Collection Development Meridian History Materials

Meridian Library District Collection Development Policy

Appendix A. History Collection Policy

The Meridian History Collection makes materials related to the history of Meridian City, the Meridian Library District, and area schools and community organizations available to area residents, students and visitors, primarily through online access.

Scope of Collection

The Meridian History Collection is a repository of primary and secondary materials that furthers the understanding of the civic, social, religious, cultural, political, and economic life of Meridian area residents, past and present. The Meridian History Collection gathers, organizes, digitizes, catalogs, and makes accessible to the public documents and publications that reflect activities, events, places, organizations, institutions, and services of the community of Meridian.

Limitations and Restrictions

The Meridian History Collection strives to preserve materials it collects and make them available through digitization. Due to HVAC and physical space limitations, the Meridian History Collection cannot serve as a climate-controlled archive for large, valuable, or delicate items.

The Meridian History Collection does not serve as a legal repository for any material, including city or school material, and is not responsible for selecting, retaining, or providing access to any material required by law to be kept as official documents or archival records.

The donating agency or individual is responsible for determining the legal status and value of any and all documents donated to the Meridian Library District.

Acquisitions

An active effort is made to add to the collection through the acquisition of materials from donors, area agencies, publishers, and other reliable sources. Materials must be accurate, suitable for community need or interest, and serve a public rather than personal interest.

Donations and Deaccessioning

Gifts of material to the Meridian Library District for the Meridian History Collection are accepted with the understanding and agreement that they become the property of Meridian Library District and may be deaccessioned according to the guidelines of the Collection Development Policy. The library reserves the right to decline gift offers. The library will not accept gifts that are out of scope or require more resources to preserve and make available than the library can provide. All materials must be free of dirt, mold, moisture, and pests, and must be in good condition. 

The Meridian Library District will accept digital image donations of materials that are within the scope of the Meridian History Collection. Digital image donations can be made by allowing the Meridian History Center to use professional scanning equipment to digitize physical materials. Digital image donations may be included in digital collections at historycenter.mld.org, which are made freely available to the public.

Withdrawn items may be offered to other depositories, donated to the Friends of the Library, or discarded.

Approved by the Meridian Library Board of Trustees 5/18/2022

Revised 10/18/2023