Collection Development Policy

Understand the roles of the Libraries and Archives.

About the Collection Development Policy



The Collection Development Policy is a statement of NLB's steadfast commitment to promote lifelong learning, to be an excellent source of information, and to provide rich, interesting and useful collections that continually evolve with our readers' changing needs and expectations.

NLB takes special care over children's collections to ensure that they are age-appropriate.




Selectors consider the merits of each title in relation to the needs and interests of our users, the other titles in the collection, budget availability and space considerations. Each work is evaluated in its entirety and need not meet all of these criteria in order for it to be selected.

The following criteria are applied in the selection of all works:

  • authority and reputation of writer, publisher, producer or illustrator
  • literary, creative, scholarly or technical merit
  • accuracy of information
  • value of work in relation to its cost
  • literary prizes or recognitions awarded to the work or author
  • timeliness
  • expressed or anticipated reader interest or demand, indicated by measures such as circulation of similar materials, readers' requests and customer surveys
  • good quality illustrations
  • durable binding and paper
  • inclusion of special features such as maps, inserts or attachments which may be difficult to process
  • if a work is available in several formats, the following is considered: the format which would better satisfy the above selection criteria, format preferred by our readers, the level of usage, accessibility, availability and cost



NLB excludes materials that are critical of any racial or religious groups that contain derogatory stereotypes, promote intolerance, violence and any other insensitive material that is excessive. Also excluded are books containing sexually explicit and graphically violent text, photography and illustrations of extreme nature. Additionally, NLB complies with the regulations and directives on these matters from the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

NLB does not purchase most specialised, scholarly and highly technical materials that are of limited community interest. Many of these materials can be found in law, medical and other special libraries in Singapore.




NLB welcomes suggestions of titles through the "Recommend a Title" form in the Library's online catalogue.

These suggestions are evaluated using the criteria documented in our collection policy.




Members of the public can submit their requests for review of books or audio-visual items through the "Request for Review of Library Materials" form.

These requests may be referred to the Library Consultative Panel, an independent panel set up to provide recommendations to NLB on its review of library materials.

NLB welcomes suggestions of titles through the "Recommend a Title" form in the Library's online catalogue. These suggestions are evaluated using the criteria documented in our collection policy.






See Also

Legal Deposit
IFLA National Libraries Section