Library Collection Development and Management Policy (Draft)

Content resources are provisioned as budgets allow and when Library staff deem that there is evidence that the resources meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Enable current University teaching.
• Enable current University research activity.
• Enable future learning and research about sport (see Appendix 1).
• Enable future learning and research about the heritage of the local area.
• Support the collection to fully reflect the University’s diverse global community and are appropriately accessible to our users.
• Support the well-being of current University staff and students.
• Support the development of an ethical, sustainable, diverse publishing ecosystem.

There is more detail on evaluation criteria for the provision of access and retention in Appendix 2.

The Library has a digital-first policy to enable accessibility to the content.  This means that it will always look to purchase content in a digital format before exploring print options.  Print copies will be obtained where licences, financial constraints or digital storage make purchase of the digital version impractical and reasonable adjustments can be met.

The Library will only purchase and make available items that are accessible to all University staff and students. It does not provision resources that are limited to specific groups of users such as individual schools or research centres.  Those resources need to be acquired and managed by the specific group, although the Library may offer advice and guidance on request.

The Library is keen to widen access to research for the benefit of society, recognising that many current models of publishing are not conducive to this aim. As such it supports the diversification of publishing infrastructure through the continued development of the University’s Research Repository and financial support for a range of different open access publishing models and infrastructure based on the principles detailed in 1.2.

Provision of journal content is mainly via multi-title packages, such as read and publish collections, as evidence indicates that these currently provide the best value for the University’s needs.  Evidence of use and need is reviewed at each renewal. Renewal does not indicate ongoing support or approval of traditional article-based models.

Individual journal titles that are not part of the collections are reviewed annually to assess need and value for money. Individual staff, researchers and students can request new journal subscriptions via the Journal Request form with subsequent purchase dependent on the availability of budget, as well as the application of the evaluation criteria noted in Appendix 2. Current titles that have low use and are not seen as cost-effective compared with other methods for obtaining content, such as document supply, will be cancelled.

1.2 Open research infrastructure

As noted in 1.1 Library budgets remain typically invested in sustaining the status quo of academic information resources, through multi-million deals with large academic publishers as these can provide sound economic value. However, this can mean fundamental infrastructure for open research is at risk from underinvestment.

Recognising this, the Library will invest in open infrastructure and resources to support movement towards a more sustainable academic publishing ecosystem. The Library will undertake targeted investment in open infrastructure which demonstrably delivers the following principles:

• Scholarship:
  • Reflects our scholarly community
  • Open and reusable
  • Diversity of research outputs and workflows
• Stewardship:
  • Interoperability and standards
  • Sustainability
  • Accessibility
• Connection:
  • Ethical and transparent
  • Researcher-centred
  • Inclusive

The principles noted outline how the Library will prioritise strategic, values led investment in open research infrastructure. These principles are operationalised by evaluating a resource on criteria detailed below:

Pillar 1.Scholarship

• Reflects our scholarly community:
  • Reflects the institution’s strategic goals, disciplines, researchers, plus the infrastructure they rely upon
• Open and reusable:
  • Delivers open licensing and open infrastructure
• Diversity of research outputs and workflows:
  • Supports varied outputs and workflows throughout the research lifecycle and across disciplines

Pillar 2. Stewardship

• Interoperability and standards:
  • Ensures interoperable data through use of persistent identifiers, FAIR principles and other relevant standards
• Sustainability:
  • Delivers governance structures enabling longevity (incl. non-profit/open‑source), mindful of environmental impact
• Accessibility:
  • Encourages ambitious accessibility standards and roadmaps, support for multilingual publishing

Pillar 3. Connection

• Ethical and transparent:
  • Delivers transparent processes and evidence-based decisions
• Researcher-centred:
  • Encourages retention of author rights, scholar-led and community-owned infrastructure
• Inclusive:
  • Supports read/publish access for diverse knowledge producers, including PGRs and ECRs

It should be noted that resources invested in might not meet all principles in themselves, but the portfolio of open infrastructures will aim to cover this breadth. The investments will be reviewed on a regular basis, as with other types of resource, but it is noted that some infrastructures may take time to embed to demonstrate their value.

