Introduction
The Northwest School library serves grades 6-12, aiming to support the educational, informational, and recreational needs of our diverse student body. The policy outlined below will guide the selection, acquisition, maintenance, and evaluation of the library’s collection to ensure it aligns with the school's mission, values, and educational goals.
Mission Statement
The Northwest School Library provides quality resources, innovative services, and diverse perspectives to stimulate creativity, intellectual curiosity, and facilitate lifelong learning within our community. The library is committed to supporting academic achievement and personal growth by offering a diverse and inclusive collection that encourages critical thinking and a life long love of learning.
Objectives
The Northwest School library will support student-centered learning in the following ways:
- To support the curriculum and educational goals of the school.
- Extend and enhance the classroom experience by offering a space where students and faculty can create, explore, and collaborate
- Maintain a physical and virtual environment with a rich collection of information resources and technology tools that support student success
- To cater to the diverse interests, abilities, and developmental stages of students.
- Promote a culture of literacy and learning - fostering a community of life-long readers, self-directed learners, and responsible digital citizens
- foster cultural awareness and inclusivity by providing a diverse collection to authentically reflect a variety of ideas, information, stories, and experiences to broaden student perspectives
- Using current technologies, and provide resources, to assist students in becoming proficient, independent, and responsible users of information
Selection Criteria
Materials are selected based on the following criteria:
- Relevance to Curriculum: Supports current and anticipated curriculum needs.
- Quality and Accuracy: Authoritative, well-researched, and up-to-date content.
- Diversity and Inclusion: Represents a wide range of perspectives, cultures, and experiences.
- Age Appropriateness: Suitable for the developmental stages of grades 6-12.
- Interest Level: Engages students and encourages reading for pleasure.
- Format and Accessibility: Includes a variety of formats (books, e-books, audiobooks, databases) to accommodate different learning styles and needs.
- Author and Publisher Reputation: Consideration of the credentials and reputation of authors and publishers.
- Reviews and Recommendations: Professional reviews and recommendations from reputable sources.
- Cost and Budget: Consideration of cost-effectiveness and available budget.
Acquisition Procedures
- Requests and Recommendations: Encourage input from students and faculty
- Evaluation of Needs: Regularly assess the collection to identify gaps and areas for development.
- Selection Tools: Utilize professional journals, catalogs, and online resources for informed selection.
Maintenance and Weeding
- Regular Review: Conduct periodic reviews of the collection to ensure it remains relevant, up-to-date, and in support of the curriculum
- Weeding Criteria: Remove materials that are outdated, damaged, seldom used, or no longer aligned with the curriculum.
- Replacement: Replace important but worn or outdated materials with current editions or better alternatives.
Reconsideration of Materials
- Request for Reconsideration: Written requests for reconsideration of materials may only come from a community member, the community member must have read the book in its entirety and be submitted to the librarian.
- Review Committee: A committee, including library staff, teachers, administrators, will read and review the challenged material.
- Decision: The committee will make a decision based on the library's selection criteria and intellectual freedom principles. The material will remain on the shelves during the decision making process.
- Communication: The decision will be communicated to the person who initiated the reconsideration request.
Policy Review
This collection development policy will be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect changes in curriculum, student needs, and emerging trends in education and librarianship.
