San José Public Library accepts submissions from authors and publishers to be considered for inclusion in the Library's collection. Authors and Publishers are encouraged to use the Suggest a Purchase Form.
Copies of published works may also be sent to the Collection Development Librarians for review. Submitted works will be evaluated using the selection criteria in SJPL's Collection Development Policy.
Additional Considerations
For self-published items, librarians will also evaluate the following:
- availability of additional copies through the library's contracted vendors
- availability of MARC records for the item in question
- the availability of similar content from traditional publishing houses
- the documentation of sources, especially for nonfiction material
- the quality of the paper and binding for durability and suitability for circulation
- the quality and appropriateness of the illustrations
- the appropriateness of word choice, word count, and narrative for the intended audience
- the content of the material for the general reader
- the content of the material for local or regional interest
How to Submit
To submit a work for consideration in the library's collection, please mail one copy to the address below:
San José Public Library
Attn: Collection Development Librarians
150 E San Fernando St
San Jose, CA 95112
Please include the following in your submission:
- your name
- email address
- the title of the work and other basic bibliographic information, such as:
- author
- ISBN
- publisher
- date of publication
- number of pages
- any professional reviews
- information on pricing, including vendor availability
After Submission
The library cannot acknowledge receipt of your work but will contact you at the email address provided if the work is selected for the collection. Submitted items that are added to the library's collection are subject to the same Collection Maintenance practices as the rest of the collection and may be removed from the collection at any time.
Submitted items not chosen for inclusion in the library's collection are handled like other Unsolicited Donations of Materials. The items cannot be returned and will be donated to the Friends of the Library, which provides funds for system programs.
More Submission Options
Authors wishing to share their work with our library users are always invited to submit their eBooks to Biblioboard's Indie Author Project. Indie Author Project will review entries and add selected titles to SJPL's BiblioBoard collection. Authors and publishers retain full copyright of their title and do not receive any compensation for their inclusion. A title's presence in Biblioboard does not indicate that SJPL intends to provide access to the title in any other format.