Each member of the faculty is encouraged to help develop the library’s collections according to the anticipated needs of the students. Disciplinary materials allocation may be used for books, eBooks, new periodical subscriptions, audiovisual materials, and other educational formats. Database recommendations are handled on a case by case basis by contacting the Director of Libraries. Software needed for personal or class use is not covered by the library materials budget.
Materials purchased with library funds are cataloged and housed as part of the college library collections, available to all Salem borrowers. First priority is given to purchases for student use in completing course-related research.
Because Salem does not have a large library budget, we do not usually order more than one copy of a given title.
In order to have the money spent by the end of the fiscal year (June 30), it is required that faculty members have their requests committed by June 1st at the latest. This allows enough time for the order to be completed, and the invoices paid within the fiscal year. Orders received after June 1st are charged against the next fiscal year.
All requests for library purchases are forwarded to Cait Whitehead. Items ordered become evident in the online catalog along with a status report (e.g., on order, received, available). Requests for titles already in the collections are returned with notation of the call number.
If you have any questions about purchases please email Cait Whitehead, at cait.whitehead@salem.edu
Please use the following Purchase Recommendation Form to request materials.