals, and databases that students and staff can access online.
The mission of the Library reflects the aims of the institution. We aim to offer the resources, services, and facilities needed to encourage independent and active learning. We aim to support high-quality teaching and research through collaboration and partnership with the Birmingham Newman community.
Whilst we can outline general collection development principles, practice will naturally vary by subject. This is due to the different teaching styles and the specific types of literature in each field. An Academic Service Librarian (ASL) supports each subject area. Each ASL liaises with their subject teams and offers appropriate support to both students and staff.
The fulfilment of this policy is, necessarily, constrained by budgetary considerations.
The Library Budget has many competing demands. Besides staff costs, it covers digital services, copyright licences, training, equipment, general running expenses, and resources.
Roughly three quarters of the non-staff budget is spent on resources, which includes:
The book fund is split amongst subjects or departments based on the number of students enrolled on their modules.
The value of the individual subject’s annual book fund depends on three factors:
Of these figures, the first is usually known at the start of the financial year. The remaining figures are not finalised until part way through the first semester. For this reason, we cannot confirm the total value of the individual book funds until around Christmas each year.
Despite this, we recommend committing funds early in the academic year to support the current year’s students with the current year’s budget. Therefore, we release an initial allocation, typically half to three quarters of the previous year’s total book fund, at the start of the financial year in August. We will adjust this amount once we know the final student numbers.
We combine some individual subject allocations into a group fund with related subjects. This helps use the budget more efficiently when subjects have overlapping content. It also provides flexibility each year. For example, one subject might need more resources in a year it is revalidated, while a related subject might not use its full allocation. A group fund allows us to direct resources where they are most needed each year.
The University’s financial regulations don’t allow us to carry over funds to the next year. So, any money left unspent at the end of the financial year goes back to the University’s reserves. Therefore, we need to set deadlines for placing orders to ensure items are received and paid for before the financial year ends.
Each year, the ASLs circulate the final date for book ordering to academic staff in their subject areas. The date is usually around the end of May in any given year. Any orders received after this date will be retained until the start of the new financial year.
Subject areas, departments, or faculties can add extra money to their book funds from their own budgets, if they wish to. However, these funds must still be spent within the current financial year. The deadline for accepting interdepartmental transfers is usually mid-May.
Selection of resources is the joint responsibility of Library and academic staff.
The ASLs manage the annual book funds. They work with academic staff in their specific subject areas to make sure resources are prioritised appropriately.
The book funds are used to update library stock, expand the Library’s collection on topics relevant to each subject’s curriculum, and add more copies of books to support growing student numbers or changes in courses.
Initial stock selection is primarily carried out by academic staff. They send item requests to their ASL, who makes the purchases. The ASLs can offer guidance on how the stock is managed and advise on the currency of stock and the balance of materials available. All module leaders must make sure that the necessary items to support their reading strategy are ordered.
Library staff may use book funds to buy items not requested by academic staff. We will only do this if the specific book fund is in good shape, and we will only buy content that is relevant and authoritative. This includes items requested by students, new editions of existing books, or items that will fill gaps in the collection.
Academic staff are encouraged to consider the diversity of their reading recommendations as part of wider efforts to decolonise the curriculum. The ASLs will offer their support in this regard and will work in partnership with staff in their subject areas. For example, the ASLs may be able to provide reading recommendations by consulting the work of other libraries, universities, or publishers.
When a lot of material on a topic is being purchased, the ASLs may look for relevant books that support and promote under-represented groups. If the budget allows, they may buy these titles to broaden our collection’s representation.
The Library also has a general fund for buying books that do not fall within a specific curriculum. For example, we use this fund to buy stock for the Library’s Wellbeing Collection. We also use this fund to buy suggestions from staff and students that are not specific to a subject. We particularly encourage requests for literature by or for under-represented groups.
We combine any money left in individual subject funds after the May deadline into one fund. We use this pooled fund to buy books that enhance the library’s collection in areas of interest to the University.
Birmingham Newman Library has a “digital first” policy. This means we prioritise the acquisition of books in electronic formats wherever possible. Sometimes, even if books are available as e-books, they can be too expensive or have unsuitable licences for the library to buy. The ASLs will take these factors into account when making purchasing decisions.
