About Library Services

The library will acquire materials of all formats to support the mission of the college. Formats include, but are not limited to, audiovisuals, electronic resources, and printed materials.

The library will evaluate possible acquisitions using the following criteria:

1. Relevance to the curriculum
2. Patron requests
3. Intended audience
4. Quality of content, including factual accuracy
5. Relationship of the material to items already in the collection
6. Hardware and/or storage needs (especially for audiovisual and electronic resources)
7. Appropriateness of format to the content
8. Timeliness and/or lasting value
9. Reputation of the author and/or publisher
10. Physical durability
11. Price

The library uses appropriate selection aids to identify and evaluate materials for the general collection, inclduing reviews, core lists, subject bibliographies, "best of" lists and standard indexes.

The general collections and Special Collections actively collect publications by faculty, students, staff, and alums.  Contact either circulation@bridgewater.edu, or acquisitions@bridgewater.edu with these requests.

The general collection provides access to government documents in accordance to its membership in the FDLP libraries.

GIFT POLICY

As a general rule, the library does not accept gifts (ie. used books) for the general collection.  Inquiries should be directed to the Library Director before a gift is accepted.  Donations to Special Collections and/or questions about Special Collections policies should also be directed to the Library Director.  We will not accept any books that are left at the library.

The library will purchase materials for the following special collections, within the bounds of the budget:

1. Bridgewater College
2. Church of the Brethren
3. Virginia, Shenandoah Valley, and Rockingham County History
4. Genealogy (especially of regionally based families and families associated with the Church of the Brethren)

As noted above, possible donations to Special Collections must first be approved by the Library Director before the donation is brought in.  We will not accept any books left at the library.