Our Policies

Collection Development Policy
The Phoenix Files (Archives) Collection Policy
Events + Use of Space
Patron Privacy
Donations
Open Access Policy
Circulation Policies
Interlibrary Loan

Collection Development Policy

Guiding Principles

Our collections advance Olin College's educational mission by providing students, faculty, and staff timely access to needed and supportive content and services. We employ a user-driven acquisition strategy that prioritizes accessibility and responsiveness to evolving academic needs.

User-Centered Strategy

To match Olin's agile curriculum, we use a 'just in time' acquisition strategy, purchasing materials when needed rather than building large collections 'just in case.' This approach relies on professional expertise, interlibrary loans, partnerships with other libraries, and direct response to user requests. We consider adding almost anything to our collection - from books to drawing tablets to binoculars - allowing us to serve our community's actual needs flexibly and efficiently.

Acquisitions

We support intellectual freedom and collect materials representing diverse scholarly perspectives to encourage critical thinking and informed discourse. For non-fiction materials, we prioritize those with demonstrated academic merit and educational value. For fiction, equipment, and other materials, we focus on educational, recreational, or practical value for our community. We collect within our budgetary, physical, and digital constraints. We do not collect materials that promote violence or hatred against individuals or groups. We value and strongly encourage purchase requests from the Olin community (students, staff, and faculty). We purchase physical copies (and license digital versions whenever possible) of all required and recommended course books.

Weeding

Weeding is the process of removing irrelevant, outdated, superseded, or otherwise inappropriate collection materials. It is an important element of any library collection. We employ standard professional evaluation and weeding practices to assess our collection items, including date of purchase, rate of circulation, and curricular use. Library staff invite and encourage Olin faculty and staff to evaluate their expert areas in our holdings, and make recommendations for purchases and weeding at any time. Weeded items in good condition are donated to Better World Books, a certified B corporation, or to local public libraries that accept donations. Items that are not acceptable to any organizations, such as damaged or outdated reference materials, are recycled.

(revised 9.2.2025)

The Phoenix Files (Archives) Collection Policy

Purpose

The Phoenix Files, a community archive of Olin College of Engineering, documents the history of student life and academic scholarship on campus. Its purpose is to serve students, faculty, and staff seeking to learn more about the culture, community, and unique educational practices of Olin College. Library staff is responsible for developing and maintaining the collection in consultation with other members of the Olin College community. While the physical archive maintains a small space in Campus Center 300d, the continued development of The Phoenix Files will prioritize born-digital and digitized objects.

Mission

The mission of The Phoenix Files is to collect evidence of campus culture and student and faculty scholarship at Olin College of Engineering.

Scope

The Phoenix Files covers student life and scholarship at Olin College, including student activities, research, and community events. Collected physical materials include student yearbooks, photography projects, student newspapers, and research papers and projects. The physical archive also includes items related to the development of Olin College, including administrative documents from the Olin Foundation and marketing materials and photography from the first few years of the college’s existence. Although the archive does contain some materials related to the F.W. Olin Foundation and the college’s general history, the collection focuses on culture and scholarship at Olin College. We do not collect administrative documents or operational records, such as blueprints or receipts.

Types of Materials Collected

Types of materials found in the physical archives include booklets, loose papers, flyers, ringed binders, photographs, three-dimensional art objects, and varied artifacts such as commemorative shovels and Olin-branded t-shirts. Audiovisual materials include CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and other physical media formats. As of December 2021, all optical and tape materials are in the process of being digitized. Born-digital and digitized materials are stored at . The digital repository site includes faculty and student scholarship, research, publications, conference presentations, final projects, and other artifacts of campus culture.

As of January 2022, we no longer collect physical materials unless in exceptional circumstances that may further the goals of the collection. Instead, all new acquisitions should be uploaded to The Phoenix Files website ( ). Library staff can help with determining collection relevancy and the document upload process. Faculty members are encouraged to share their research publications in accordance with the college's open access policy.

Events + Use of Space

We love events! The Library makes every effort to accommodate event requests. The Librarians are experienced event planners and will happily advise on any element. However:

You are responsible for organizing everything related to your event: requests, advertising, setup, hosting, and cleanup.
Failure to coordinate with the Library with a planned event may result in you or your group being barred from hosting future events and/or an Honor Board referral.

Event Requirements

Before: Pre-approval from Library staff.

During:

Keep exits, exit paths and stairway clear (fire code)
Maintain access to bookshelves, Quiet Reading Room and Team Rooms

After:

Clean as soon as your event ends.
Reset any lightweight furniture UNLESS that furniture was moved by Facilties. In that case, you may leave it for the Facilities crew to reset.
Remove all food.
Vacuum any crumbs and spray down all surfaces.

