As a public urban college, Brooklyn College has as its primary mission the provision of a superior education in the liberal arts and sciences.  The undergraduate and graduate curricula seek to develop critical thought and the ability to acquire and organize knowledge. 

Brooklyn College Library provides the maximum support possible for current instructional needs.   Faculty research needs are supported to the greatest extent possible.  The Library collects in relation to the degrees offered.  It is dynamic in that the programs may change over time; the collection is not static.

The Library collects material in all formats: print, electronic, audiovisual, etc.  The Library accepts gifts and will appropriately acknowledge the grantor.  Library materials are selected according to collection development goals, general criteria, and discipline-specific guidelines. In collection development, Brooklyn College Library subscribes to the principles expressed in the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read Statement.

The Library makes collection decisions in consultation with its user community and maintains formal liaison relationships with academic departments.  However, the Library faculty bibliographer has the ultimate responsibility for the allocated budgets.  All faculty and students are encouraged to recommend titles for purchase or subscriptions to be added to the circulating, reference or reserves collections or to our Archives and Special Collections.  Each department has special needs that are tended to by its assigned bibliographer.

Brooklyn College Library is part of The City University Library System and also participates in other consortial arrangements.  Furthermore, the Library acknowledges the importance of improving scholarly communications and retaining rights for the use of information, and it therefore endorses open access initiatives.

The Library is moving toward increased reliance on electronic resources while acknowledging the continued and critical importance of our print collections.  Therefore, the Library supports providing access to new and emerging information resources.  Access 24/7 and ease of use are important criteria in selecting materials.  The Library is moving toward a system-wide (The City University) view of collection development.  Many of our electronic resources are provided through the Office of Library Services.

For more information about subject resources, see our subject guides. For information about the Library's government documents collection, see our collection development policy for government documents.