Brief history

The Catholic Resource and Information Service is the library and resource centre for the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide. The centre originated in 1932 when Margaret and Paul McGuire together with Fr John O’Doherty, founded the Catholic Guild of Social Studies in South Australia. Five years later the Fisher and More Library, as it was then called, held 1000 volumes and a service to country parishes began. In 1941 the library was relocated to the Diocesan Education Building, now Fennescey House, and renamed the Central Catholic Library. Following years of closure and amalgamation of smaller collections the Diocesan Resource Centre was opened in 1987 at 39 Wakefield Street.

In 1998 the service closed again and a comprehensive review of the collection and services was undertaken. In response to clientele demand the Resource Centre was relocated in 2000 to Kintore Street, Thebarton, on the site of the Catholic Education Office with the goal of providing resources to teachers as well as parishes and improving access to users throughout the state. On 5th June 2001 the Catholic Resource & Information Service was blessed and opened by Archbishop Philip Wilson.

The Catholic Resource & Information Service supports the mission of parishes, schools and other church agencies, in their pastoral outreach as communities of faith and serves the Catholic community.

Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline a general framework for the development and maintenance of the library collections.
The main objectives of this policy are:

• To provide guidelines for the selection and acquisition of resources that supports the needs of CRIS clientele and the wider Church community
• To assist in setting standards of quality for the acquisition, retention and discarding of resources
• To inform library clients and other libraries of the nature and scope of the collection

Scope
This policy provides guidance to Catholic Education and Adelaide Diocesan staff and information to parishes, schools, borrowers, and institutions with whom CRIS has made reciprocal arrangements, in particular other theological libraries, members of the National Catholic Resource Centre Network (NCRCN) and the Australian and New Zealand Theological Librarians Association (ANZTLA).

General Principles
The acquisition and retention of materials reflect the nature of the institution to provide Catholic Education staff, schools and parishes with resources that reflect their teaching and religious education needs, catechesis and sacramental preparation as well as theological, faith and spiritual requirements.
Collecting occurs at depth in the following areas:

• Contemporary religious education
• Liturgical and sacramental practice
• Scripture and theology
• Faith formation and Christian Spirituality
• Catholic Church history
• Comparative Religion
• Pastoral care and Counselling
• Moral theology
• Parish Ministry
• Systematic Theology
• Leadership
• Contemporary Issues

In selected areas, for example, the Graduate Certificate Collection, resources reflect the needs and requirements of Catholic Studies lecturers and the Religious Education team staff.

In fairness to borrowers multiple copies of Graduate Certificate resources are provided. Students and Teachers have a loan restriction of 4 copies from the Graduate Certificate Collection. In regard to the MITIOG (Made in the Image of God Collection) these materials are provided to teachers with an allocation of a maximum of one kit per school due to the demand of resources.

Principles of Selection: Limitations

• Electronic format readings are provided for Catholic studies students alongside hardcover or paperback editions and may be preferred if this increases access to the material and is more cost effective.
• Core journals will be retained in hard copy while the budget allows.
• Journal Subscriptions will be reviewed annually.
• Donations of books, periodicals and non book materials, both new and second –hand are gratefully accepted, if they fall within the library’s collection priorities and will add significantly to the collection, provided no conditions or restrictions are placed on their use or disposal. Donated material will be integrated into existing collections and unwanted items may go to book sales.
• The library has neither the space nor staff resources to accept significant specialist collections. Offers of donations with major resource implications may be declined, but alternative locations will be suggested.

Review of the Collection Development Policy
In order that this collection development policy remains current and relevant it will be reviewed every three years.

Dated: Tuesday 27 September 2016