School Media Committee

Role of the School Media Committee

The school media committee serves as the advisory board for library media center functions.  It is composed of representatives from administration, grade bands, and the library media specialist.  The library media committee meets to evaluate library media center policies, procedures, and programs. This evaluation will be used to determine program goals, expand and/or delete services, and revise procedures, as necessary. The committee shall meet biannually and additional meetings may be called by the committee chairperson after consultation with the principal.

Other functions of the library media committee may include goal development for the upcoming school year, recommendations for print and nonprint purchases, activities selection, reading challenged materials, and serving as a springboard for grade level collaboration.

Selection Principles

It is the goal of the media center to select print, non-print, and electronic materials based on the following principles.  Each selection principle, along with the selection criteria, aids in the evaluation of materials being considered for inclusion in the collection.  The selection principles of the Library Learning Commons are:

• To develop a collection that supports, supplements, and enriches the curriculum of the school
• To provide a wide range of quality materials on various ability levels
• To provide materials that represent the religions, ethnicities, and cultures both within the school community and beyond
• To select material that represents differing viewpoints on various topics in order to support students in learning critical analysis of information and in making informed decisions
• To put aside personal opinions and biases and develop a comprehensive collection that serves the school community
• To provide materials in a variety of formats
• To select materials that encourage growth in factual knowledge, leisure reading, literary appreciation, and societal standards 

Selection Criteria

Selection of materials will be based on one or more of the following criteria:

• Appropriateness to the curriculum and its users
• High technical and aesthetic quality that catches and holds the user’s attention 
• Relevance to users, school mission goals, and district goals in today’s world
• Value to the collection as a whole; does not promote any stereotypes, encourages understanding, problem solving, and creativity 
• Fills its purpose and meets a need in the collection 
• Presents information that is timely, accurate, valid, and reliable
• Highly qualified and credible creators 
• Replacements for lost, stolen, or ill used items  

Selection of materials may additionally be influenced by recommended reading lists, book reviews, journal articles, and other selection tools; however, materials may be selected without the aid of these sources, and the media specialist’s professional judgment will take precedence over the opinions and recommendations of others.  The media specialist may also find it valuable to select materials that violate one or more of the criteria above if they support the overall needs of the collection.

Reference: 

Bishop, K. (2007). The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and

information sources. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Reconsideration of Materials

While library selections are made by qualified professionals with student and teacher use in mind, objections to selections may occur. School employees will handle complaints with courtesy and integrity. Criticism of media and instructional materials in Jackson County Schools shall be submitted on an approved form furnished by the principal. All appeals forms are in the Media Handbook. The complaint form will be submitted to the school media committee. Materials that are questioned should be read and analyzed first by the school media committee. Core-adopted materials must be challenged at the system level. If no decision can be reached, appeal may be made to the system-wide committee. This system committee will read and analyze the material and reach a decision. The local Board of Education has the final decision-making power. The complainant has the right to appeal decisions to the next higher level.