Policy IJL: Library Materials Selection

The School Committees endorse the guidelines for school libraries as published by the American Library Association, which asserts that the responsibility of the school library is to:

• Provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the students served.
• Provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards.
• Provide a background of information that will enable students to make intelligent judgments in their daily lives.
• Provide materials on opposing sides of controversial issues so that young citizens may develop under guidance the practice of critical reading and thinking.
• Provide materials representative of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and their contributions to our American heritage.
• Place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in the selection of materials of the highest quality in order to assure a comprehensive collection appropriate for the users of the library.
• Provide materials for students’ pleasure reading that foster a lifelong interest in reading.

Initial purchase suggestions for library materials may come from all personnel – teachers, parents, administrators. Students will also be encouraged to make suggestions. The librarian will be responsible for evaluation and recommendation of all library materials recommended to be included in the school library. Final approval and authority for distribution of funds will rest with the building principal, subject to the approval of the Superintendent.

Gifts of library books will be accepted in keeping with the above policy on selection. Complaints about library books will be handled inline with Committee policy on complaints about instruction

LEGAL REF:

03 CMR 26:05

Region Voted to Approve: 11/20/07
Amherst Voted to Approve: 12/11/08
Pelham Voted to Approve: 1/03/08
Effective Date: 1/03/08