Collection Development Policy

Marquette University’s Raynor Library collection supports the teaching, learning, and research activities of the University by ensuring that faculty, students, researchers, and staff have access to a broad and diverse range of scholarly resources, both through our own collection and through resource sharing with other institutions. This policy reflects Marquette University’s mission, vision, and guiding values as an urban, private, Catholic, Jesuit university.

In selecting materials for our collections, our actions are informed by a belief in the essential importance of intellectual curiosity, knowledge acquisition, and the human desire to create, and we endeavor to support the pursuit of those ends fully. We affirm the value of academic freedom and the free pursuit of knowledge, consistent with the liberal arts foundations of Jesuit educational practices. Informed by the University’s commitments to care for the whole person (cura personalis), care for the world, and service, we take special care to build collections that support research and learning both within and across disciplinary structures, and that represent a multitude of perspectives. This mission seeks to include voices, communities, histories, and perspectives that have been historically diminished, marginalized and/or underrepresented in library collections. Consistent with the characteristics of Jesuit education, our collecting practices are informed by a commitment to a person-centered approach to educating. As such, we collect materials with groups and the individual in mind, with an eye toward offering a breadth and depth of materials that can sustain a wide variety of intellectual inquiries and pursuits.

This policy covers the general collections. University Archives and Digital Collections have their own guidelines.

Collection Guidelines

• Develop and maintain high-quality collections in multiple formats that support research and instruction at Marquette University.
• Conduct regular assessments to optimize the collections within budget parameters.
• Monitor new and evolving areas of scholarship and instruction at Marquette University and provide resources needed to support them.
• Increase access to information resources through resource sharing and cooperative collection development with other libraries and institutions.
• Facilitate the discovery and publishing of scholarly open access materials.

Selection Criteria

• Relevance to Marquette University research and academic programs.
• High-quality content with scholarly, professional, or Marquette community value. Resources in support of Marquette University’s affordable learning goals for students.
• Published works by Marquette University authors.
• Recommendations from faculty, staff, and students. To recommend a single title or streaming resource as a one-time purchase, faculty, staff, and students may use our online form. To request a database, journal, or research tool with an annual subscription, please work with your liaison librarian.
• Cost, including both initial purchase price and ongoing fees, within the framework of available funding.
• To ensure long-term access, purchase resources when possible and economically feasible rather than leasing them.
• Accessibility for persons with disabilities to ensure all users can gain knowledge from library materials.
• Preference is given to resources in electronic format to maximize access. Materials with the least user restrictions are prioritized

(Revised and updated March 2025)