Collection Development Guidelines

District Profile

Haslett, Michigan is part of Meridian Township and is located in Ingham County. It is approximately 10 miles east of Lansing, and 85 miles northwest of Detroit. Haslett is a middle to upper middle income community. Many residents are professionally employed by Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, the State of Michigan, General Motors and area public schools. Haslett Public Schools serves students in grades kindergarten through twelve.

Haslett Public Schools is comprised of five school buildings with operating library media centers, as follows:

Wilkshire Early Childhood Center – Grades K-1
Murphy Elementary School – Grades 2-5
Ralya Elementary School – Grades 2-5
Haslett Middle School – Grades 6-8
Haslett High School – Grades 9-12

Since, 2004, the Wilkshire Early Childhood Center library also services a Michigan State University Development Lab – Preschool. This preschool also houses an Early Childhood Special Education program, a state-funded - GSRP – Great Start Readiness program, and a federally-funded Head Start program.

Mission & Goals

The mission of the Haslett Public Schools is to provide educational opportunities which enable students of all aspirations and abilities to grow and learn.

The district’s School Improvement Team has identified four long-term goals for students attending Haslett Public Schools. The goals are that students will:

Become technologically educated and able to use technology to access information.
Increase their skills in core academic areas of science, social studies, mathematics, and language arts.
Accept and appreciate diversity, and show increased awareness of all cultures.
Develop patterns of responsible behavior based upon the six core values we believe are critical; responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

Library Mission

The Haslett Public Schools Library Media program strives to offer services, books, and other resources that engage and encourage the school community to become critical thinkers and effective users of information and develop a love and appreciation of literature.

Library Goals

Provide services and information to support the academic, artistic and recreational needs of the staff, students and broader school community;
Provide a stimulating environment which encourages a love of reading and learning;
Promote literature appreciation and information skills;
Design learning opportunities with resources, information, and technology that enhance learning and teaching of the Michigan Curriculum Frameworks and the METS.

Library Objectives

School library media specialists and teachers will collaborate to incorporate information literacy skills into the general curriculum.
Students will be able to utilize effective strategies for selecting print, electronic, or audiovisual resources.
Students will participate in various reading programs as suggested by the American Association of School Librarians.

Resource Sharing

Haslett Public Schools shares resources within its five buildings. Access is provided to all staff and students within the Haslett school system. However, if a resource is located at another building, the request must be made through the building’s library personnel. The participating Haslett schools are:

Wilkshire Early Childhood Center – Grades K-1
Murphy Elementary School – Grades 2-5
Ralya Elementary School – Grades 2-5
Haslett Middle School – Grades 6-8
Haslett High School – Grades 9-12

Formats

The School Library Media Center shall collect a diverse array of materials in the following formats:

Print and Electronic Books: (Fiction and Non-fiction)
Journals/Periodicals/Magazines
Audiovisual Materials and Equipment
Reference Materials/Databases
Computer software and equipment

Gifts

The School Library Media Center welcomes gifts of books, periodical subscriptions, works of art and/or monetary donations for the purchase of educational library materials or equipment. Gifts will be accepted only after being evaluated on the same selection criteria set up for all purchased materials. Once donated, gifts to the library become the property of the school district and may be re-evaluated and/or disposed of in the due course of collection maintenance.

Intellectual Freedom

This district adopts the following policies and statements of the American Library Association:

School Library Bill of Rights

Library Bill of Rights

For School Library Media Center Programs

Approved by the American Association of School Librarians Board of Directors, Atlantic City, 1969.

The American Association of School Librarians reaffirms its belief in the Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association. Media Personnel are concerned with generating understanding of American freedoms through the development of informed and responsible citizens. To this end the American Association of School Librarians asserts that the responsibility of the school library media center is:

To provide a comprehensive collection of instructional materials selected in compliance with basic written selection principles, and to provide maximum accessibility to the materials.

To provide materials that will support the curriculum, taking into consideration the individuals needs and the varied interest, abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and maturity levels of the students served.

To provide materials for teachers and students that will encourage growth in knowledge and that will develop literary, cultural and aesthetic appreciation, and ethical standards.

To provide materials which reflect the ideas and beliefs of religious, social, political, historical, and ethnic groups and their contribution to the American and world heritage and culture, and thereby enabling students to develop intellectual integrity in forming judgments.

To provide a written statement, approved by the local Boards of Education, of the procedures for meeting the challenge of censorship of materials in school library media centers.

To provide qualified professional personnel to service teachers and students.

Weeding

Weeding is a continuous process of collection management in which materials that are no longer of value to the collection are removed from the school media collection. The responsibility for weeding the collection falls to the library personnel. Faculty may recommend removal of materials that are no longer relevant or useful.

When weeding the collection, guidelines are to be used. Library media materials are to be removed when the following indicators are determined:

Print materials are in poor physical shape, film or paper is brittle, paper is yellowed or torn, colors are faded, bindings are ragged.
Non-print material is considered poor when video or audio quality is flawed.
Content of material including illustrations, diagrams or charts are out of date or inaccurate.
Materials do not maintain the education standards of Haslett Public Schools including interest or reading level for library media users.
Materials do not correspond to the purpose of the library media center or there are unneeded duplicates of items.

Selection Policy

It is the responsibility and intention of the Haslett Public Schools to provide a sweeping wealth of rich learning resources available for varying levels of difficulty. Resources are to maintain diversity of appeal while presenting various points of view in order to meet the needs and critical thinking skills of students and faculty.

