Collection Development Policy

Contents

Mission Statement

The Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, serves the needs of Maryland's government and citizens by: building and preserving collections of legal information resources, promoting access to these collections, and creating educational opportunities that enhance the understanding of legal information.

 

Introduction

The current Library traces its roots to its establishment as the Maryland State Library by the General Assembly in 1826 Md. Laws, Chapter 53, passed on February 2, 1827. The Library opened its doors in the State House for the first time in December, 1827. Initially, the Library was established primarily for the Legislature and was to collect materials that would represent “all branches of knowledge.” During this time, the Library acquired John James Audubon’s Birds of America, antique maps, and other historical materials. Portions of this early collection remain and are housed in the Chief Judge Robert M. Bell Special Collections Room. 

After serving as a repository for a wide variety of topics, the collection began to focus on legal materials, Maryland history, and government documents by the late 1800s. In 1892, the Library began to be governed by a committee of appellate judges; twelve years later it moved into the then-new Court of Appeals Building. The Library moved to its current location in 1972. The Judicial Branch assumed responsibility in 1978 and renamed the Library the Maryland State Law Library. In 2019, the State Law Library was renamed as the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library. 

At present, the Library provides access to a collection of legal, government, reference, news, historical, and genealogical materials. The collection is composed of print materials, microforms, online repositories, subscription databases, as well as artwork and historical artifacts.

The Library also provides an array of legal reference and referral services to the Maryland Judiciary, Maryland government staff, attorneys, other libraries, and the public. Services are provided in person, over the telephone, through email, and by standard mail. The Library is open to public visitors, although circulation of materials is restricted.

 

Authority and Responsibilities

Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library

Maryland State Publications Depository and Distribution Program (MSPDDP)

Maryland Division of State Documents Depository Library

Miscellaneous State Requirements

Federal Depository Library Program

 

Collection Governance

Library Committee

The Library Committee is the governing board of the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library. The Committee is composed of three or more members appointed by the Supreme Court of Maryland. The Committee convenes annually (or more frequently, if needed) to review reports of Library activity, as well as to discuss and make decisions related to policies. The Committee appoints the Library Director, develops rules for the Library, and authorizes actions related to the Library’s collections.

Collection Development Committee

The Director annually appoints a Collection Development Committee (CDC) to handle practical aspects and details of developing and maintaining the Library’s collections. The CDC has five voting members, which includes four staff members plus the Director. Most CDC actions are decided by a vote, after research and discussion, although the Director retains authority to override CDC decisions.

The Library Acquisitions Specialist serves in an advisory and non-voting capacity, by attending CDC meetings and providing budgetary reports and procurement guidance. As needed, the Director may invite other staff members to attend CDC meetings and to participate in CDC projects as non-voting members, or to participate as voting members in lieu of members who are unable to serve.

 

Materials Selection and Retention Guidelines

The Director has final responsibility for the development and maintenance of the Library’s collections. The Director and CDC shall carefully consider applicable Maryland Judiciary policies, statutory requirements, budgetary factors, and the criteria listed below when determining the course of collections:

  1. Relevance to existing collections
  2. Scarcity of material on the topic
  3. Future reference value
  4. Tables of contents, indexing, and searchability of the material
  5. Frequency of citation in cases, law review articles, and other legal contexts
  6. Authority and reputation of author / publisher
  7. Accuracy
  8. Time period coverage and currency
  9. Inclusion of Maryland-specific material
  10. Availability of material in various formats
  11. Degree of content overlap with current subscriptions (including eBooks and databases)
  12. Initial price, upkeep and maintenance costs
  13. Frequency of updating
  14. Quality and durability of the format
  15. Space to house the material
  16. Usage statistics, when available
  17. Multiple copies when heavy demand is anticipated
  18. Recommendations from staff, patrons, and the law librarian community (including interlibrary loan requests)
  19. Need for information in languages other than English
  20. Copyright and licensing restrictions
  21. For online resources, security and authentication protocols
  22. For online resources, availability and quality of training and technical support
  23. Future availability and accessibility

 

Overview of Individual Collections

Law Collection

The Library ensures that patrons have access to materials critical to the understanding and practice of law, with particular consideration of Maryland. The collection includes primary source materials from Maryland and its counties and municipalities; other states and territories of the United States; federal law; and tribal law. In addition, the collection includes access to early English law and other materials significant to the development of Maryland law. The collection fundamentally focuses on American legal resources but may also include access to select international and foreign law. Similarly, the Library provides access to secondary sources containing analysis. Access may be provided through a range of formats including print materials, microform, digital content, and online providers such as subscription databases.

