A tertiary goal is to serve the larger community of the Southwestern Idaho. As an institution with a larger budget base than many others attention is paid to acquiring expensive materials to serve not only the Campus Community, but also the distant students and the communities of this area. Attention is also given to the cooperative acquisition of materials with other academic and public libraries. Upon learning of new programs of study, the Reference Collection should be assessed against additional anticipated demand. There is also a focus on material for both Career and Financial Aids and Study materials for standardized tests for occupational areas stressed within the University's curriculum.
Nothing is specifically excluded, emphasis is on print and electronic formats.
These include both current and past languages. It is assumed that the users of material within the collection are adults who are capable of forming their own opinions, based upon information given and received. A systematic weeding is attempted every second or third summer. The Special Collections Department of the Boise State University Library houses research materials that are unique, rare, or fragile. Most relate to Idaho and adjacent areas of the West, but the department also holds the university's general rare book collection as well.