Spearfish School District 40-2
6000 INSTRUCTION

Board Policy                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Code: 6240

SELECTION OF SPEARFISH SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL LIBRARY MATERIALS

The mission of the library media program is to ensure students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. The library media program supports the curriculum and the visions and goals of the schools by providing adequate resources, personnel and training so both students and teachers can become independent users of information.

I. Purpose of the Library.

The school library media program is not only integral to and supportive of the school curriculum, but also provides a mechanism for choice and exploration beyond the prescribed course of study. The school library media program provides a wide range of resources and information that satisfy the educational needs and interest of students. Materials are selected to meet the students’ wide range of individual learning styles. The school library media center is a place where students may explore more fully classroom subjects that interest them, expand their imagination, delve into areas of personal interest, and develop the agility to think clearly, critically and creatively about the resources they have chosen to read, hear or view.

The school library media program plays a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom. It serves as a point of voluntary access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem solving skills needed in a pluralistic society. Although the educational level and program of the school necessarily shape the resources and services of a school library, the principles of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS apply equally to all libraries, including school library media programs.

Todays student lives and learns in a world that has been radically altered by the ready availability of vast stores of information in a variety of formats. The learning process and the information search process mirror each other: students actively seek to construct meaning from the sources they encounter and to create products that shape and communicate that meaning effectively. Developing expertise in accessing, evaluating and using information is, in fact, the authentic learning that modern education seeks to promote.

II. Spearfish School District Libraries Materials Selection Policy

The Spearfish School District libraries materials selection policy shall reflect the principles stated in the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights. Those principles are:

A. To provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities and maturity levels of the pupils served.

B. To provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values and ethical standards.

C. To provide a background of information which will enable pupils to make intelligent judgements in their daily life.

D. To provide materials on opposing sides of controversial issues so young citizens may develop, under guidance, the practice of critical reading and thinking.

E. To provide materials representative of the many religious, ethnic and cultural groups and their contributions to our American heritage.

F. To place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in the selection of materials of the highest quality in order to ensure a comprehensive collection appropriate for the users of the library.

III. Responsibility.

The Spearfish Board of Education is responsible for the selection of all library materials. Following the policies of the Board, the superintendent and the principals delegate the selection of these materials to professionally trained personnel.

IV. Criteria.

A. What is the overall purpose of the material?

B. What contribution does the subject matter make to the curriculum?

C. Is the subject matter accurate, authoritative and up to date (for factual books)?

D. Does the subject matter interpret historical or modern life situations from a true and unbiased viewpoint?

E. Is the style appropriate and effective for the subject and the reader for whom it is intended? Are the illustrations satisfactory?

F. Is the format suitable and the price reasonable?

G. Is the author qualified to write on this particular subject? What are the standards of the publisher or the producer of the material?

H. Are favorable reviews of the material found in the selection sources? Are favorable recommendations based on review and examination available?

I. Does the material include representative viewpoints on controversial issues?

J. The above criteria also apply to gifts.

K. All material will be evaluated periodically.

V. Suggested Sources to Be Used.

A. Book selection aids published by ALA; Basic Book Lists for Elementary, Middle School and High School.

B. Recommendations of National Education Association and its divisions, other national professional associations such as, but not limited to, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and National Council of Teachers of English.

C. The H. W. Wilson catalog series.

D. Reviews in current periodicals such as Wilson Library Bulletin, School Library Journal, Booklist, Book Report and Horn Book.

E. Periodic book exhibits.

F. Administrators, teachers, students and parents may recommend material to be considered for purchase.

VI. Challenged Materials.

Challenged materials will be handled according to Board Policy 6400.

Approved June 23, 1997
Reviewed December 14, 1998
Revised  January 12, 2009