Library media materials refer to any material with instructional content or function that is used for formal or informal teaching/learning purposes. Library media materials may include books, textbooks, charts, compact disks, DVDs, videocassettes, globes, maps, periodicals, electronic multimedia, and audio media for use to benefit the diverse learning needs of all students and faculty.
Library Media materials are accessible to students of varied abilities and meet the informational and interest needs of all students and faculty.
To achieve this intention, Haslett Public Schools, in accordance with guidelines provided by the American Library Association, defines the following responsibilities of its professional staff.

To provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, learning styles, and maturity levels of the students served;
To provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and societal standards;
To provide materials that foster a love for reading and encourage the development of lifelong readers;
To provide materials on various sides of controversial issues so that young citizens may have an opportunity to develop under guidance the practice of critical analysis and to make informed judgments in their daily lives;
To provide materials representative of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and that contribute to our national heritage and the world community;
To 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 to the school community.

The library media professionals will be responsible for the selection and purchase of learning materials with consideration from faculty, student, and parent recommendations.

Selection Criteria

Library materials shall support the educational goals and curriculum standards of the Haslett School District.
Library materials respect the diverse needs of students and staff through point of view to enhance critical thinking skills.
Library media materials are selected based on academic course of study. Materials are selected for specific programs, courses of study and local outcomes requirements.
The selection of library media materials supports the teaching staff through professional literature and teaching aids which richly support the curriculum.
Library media materials are to reflect accuracy and relevance concerning the curriculum. Authority of materials is a consideration.
The cost-effectiveness of the library media materials is to be contemplated with the accessibility, use and durability of the item.
Literary quality is of foremost consideration when evaluating materials.
Professional reviews should be consulted when making a purchasing decision of literary materials, when available, such as the following:

Booklist
Book Review Digest
Voya
Library Journal
School Library Journal
School Library Media Quarterly (A.A.S.L.)
Wilson Catalogs

Selection Procedures and Acquisition

Library personnel will evaluate resources and curriculum using professional reviews and reference aids such as Booklist, Wilson Catalogs, Library Journal, School Library Journal, and Horn Book. Whenever possible, the actual resources will be examined prior to purchase.

A. Recommendations for purchase involve administrators, teachers, students, district personnel and community persons, as appropriate.
B. Learning resources shall meet high standards of quality in factual content and presentation.
C. Audiovisual equipment needs are evaluated on a continuing basis. Criteria used for replacement include: operation condition, age, repair history, continued need for the piece of equipment, teacher input on problems, and replacement cost.
D. Gift materials shall be judged by the criteria outlined and shall be accepted or rejected by those criteria.
E. Selection is an ongoing process that should include the removal of materials no longer appropriate and the replacement of lost and worn materials still of educational value. See Weeding Policy.

9130 - PUBLIC COMPLAINTS

Any person or group, having a legitimate interest in the operations of this District shall have the right to present a request, suggestion, or complaint concerning District personnel, the program, or the operations of the District. At the same time, the Board of Education has a duty to protect its staff from unnecessary harassment. It is the intent of this policy to provide the means for judging each public complaint in a fair and impartial manner and to seek a remedy where appropriate.

It is the desire of the Board to rectify any misunderstandings between the public and the District by direct discussions of an informal type among the interested parties. It is only when such informal meetings fail to resolve the differences, shall more formal procedures be employed.

Any requests, suggestions, or complaints reaching the Board, Board members, and the administration shall be referred to the Superintendent for consideration according to the following procedure.

Matters Regarding Instructional Materials

The Superintendent shall prepare administrative guidelines to ensure that students and parents are adequately informed each year regarding their right to inspect instructional materials and the procedure for completing such an inspection. (see AG 9130A and Form 9130 F3)

If the request, suggestion, complaint, or grievance relates to instructional materials such as textbooks, library books, reference works, and other instructional aids used in the District, the following procedure shall be followed:

The criticism is to be addressed to the principal, in writing (form 9130 F2), and shall include:
1. author;
2. title;
3. publisher;
4. the complainant's familiarity with the material objected to;
5. sections objected to by page and item;
6. reasons for objection.
If a satisfactory solution is not achieved by discussion, the principal may,
1. after advising the Superintendent of the complaint,
2. and upon the Superintendent’s approval, appoint a review committee which may consist of:
  1. one (1) or more professional staff members;
  2. one (1) or more Board members;
  3. one (1) or more lay persons knowledgeable in the area.
The Superintendent shall be an ex officio member of the committee.
The committee, in evaluating the questioned material, shall be guided by the following criteria:
1. the appropriateness of the material for the age and maturity level of the students with whom it is being used
2. the accuracy of the material
3. the objectivity of the material
4. the use being made of the material
The material in question may not be withdrawn from use pending the committee's recommendation to the Superintendent.
The committee's recommendation shall be reported to the Superintendent in writing within five (5) business days following the formation of the committee. The Superintendent will advise the complainant, in writing, of the committee's recommendation and advise the Board of the action taken or recommended.
The complainant may appeal this decision, within thirty (30) business days, to the Board through a written request to the Superintendent, who shall forward the request and all written material relating to the matter to the Board.
The Board shall review the case and advise the complainant, in writing, of its decision within five (5) business days.

Legal 20 U.S.C. 1232h

In This Section