Wilbur Wright College Library Mission
The library is more than a collection of items: it is an exceptional and organic combination of knowledgeable staff, services, and materials made available through evolving information technologies in a welcoming environment. The library promotes critical engagement with information, supports excellence in teaching and learning, and prepares individuals for active citizenship in a diverse global society.
Scope of the collection
The scope of the collection is intended to support academic curricula, career programs, information literacy, community interests, and lifelong learning.
The library attempts to collect at the “Study or Instructional Support” level as defined in the International Federation of Library Association’s Guidelines for Collection Development Policies. At the Initial Study or Instructional Support Level, collections provide information about a subject in a systematic way, but at a level of less than research intensity, and support the needs of general library users and undergraduate students. The collections include:
- An extensive collection of general monographs and reference works and selected specialized monographs and reference works. These resources may be in print or online format.
- An extensive collection of general periodicals and a representative collection of specialized periodicals in print or online format.
- A limited collection of foreign language learning materials.
- An extensive collection of works of well-known authors and selections from the works of lesser-known authors.
- Access to an extensive collection of print and online electronic resources, including bibliographic tools, journals, databases, etc.
A “Study” or “Instructional Support” level collection should be systematically reviewed for currency of information and for assurance that essential and important information is retained, including significant numbers of classic retrospective materials.
General Selection Criteria
Materials are collected to support the academic, professional, and lifelong learning goals of Wright College students, faculty, and staff.
Description of the Library Collections
Circulating Collection
- Due to space constraints, the combined circulating collection of the two campuses will be maintained at a size of 70,000 titles or fewer through careful deselection.
Reference Collection
- The reference collection is non-circulating and includes works that are intended to directly or indirectly provide information in support of the college curricula. Standard general reference tools are also included. Deselected materials may be relegated to the circulating collection as appropriate. If online resources provide the exact or superior content and ease of access as the print version, then both online and print versions of a resource are not purchased.
Reserve Collection
- Reserve items may be either instructor-owned or library-owned materials and are place on reserve at the request of faculty members. CCC's contract with Barnes & Noble stipulates that two copies of required textbooks shall be provided to the library as part of the reserve collection. The library does not purchase textbooks.
Popular Collection
- A collection of popular books supports the college’s reading courses and also meets the leisure reading needs of patrons. Books in this collection are selected to appeal to patrons while still maintaining reasonable literary standards.
Periodical Collection
- Access to periodical articles is often provided through online databases. Print periodicals which duplicate the online titles are not purchased; however, print periodicals are purchased to support college curricula where online resources are not available. A few periodicals are purchased to meet patron leisure reading requests.
Audio-Visual Collection
- The library does not purchase Audio-Visual materials at this time.
Wright College Institutional Archives
- The library maintains the College archives. Included in the archives are:
- Copies of any minutes, meetings, or reports of any committee or division pertinent to the history of the college.
- Significant publications of the college (For example – catalogs, self-study reports, faculty and adjunct faculty handbooks, policy manuals, administrative manuals, official newsletters, student newspapers, commencement programs, and annuals).
- External documents which pertain to the college (For example – curriculum guides, accreditation guidelines, and policy manuals).
- Newspaper articles specifically about the college or the professional activities of college personnel.
Resource Sharing
Upon request of a patron, circulating items can be transferred between campuses of the City Colleges of Chicago. Additionally, the library's membership in the Consortia for Academic and Reseach Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) provides free interlibrary loans from among its member libraries through I-Share, thereby providing access to the resources of several research universities. To submit an I-Share request, library patrons may visit or contact the reference desk.
