The Klinck Memorial Library collects materials that support the current curricular and research needs of Concordia University Chicago undergraduate and graduate programs, serving both on-campus and online students. The library supports CUC's mission to discover and disseminate knowledge, and to protect the freedom of inquiry through research, teaching, and learning. Availability of materials does not necessarily represent an endorsement by either the institution or by the library staff of ideas or opinions they contain. The Klinck Memorial Library supports the American Library Association's Bill of Rights, its Intellectual Freedom Statement, including the statement on Challenged Materials. The library attempts to acquire materials that represent differing opinions on controversial matters. Selection is nonpartisan regarding matters of race, sex, religion, or moral philosophy.
Through collection development, the Klinck Memorial Library facilitates seamless access to robust and distinctive collections. While we support the collection of research materials, we are not explicitly a research library or a repository. We strive to enhance and simplify access to resources that support and enrich our users’ teaching, learning, and research. The Klinck Memorial Library acquires print and electronic collections for the campus community and cultivates partnerships with other research libraries to achieve fast and efficient access.
The first priority of collection development is to serve the curricular needs of the students. To facilitate this, requests for additions to the collection are assigned the following priorities:
Priority 1: Materials that support the current curriculum; materials that have immediate educational value for students; materials produced by authors and publishers of good reputation; materials that have basic permanent value and timely materials that have current value.
Priority 2: Materials that could be useful to students and faculty in areas within the educational scope of the university, but are not essential to support that area. This category includes materials of outstanding quality that are not concerned directly with CUC required courses. Purchase of these items is desirable but not essential. These purchases will usually occur at the end of the fiscal year if there is left over money in the budget.
Priority 3: Materials of merit that would be "nice to have" but are not essential to the collection, either in support of the curriculum or in related subject areas. These items would be purchased only if extra funds are obtained through other means such as monetary donations, awards, or grants.