Some journal content, along with standards, primary sources, official publications, chemical structures, grey literature, newspapers etc, may be provisioned via databases through a subscription or a purchase plus hosting fee model. Individual members of staff can recommend the purchase of databases via the Database request form with subsequent purchase dependent on the availability of budget, as well as the application of the evaluation criteria noted in Appendix 2. Usage of databases is also reviewed annually and at point of subscription to assess value, with databases that are not deemed to be cost-effective cancelled.

Books are purchased via a variety of request mechanisms. Resources needed for teaching and learning are requested through use of the online reading list system; resources needed for research, leisure or to diversify the collection can be requested by staff and students via the Books recommendation form. Subsequent purchase will be dependent on the availability of budget, as well as the application of the evaluation criteria noted in Appendix 2.

The University Library holds one named special collection, the David Lewis Collection. This is a collection that was created and developed by a former member of Library staff and is no longer being developed. It is an eclectic collection with strengths in the following areas:

• Architecture, art and design.
• History of town and country planning.
• History of science and engineering.
• History of sport.
• 18th and early 19th century English literature.
• Leicestershire history and topography.

Whilst the Library is no longer developing the David Lewis Collection, it continues to collect items on the history of Leicestershire in an ad hoc basis.

The Library also supports the University’s distinctive global reputation for sport. Whilst this is partly achieved through the retention of sports titles in the main collection, in 2025, the Library accepted a donation of books and grey literature from Sport England. Items from this donation on topics in Appendix 1 will be added to stock as a distinct collection. It is planned to develop special collections related to these sports topics further, as space, resource and opportunity allow.

The Library accepts small donations of books brought into the Library and reserves the right to decide whether the items should be added to stock. Once received by the Library, staff will review the donation, considering the relevance of the subject based on the criteria noted in Appendix 2, duplication of existing stock, as well as the age, and condition of the item. Resulting actions may include adding to stock, passing to charitable organisations (e.g. Better World Books) or discarding the book.

Due to the digital-first policy and limited physical space on both campuses, the Library operates a responsible yet pragmatic approach to print collection management. This means that it cannot retain all copies of print journals and print books.

2.1.1 Journals:

The Library retains holdings of print journals where there is an ongoing subscription to the print version. It does not retain print versions where electronic versions are available, except in exceptional circumstances.

The Library is not currently a member of the UK Research Reserve, but recognises that it might occasionally have print journal titles that are not held elsewhere in the UK. It will therefore, wherever practical, retain runs of print journals where there are few holdings (i.e. less than 3) of a title in the UK.

2.1.2 Books and grey literature:

In recognition of being a research-intensive University and ensuring ongoing access to information, the Library intends to become a participating member of the UK Print Book Collection. As a member of UKPBC it will retain copies of titles where there are 7 or fewer copies in the UK, even if they are no longer needed for current University research or teaching. All other items may be discarded on a rolling basis using loan statistics as evidence-based criteria, in consultation with Library staff who have relevant knowledge of related University teaching and research.

In alignment with Library Blueprint principles, the Library prefers to buy digital content, purchasing digital resources on publisher or supplier platforms as software as a service (SaaS).  It cannot currently self-host electronic resources due to infrastructure requirements and digital preservation capabilities. As resources are provided as SaaS, the platforms are subject to IT Services SaaS requirements and policies, e.g. the need for multi-factor authentication or access via single-sign-on.

The Library does not make any judgement on the content of the materials to which it provisions access beyond the evaluation criteria noted in Appendix 2. Academic freedom is important to the Library and there are no restrictions placed on materials or materials removed from shelves for putting forward different viewpoints. For more information about this approach, please see the IFLA Statement on Censorship (2019).