Gould Library develops and maintains collections guided by the mission of Carleton College to provide an exceptional undergraduate liberal arts education; balanced with responsible stewardship of physical, digital and financial resources.  The Library relies on a set of principles and strategies when making decisions on selection, management and deselection of items from the collection.  The Collection Development Plan: Principles and Strategies provides consistency for developing the general collections and communicating the Library's collection guidelines and strategies to the Carleton community and other interested individuals.  It is understood that as programs and other information needs of the community change, so too will the collection management principles and strategies to meet evolving needs.

Gould Library general collections are designed to provide a wide range of materials and resources that directly advance, reflect, and support the College's current and evolving curriculum.

While even an exceptional liberal arts library cannot own everything, the Library actively participates in multi-institutional partnerships to maximize and expand access to resources through Interlibrary Loan and key consortia partnerships including the Carleton St. Olaf Bridge Consortium, HathiTrust, and the Center for Research Libraries.