The Library’s collection development policy is closely aligned with the Library’s strategic plan.  The overall goal of the Library’s collection management activities is to ensure that the Library makes the most efficient use of the resources provided to develop and manage the Library’s collection in order to meet the educational, scholarship, and university community needs.

There are three main areas of collection undertaken by Brookes Library. 

• The primary collections are those intended to support the educational and research mission of the university.  These include such collection locations as the General Circulating Collection, the Reference Collection, the Reserves Collection, the Media Collection, and related locations. 
• The second major area are those collections focused on popular works geared toward leisure and recreation both in print and online.  This includes the Libby popular audio and ebook collection and locations such as the Feature Films and Popular Book Collection. 
• The final collection area are those materials deemed significant for long term preservation due to cultural or historical significance, primarily housed in Archives and Special Collections. 

The library collection at UIS is focused on the educational and research needs of the faculty, staff, and students with emphasis on student needs.  Given that the faculty often integrate their research into their courses, faculty research needs are also given attention.  The goal of the collection is to have it used, and is not focused on the preservation of knowledge or other collection goals undertaken by larger institutions with different missions.  The collection development policy is to be flexible enough to reflect changes and trends in the University's academic programs and the publishing industry.  The University Library is a member of the Federal Depository Library Program. Our selective collecting of digital government information is focused on complementing the educational and research mission of UIS.  To accomplish these goals the library has developed a number of general guidelines while following the established standards, and ethical and legal principles surrounding acquiring library materials.