State and Federal Government Document Collections

The Library collects Maryland state documents through participation in the Maryland State Publications Depository and Distribution Program (MSPDDP) and through the Maryland Division of State Documents Depository program. In addition, Library staff actively archive Maryland documents and webpages as members of the Legal Information Archive (LIA), for the Library’s Scanned Collections, and repository of archived webpages, which are made available to the public through the Library’s webpages and online catalog. These gathered documents provide essential background information for legislation, court opinions, and other Maryland government activity.

The Library also participates in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), as an online, selective depository for U.S. government documents. In particular, the Library selects materials related to the court system, administration of justice, and Maryland. Library staff add links for online federal government publications to the online catalog, which allows patrons to easily locate essential federal documents.  

Maryland History and Genealogy

The Library provides access to primary and secondary source materials related to Maryland history and genealogy, including birth, death, and marriage registers, military lists, historical non-fiction, and various Maryland newspapers. The Library prioritizes items related to Maryland’s legal and political history.

Subscription Databases

The Library provides an extensive collection of subscription databases to Maryland Judiciary staff, and to patrons who visit the Library in person to utilize its public computer stations or Wi-Fi service. The databases are provided free of charge to visitors and provide access to legal and reference materials covering a wide range of topics such as state and federal law, foreign law, consumer materials, dictionaries, law review articles, legal forms, newspapers, genealogical and historical materials, and more.

People’s Law Library of Maryland

The People’s Law Library of Maryland (PLL) is an example of the Library’s collection of born-digital legal information resources. As a publicly accessible website developed and maintained by the Library, PLL provides reliable, plain-language explanations of Maryland law to self-represented litigants and the public. The site’s articles summarize local, state, and federal laws and reference authoritative primary and secondary legal sources. PLL directly supports the Library’s mission to promote access to legal information and enhance public understanding of the law. The Library periodically archives copies of the site for preservation and reference purposes.

Rare Books, Art, and Artifacts

The Library maintains a collection of rare books, artwork, and Marylandia, some of which were obtained early in the Library’s history. Artworks are displayed throughout the Library, although the majority of these treasured items are secured in the Chief Judge Robert M. Bell Special Collections Room. Unless directed by the Library Committee, the Library does not purchase additional artworks, although donors sometimes contribute items. The CDC occasionally may purchase a rare book related to Maryland legal history, although this action is infrequent.

 

Donations

All donations to the Library, which shall be limited to books and historical artifacts, should generally follow the Library’s Collection Development Policy. The Library can provide a letter of acknowledgment for donations, but will not define a value of the donation. All donated items are accepted with the understanding that the donation becomes an unrestricted gift. Library staff may add items to the collection or may choose to dispose of them for any reason.

 

Withdrawal and Disposal of Library Collections

The Collection Development Committee makes decisions concerning withdrawal of materials. The Library Committee, as part of its oversight duty, may direct that certain resources be retained. Note that, according to statute, no item may be sold if its sale would break a set (Md. Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings §13-504).

The Library will provide widespread notice of its intent to donate withdrawn materials to other libraries or archives, with highest priority being given to local public institutions. Notice may be provided through online discussion lists, email, and similar methods of publicity. If, in the opinion of the Director, the subject matter of a withdrawn item is particularly specialized, the Library may notify appropriate prospective institutions directly. The Library does not donate withdrawn items to individuals.

Large sets of materials that may retain value will be placed for sale on GovDeals, an online auction platform. The Library may require as part of a sale that any buyer package, load, and transport any purchases. If a buyer is not located, the large sets may be donated to other libraries, using the publicity methods described above.

The Library Committee shall approve any sale of withdrawn materials. The proceeds of any sale shall be paid to the State Treasurer within 30 days of receipt.
If no buyer is located, and no library or archive expresses interest, print library materials may be recycled. Unclaimed microforms may be disposed of.

The Library will maintain internal procedures for the withdrawal and disposal of library collections. These procedures will be consistent with any Fixed Assets guidelines or requirements promulgated by the Maryland Judiciary.

 

Preservation and Conservation

Preservation is a natural extension of the Library’s efforts to collect relevant materials and to ensure their long-term accessibility. These efforts include binding of print publications, digitization of microform and print collections, harvesting of born-digital government publications, adherence to environmental standards for preservation of library materials, scheduled inventory control, and security procedures. In addition, staff will pursue book repair, rebinding, packaging, cleaning, and similar conservation methods to preserve rare books, artworks, and artifacts. These efforts may include contractual agreements with outside services, such as professional conservators, to ensure that fragile items receive appropriate care.

 

Policy Revisions

The Collection Development Committee will review the Collection Development Policy annually, and may propose amendments to ensure the continuing viability of the Library’s collections. Amendments may be necessitated by changes in the legal publishing industry, technological advancements, evolving needs of the Library’s patron base, or directives from court administrators. The Library Committee must approve any revisions to the Collection Development Policy. The most current version of the Collection Development Policy will be placed on the Library Policies and Guidelines webpage.

 

This policy was approved by the State Law Library Committee, March 4, 2026