Selection Responsibilities Collection managers are urged to be alert in spotting materials within their specialties that may fit these guidelines. The most easily recognized criterium for inclusion in a rare book library is age. Dates for various regions are customarily based upon the appearance of printing in that area. Trends in the care and treatment of books, such as the period of preserving books by stripping them of their publishers cloth bindings and replacing them with library buckram, need to be noted. Great attention must be paid to the current strengths of the collections.
Caution is advised in beginning new collecting areas.
Unless there is a clear present or predictable pedagogical need, such collections are in danger of reflecting individual whimsy as opposed to institutional objectives. Security is a consideration for materials placed in the rare book collection. Books subject to mutilation, such as erotica, books with valuable plates, unusual formats, etc. Books that are unusually expensive and would be very difficult to replace should be considered. Books that simply have a history of disappearing from the general stacks do not.