Material Consideration

Mission
The Whitefish Bay Public Library, as a cornerstone of the community, is dedicated to connecting all people, inspiring a love of learning and providing access to ideas, information and resources.

Purpose
The Whitefish Bay Public Library values public feedback in building and maintaining a high-quality, responsive collection. This policy outlines the formal process for suggesting new materials or requesting review of current items in the collection.

The Library’s collection reflects a variety of viewpoints to enable citizens to make informed choices in a democratic society. While not every item will appeal to every individual, all patrons have the right to access materials, even if some content is controversial or unpopular. The Library upholds the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights[1] and the principles of intellectual freedom[2].

Court decisions such as Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982)[3] and Sund v. City of Wichita Falls (2000)[4] affirm that removing or reclassifying materials solely due to personal objections is unconstitutional. These rulings support the Library’s commitment to ensuring that no individual’s preferences limit others’ access. All materials selected under the Library’s Collection Development & Management Policy (2025)[5] are considered constitutionally protected until such time as they are determined unprotected by judicial action in courts of competent jurisdiction and after all court appeals have been exhausted.

Parents and guardians are solely responsible for guiding their child or teen’s use of library materials. Library staff do not serve in place of parents or guardians, and the collection is not restricted based on the possibility that a child or teen may access a particular item.

Requesting Purchase of New Material
The Library welcomes suggestions for new titles. All suggestions are evaluated based on the Collection Development & Management Policy (2025)[6], collection needs, and available budget.

Suggestions may be submitted:

• In person, by phone, or via email to Adult or Youth Services staff
• Online at: whitefishbay.countycat.mcfls.org/suggest

Requesting Review of Current Material
General Guidelines

• Forms are available here and at the Adult and Youth Services desks.
• The requester must have read, viewed, or listened to the item in its entirety in keeping with the Wisconsin Obscenity (Wis. Stats. § 944.21)[7] and Harmful to Minors (Wis. Stats. § 948.11)[8]
• Requests must address the entire work, not excerpts or single sections.
• Only requests by residents of Whitefish Bay with an active WFBPL card will be considered.
• Requests may not be submitted anonymously.
• If multiple forms are received for the same item at the same time, they will be treated as a single request with multiple initiators.
• Each form must address only one single item.
  • If more than one form is submitted, by one or more requestors, they will be considered and processed one at a time.
• If the library is currently reviewing another item, a waiting list will be created and the Library Director will inform the requesting individual in writing where they are on the list and an approximate wait time.
• An item will not be reviewed more than once every four (4) years in keeping with the typical collection review cycle; duplicate requests will be informed of the prior decision.
• Items will remain in the collection and available for use during the review process.
• The review process should be completed in its entirety and not subverted or ended prematurely, which could leave the Library and the Village of Whitefish Bay open to legal challenge.
• Per Wisconsin Statute 19.31[9], completed forms and related correspondence are public records and may be released under open records law.

Review Process
Submission

• Submit the completed form in person, by email, or by postal mail. Submissions received by staff will be forwarded to the Library Director that day.

Acknowledgment

• If the item is checked out to the requester, it must be returned before review process begins.
• Within five (5) to fifteen (15) business days[10] of receiving the completed form (and the item, if it is checked out by the requestor), the Library will send written confirmation of receipt.
• The Library Board will be notified that a request was received within five (5) to fifteen (15) business days of receiving the completed form.

Evaluation

• The Library Director will convene a review panel consisting of:
  • The Director (chair)
  • The relevant department head
  • One staff member from the relevant department
• The panel will review the item in full and consider:
  • Alignment with the Collection Development & Management Policy
  • The item’s place in the WFBPL collection and availability at other Milwaukee County Federated Library System (MCFLS) libraries
    • When other libraries include a title in their collections, it signals that the material is viewed as suitable for public library holdings.
  • Professional reviews and general reception
    • Example: New York Times, Library Journal, Amazon, and GoodReads reviews; national book club selection (i.e. Oprah, Good Morning America, Reese’s); Amazon or New York Times best seller list 
  •  Whether it “Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational or scientific value, if taken as a whole.”[11]
  • The panel will complete its review within thirty (30) business days from confirmation date, unless delayed by multiple simultaneous requests.

Decision

• The Library Director, in consultation with the panel, will decide whether to retain, withdraw, or reclassify the item.
• A written decision will be provided to the requester within fifteen (15) business days of completing the review.

Appeal

• The requester may submit a written appeal to the Library Board. The written appeal must be received within twenty (20) business days of the initial decision.
• The Board will hear the appeal as an action item within the next two (2) regular meetings.
• The Board’s decision is final.[12]

[1] https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

[2] https://www.wisconsinlibraries.org/intellectual-freedom-resources

[3] https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/457/853/

[4] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/121/530/2505416/

[5] https://www.wfblibrary.org/about/policies/

[6] https://www.wfblibrary.org/about/policies/

[7] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/944/iv/21

[8] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/948/11

[9] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/19/II/31

[10] For calculations, there are 5 business days in 1 week so 15 business days is 3 weeks

[11] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/944/iv/21

[12] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/43/58/4