Brockton Public Schools

School Committee Policy

LIBRARY RESOURCES - IIAC

The primary objective of the library/media center is to implement its resources to enrich and to support the educational program of the school.

Definition of Library Resources

Library resources are those materials, both print and nonprint, found in school libraries, which support curricular and personal information needs. Print items include books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, microfiche or microfilm. Nonprint items include films, disc records, filmstrips, slides, prints, audiotapes, videotapes, computer software, CD Rom software and connections to the internet.

Criteria for Selection of Library Resources

The criteria for selection of library resources in the Brockton Public Schools are:

• Needs of the students
• Based on knowledge of students.
• Based on requests of parents and students.
• Needs of the individual school
• Based on knowledge of the curriculum of the school.
• Based on requests from the certified staff.
• Provision of a wide range of materials on many levels of difficulty with a diversity of appeal and the presentation of different points of view.
• Provision of materials of high artistic quality.
• Provision of materials with superior format.
• Reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared selection aids are consulted as guides.

In accordance with the School System's policy of providing instructional materials on opposing sides of controversial issues, it should be noted that neither the media centers nor the School System serve as advocates for the ideas expressed in any materials, nor does the presence of any material indicate automatic endorsement of the ideas expressed therein.

Disclosure of Information/Privacy of Circulation Records

Circulation records shall not be made available to anyone except pursuant to such process, order, or subpoena as may be authorized by law.

Re-evaluation (Weeding) of Library Resources

The continuous review of library/media center materials is necessary as a means of maintaining a useful and active collection. As new materials are selected and added, some older materials are withdrawn. The responsibility for determining which materials are to be withdrawn rests with the staff.

Among the reasons for withdrawing an item are the following:

• Curricular changes have rendered superfluous some materials (or multiple copies of materials) formerly used but no longer in demand.
• Some materials contain factual material that is no longer accurate or current.
• Some materials intended for recreational reading have become dated or unattractive and are no longer in demand. (Some such books that are deemed “standards” or “classics” will be retained even though they rarely circulate).
• Some materials have become worn out, damaged or physically deteriorated and have lost utility and/or appeal.
• Some materials have been superseded by newer items that present the same information but in superior format.

Withdrawn library/media center materials are processed in one or more of the following ways:

• Made available to be used as resource or supplementary material by teachers.
• Offered to other media centers in the School System, as it is possible that a material that lacks utility in one building may have some usefulness in another.
• Contributed to appropriate charitable or educational agencies.
• Discarded, when warranted.

Continuing evaluation is closely related to the goals and responsibilities of library/media centers and is a valuable tool of collection development. This procedure is not to be used as a convenient or expedient means to remove materials presumed to be controversial or likely to be disapproved by segments of the community. Materials are not to be proscribed or removed because of actual or potential partisan or doctrinal disapproval, nor because of the origin, background or views of those contributing to their creation.