Request a Event in the Library

Note: the Library does not use any Olin scheduling software. You must contact us directly to book the Library space.

Make your request as soon as you have a potential date

Requests must include the following information. If any element is unknown, acknowledge it and the Librarians will work with you to figure it out.

Desired date
Time block AND setup time block (if applicable)
Library area
Basic event description/idea

No later than ONE week before the event, send:

Outside attendees (school visits, BOW, guest speakers)
Furniture needs (moving furniture, additional furniture, etc)

You must speak with us if you plan to move bookshelves so that we can ensure safety.
Decorations

IT needs (microphones, other A/V, etc.)
Food/Catering (“catered dinner,” “bags of chips,” etc. We don’t need a full menu!)

If you are struggling with decisions about your event, need guidance on IT/Facilities/Catering or other departments, or would just like some feedback, please reach out. We need to know these details and can help you figure them out. We have a lot of event experience!

Use of the Quiet Reading Room

During the academic year, the Quiet Reading Room (QRR) is not available for events. We recognize it’s a pleasant space to congregate, but it's of utmost importance for our library to provide a first class study environment for the community and to honor the intentions of the gift funds that were used to create the QRR.

To request the QRR during vacations and the summer months, for arrangements.

Patron Privacy

The Olin Library protect the privacy of patron circulation, ILL, and electronic records as required under FERPA as recommended by the American Library Association and will not disclose these records, either casually or upon request. The right to privacy and freedom of intellectual pursuit are core values of the Olin College Library and the library profession. Librarians never disclose identifying elements of student interactions, questions, or research consultations to instructors. Records containing information about patrons are kept to the bare minimum needed to maintain library workflows.

Donations

The Library is not accepting donations of books or other physical media at this time. Please email for more information.

Open Access Policy

(Approved by the faculty on November 28, 2012)

The Faculty of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering is committed to disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible. In keeping with that commitment, the Faculty adopts the following policy:

Each Faculty member grants to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles. More specifically, each Faculty member grants to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, provided that the articles are not sold for a profit, and to authorize others to do the same. The policy applies to all scholarly articles authored or co-authored while the person is a member of the Faculty except for any articles completed before the adoption of this policy and any articles for which the Faculty member entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement before the adoption of this policy. The Provost or Provost’s designate will waive application of the license for a particular article or delay access for a specified period of time upon express direction by a Faculty member.

Each Faculty member will provide an electronic copy of the author’s final version of each article in a timely manner at no charge to the appropriate representative of the Provost’s Office in an appropriate format (such as PDF) specified by the Provost’s Office. The Provost’s Office may make the article available to the public in an open-access repository. The Office of the Provost will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the Faculty from time to time. The policy will be reviewed after three years and a report presented to the Faculty.

Circulation Policies

Individuals with Olin ID cards, Olin alumni, and members of schools with whom Olin College has reciprocal agreements (Babson and Wellesley) can check out materials from the Olin College Library. Visitors may use books and most electronic resources within the library during public hours (M-F 9-5).

Standard Loan Periods

Books + DVDS: 28 days
Course Reserves: 3 hours
Tools + Media Equipment: 7 days
Use for longer than one week requires approval from library staff (we almost always say yes). Email
library@olin.edu Open email to the library
to request and confirm.

Off-Campus Media Use

If you are taking a camera off-campus, you must use a protective case. We have carrying cases for all of the cameras, so please ask for help if you don't see them on the shelf.

Overdue/Late Fees

Overdue fees are not charged.

Interlibrary Loan

Placing a request

If the Library does not own the item you need, and you cannot find it at the Babson or Wellesley College libraries, you can . We submit these requests to libraries across the country, who then loan the item to us on your behalf. Books, journal articles and book chapters are the most commonly requested items. You can also request DVDs, CDs, and anything else that a library is willing to loan!

Turnaround Time

Generally, delivery ranges from 5-14 days for physical items (books, DVDs, etc.,) and 2-10 days for electronic items (single articles, book chapters).

Pickups/Returns

When your item arrives, we'll email you to let you know, and provide you with the due date. Pick up and return physical items from the wooden shelf near the front desk.

Renewing an ILL

Submit renewal requests 1-2 weeks before the item's due date by emailing . We can't guarantee renewals, as each library's policy is different. Be prepared to return items by the due date. We can always request it again from a second library. If you feel your item should be in the Olin Library collection, please contact us and we'll be happy to purchase it.

Electronic Delivery

Journal articles and book chapters may be emailed to you, depending on the copyright and publisher policy. Otherwise, we will notify you that your printed article is available for pickup at the front desk. Full ebooks cannot be ILL'd due to copyright restrictions.