Deer Ridge Collection Guidelines

Collection Development and Acquisitions Guidelines for COCC’s Resource Room, Deer Ridge

Last Reviewed & Updated: November, 2025

Background and Context

The Deer Ridge COCC Resource Room serves about 300-400 total student and tutor adults in custody over the course of a year. Student users are enrolled in COCC courses. Up to 100 tutors might be using the Resource Room over a year.   

Purpose and Scope of Collection

The Resource Room is distinct from the prison library, which is open to the entire prison population. Students and tutors can check out Resource Room material. While the Resource Room directly supports COCC programs in adult basic education, GED, welding, etc., it also includes social studies and science materials, classics and novels to allow students to prepare for the reading comprehension portion of the GED.  

COCC has offered an AAOT at Deer Ridge beginning Spring Term, 2024. The Resource Room collection will support this goal.

The Resource Room also strongly encourages students and tutors to engage in self-directed learning and life-long learning. Resource Room collections therefore include advanced high school and two year college holdings responding to student and tutor interests in construction math, general sciences, novels, general social sciences, and reference materials, such as encyclopedias. Items with publication dates of 2000 and above are appropriate for most items. A publication date of 2015 and above is requested for items in the fields of science and technology. 

COCC Library's Role

The COCC Library supports COCC programs at the Deer Ridge COCC Resource Room in the following ways: 

1. COCC Library’s Collection Development Librarian will provide an annual allocation of funds for new books at the Deer Ridge COCC Resource Room to support COCC courses and programs. This annual allocation is the usual amount allocated to each discipline/subject area on campus every year. The Deer Ridge Education Director and corresponding COCC Dean will be informed about the allocation amount early in Fall Term, each year.
2. Deer Ridge Resource Room staff have developed a process for reviewing and confirming recommendations for new items. The Deer Ridge Education Director is responsible for assuring that all new materials ordered by the COCC Library meet Deer Ridge policies in terms of safety and appropriateness for a prison resource room collection. 
3. COCC faculty and staff can donate materials supporting COCC courses and programs at Deer Ridge using our online gift form. COCC Library Technical Services staff will receive and review these donations. Standard COCC Library gift policies apply. Donations will need to meet the collection scope described above. The Deer Ridge Education Director is responsible for assuring that all new materials meet Deer Ridge policies in terms of safety and appropriateness for a prison resource room collection.