The African American Studies Collection Development Policy Statement identifies selection criteria for building a multi-disciplinary collection of relevant and quality materials. It identifies the responsibility for building and maintaining the collection, the purpose and the scope of the collection, and guidelines for the selection and retention decisions for these materials. It is a development and planning instrument to communicate with MSU Libraries staff and the University community. The selector of the collection is the Ethnic Studies Bibliographer.
The selection of materials representing the African American experience in the MSU Libraries is designed to support interdisciplinary study, instruction, and research for the African American Studies discipline at the undergraduate and graduate level and in particular, the African American Studies component of the African American and African Studies program at MSU. (This program consists of three components: a PhD degree program in African American and African Studies; an undergraduate specialization in Black American and Diasporic Studies and a Plan B Master of Arts degree for those students in the PhD program who don't complete the requirements for the PhD degree.) The titles selected for African American Studies pertain to the experiences of persons with African ancestry in the United States. They reflect issues in the social sciences and the humanities and include scholarly and authoritative informational works. Titles considered "Popular Culture" may be selected to serve research needs. The primary users of the collection are students and faculty in the African American Studies Program, students and faculty with research and teaching interests in classes studying the African American experience, perspectives and contributions.