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Aim. The aim of this paper is to examine the criteria and the current procedures in the procurement of unreliable nonfiction materials in public libraries observing two fundamental selection principles: principles of a publication value (quality) and principles of demand (existing or anticipated user needs). Approach/methodology. The first part of the paper gives a theoretical overview of the particularities of developing and assessing of collections of nonfiction materials in public libraries, taking into account international and Croatian library documentation and publicly accessible guidelines on collection development. The second part presents the options and challenges in the assessment of unreliable nonfiction materials on the example of five publications. The methods used for this assessment were selected from those focused on collections - comparison to reference materials lists, citation analysis and expert opinion; and those focused on users - data on circulation, reservations and interlibrary loans. Results. The application of several methods of qualitative and quantitative assessment on the five selected examples of unreliable nonfiction materials, and especially the analysis of their loan data, which is considered the best performance indicator of collection development in public libraries, demonstrates the incredible complexity of the procurement of such materials and the need to be especially attentive so that librarians can surmount the rift between the criteria which they encounter during their procurement and assessment. Originality/value. In the Croatian library science field, there are few papers describing the assessment of public library collections, whereby this is the first paper on the topic of developing library collections focusing on the procurement of unreliable nonfiction materials. Considering that the nonfiction materials collections in public libraries also include publications presenting ideas and theories which are not expertly and scientifically grounded and which spread disinformation and fake news, this paper draws attention to the need to systematically assess such materials since, on the basis of the obtained indicators, it is possible to understand more objectively the scope, depth and level of usefulness of collections, on which future collection planning and development can be grounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]