When we have purchased an e-book with unlimited concurrent access, we will buy fewer print copies than if there was no e-book available, or if the e-book was a single-user licence.
The ASLs will make the final decision of how many copies of a book to buy. They will consider student numbers, specific subject needs, e-book availability, and study mode.
Most library books are one-week loans but will automatically renew for up to six months. Library users should use the reservation system to stop renewals and let the current borrower know that someone else needs the book. Library staff track reservations and will order more copies if a book is in high demand and there is budget available.
In rare cases, we can make a book ‘reference only’, but we try to avoid this. Experience shows that reference-only books are scarcely used, and loanable books are more useful to students.
When a large group of students needs access to the same book at the same time, multiple print copies won't suffice. If the Library cannot buy a suitable e-book, alternative solutions are necessary:
Items that have been lost by borrowers and subsequently paid for will be replaced using the Library income fund. If the lost item is no longer in print, a suitable alternative will be chosen by the subject’s ASL.
When items have been damaged or stolen, we may replace them if they are still relevant. The cost of replacement will come from the relevant subject’s book fund.
Most of our journal access comes from national deals with publishers, like those negotiated through Jisc Collections. If a journal is not part of these deals but is important for a course, we can take out an individual subscription. New subscriptions are usually funded by cancelling existing subscriptions unless extra funding is available.
Most of our journal subscriptions are electronic and can be accessed via Library Search or the A-Z of Databases. We will only consider subscribing to print journals if there is no electronic option and a strong business case is made.
Short extracts of published materials may be scanned for inclusion in Moodle module pages. Requests must conform to the requirements of our Copyright Licencing Agency (CLA) licence. For most UK publications, this covers:
- Or 10% of the total publication, whichever is the greater. You can find details of this service on our scanning page.
You can find details of this service on our scanning page.
The library welcomes donations of research degree theses completed at Birmingham Newman. These will be available for use within the library only.
The library does not keep undergraduate or taught postgraduate dissertations. Subject teams should ensure suitable examples are available to students on Moodle, if appropriate.
The Library may buy other item formats, such as DVDs, when required. The purchase of ‘artefacts’ for our School Experience Collection is standard practice.
We welcome the donation of books that support the University’s teaching and research needs. We are thankful for the generosity of students, staff, and others. However, due to space and processing costs, we may not be able to add all donations to our collection.
Donations will be considered for addition to library stock if they are:
Donations are not usually suitable for addition to library stock if they are:
For further details, please consult your Academic Service Librarian.
The Library cannot buy all the materials relevant to all staff and students. We offer access to resources not in our collection through our Inter-Library Loans service when possible.
Staff and students can also use the SCONUL Access scheme to visit other university libraries (subject to conditions). For students studying online courses, postgraduate students and staff it is also possible to borrow books using this scheme.
Withdrawing items from stock is an essential part of collection management. It helps us support the University by removing outdated or misleading materials, making space for new ones, and identifying areas that need updates. The ASLs review every area of print book stock at least once every five years.
We apply the following criteria when considering materials for withdrawal from stock. Some of these criteria can only be applied to print stock, but others also apply to digital.
Materials not borrowed for a long period of time will be considered for withdrawal. The period will vary between subjects, and removal from stock will depend on whether the item is still of value to Birmingham Newman’s teaching and research interests. We also know that materials from under-represented backgrounds might be used less often but are still valuable. Therefore, we may ‘ringfence’ some less-used items for retention if it is felt that they aid the library in maintaining a diverse collection.
Outdated materials will be withdrawn unless a specific use-case is presented. Superseded editions may be kept if appropriate, but our focus is normally on holding current editions.
Materials will be withdrawn based on their relevance and accuracy. Outdated items with historical significance will be considered in consultation with academic staff.
Materials that are in poor condition or beyond repair will be discarded. Items will be replaced wherever possible if they are still of interest.
Duplicate copies of texts that are no longer recommended course reading or in heavy demand may be reduced to a single copy.
Printed journals without a current subscription or no longer of interest to current teaching or research will be considered for withdrawal.
The Library reviews its journal and database subscriptions annually to ensure they are cost-effective and relevant to learning, teaching, and research at Birmingham Newman.
This is the Collection Development Policy (PDF).
This document will be regularly reviewed considering strategic and financial developments.
Date of last review: September 2024.
Last reviewed: 13 September 2024
