Author Submissions

Carroll County Public Library is happy to represent local self‐published authors whose work fits within our collection development guidelines. Because we have begun receiving an increasing number of requests from authors who would like us to add their work to our collection, the Materials Management Department has put together a list of our standard procedures to make it clear what guidelines these authors need to follow and how the process works.

• All authors must provide a copy of the item that they want us to consider for addition to the collection in order for the Materials Management Department to review it and make a decision about whether it fits the Collection Development Policy. The item can be mailed to Materials Management at CCPL Headquarters or dropped off at a local branch so that it can be sent to us through interoffice mail. Because of the volume of author requests, the Materials Management Department is not able to purchase the initial copy of the item if it is deemed acceptable for the collection. Instead, we ask for a donation of the first copy and we will monitor the usage on this copy and add other copies if the demand requires.

• All items not added to the collection will be returned to the author, so authors need to provide an address to which the material can be returned or let us know which branch location to which we can return it for pick-up by the author.

• If the item is non-print, it needs to be in a format that we currently circulate. CCPL is not able at this time to add electronic content as we have no mechanism for inclusion to our electronic resources.

• The author is encouraged to provide any professional reviews of the material that are available along with the copy of the item or they can provide a listing of any websites where such reviews exist. Reader reviews in Amazon or other online sites are not considered as part of the review process.

• The Materials Management Department will review the material and will make a decision regarding its addition to the collection. The selector in charge of a particular collection will make this decision. The selector will notify the author within a three week period of time after the material has been received by them. The author needs to provide a current phone number or email address so that the selector can easily contact them.

• Titles by local authors (authors who live in Carroll County or one of the counties surrounding Carroll County) which are added to the collection will become part of our general circulating collection.

• Addition of a title to the CCPL collection does not guarantee that the item will be kept permanently in the collection. Author titles added to the collection will be assessed on a routine basis by branch staff using the same guidelines that are applied to other materials in the Library's collection. If circulation dwindles or totally declines, the title may be withdrawn from the collection.