Guiding Principles
American Library Association Library Bill of Rights
All WNC students, faculty, and staff are automatically registered for a library account
ACCEL and Continuing Education students must show a photo I.D. and proof of enrollment in order to register for a library account.
WNC library materials may be renewed via telephone, the online library catalog, or in person. Students may not renew media items.
Carson Campus materials that circulate to students and staff:
Fallon Campus materials that circulate to students and staff:
Carson Campus materials that circulate to faculty:
Fallon Campus materials that circulate to faculty:
Patrons must return materials promptly, if they receive an overdue or recall notice.
Items will only be renewed if they have not been requested by someone else.
Faculty will not be charged overdue fines for WNC materials, but will be billed for the replacement cost and processing fee if overdue items are not returned. Borrowing privileges will be suspended until bills are resolved.
Carson Campus materials that do not circulate and may be used only in the library:
Fallon Campus materials that do not circulate and may be used only in the library:
After presenting a valid form of photo identification and registering their Nevada public library card at a WNC Library, non-students may check out WNC books for the same loan period as WNC students – three (3) weeks. Non-students are restricted to borrowing five (5) WNC books simultaneously. Fines and replacement charges are the same as WNC students.
Non- students may not check out WNC video materials, but they may view them in the library, as space and available equipment allow.
If a patron does not have a library card, they may place up to five (5) books on hold for one (1) week while the patron obtains a card from a Nevada public library.
The WNC Library does not charge late fees/fines for overdue materials owned by WNC but reserves the right to suspend access to library services, including borrowing privileges, until the materials are returned. Thirty (30) days from the original due date, overdue materials will be considered lost/missing and the patron will be charged for the replacement cost.
Replacement charges are billed for items considered lost or that have been determined to be irreparably damaged.
All materials requiring replacement due to being lost or irreparably damaged will incur a processing fee of ten dollars ($10.00) and a billing fee of ten dollars ($10.00), in addition to the cost of the replacement according to the following criteria:
If a patron notifies the Library that an overdue or billed item was returned, but our records show it is still checked out to the patron and it is not on the shelf, the item becomes a “claims returned” item. The library requests that the patron continue to search for the material. Meanwhile, a search is initiated within the Library.
If the material is found, the patron will be notified. If the material is not found after two (2) separate searches, the material will be considered "lost." The patron will not be billed for the first item which they claim to have returned. After this, the patron is billed for all future “claims returned” items (including a billing fee, processing fee, and the item’s replacement cost). Library management software is used to track the number of items each patron has claimed to have returned.
Library staff will work closely with academic faculty to determine what items best meet classroom objectives and/or student needs using the selection guidelines listed below.
The Division Director makes the final determination on the selection, replacement, and/or removal of all materials, and is responsible for the implementation of these procedures.
The department mission statement provides the framework for the selection process.
Selection aids and tools such as professional journals, bibliographies, and publishers’ catalogs will be used to identify materials for consideration.
Specific considerations in choosing individual materials include some or all of the following:
Materials not normally purchased are:
The majority of selections are current, English language, publications.
Selection criteria for the Nevada collection include:
Selection criteria for the Children’s Collection include:
The Bill Cowee Poetry Collection is a special collection donated by Bill Cowee to the WNC Library in 2007. The collection is composed of books from Mr. Cowee’s private collection and represents poetry from around the world and in various poetic styles, with an emphasis on poetry from the Western United States and Nevada.
Specific considerations in selecting digital databases include some or all of the following:
Given the movement of materials to online formats, in most instances the library will no longer accept gift books. Exceptional gifts, such as those with historical significance, will be evaluated on a case by case basis by the Director of Learning and Innovation after review by library staff. All gifts and donations, unless otherwise specified by written agreement, are subject to the same selection and deselection criteria as the rest of the collection materials.
The WNC Library withdraws outdated and damaged materials to maintain the quality and currency of the collection in a process known as “weeding” or “deselection.” The collection is monitored for outdated material, which is replaced or withdrawn. Individual sections of the general collection are reviewed on a continual basis. Faculty members are encouraged to assist in identifying outdated or inaccurate materials in their areas of expertise.
General criteria for withdrawing materials includes:
The WNC Library follows the guidelines in the WNC Policy on the Use of Copyrighted Materials (3-2-8). All materials added to the library collection and available for use in the library must be compliant with copyright law or be in the public domain.
Any material considered for the library collection that compliant with copyright law, or not in the public domain, will be not be added unless written permission is given to the library from the copyright holder.
The WNC Library and its staff uphold the principles of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries.
In the spirit of open and academic discourse, the library endeavors to select materials that represent a wide variety of opinions, viewpoints, and perspectives. If the appropriateness or value of any material is challenged, the objections must be submitted in writing to the Director of Learning and Innovation before any action will be taken on a complaint.