Cache County School Districts Mission

Statement
The mission of the school library media program is to ensure that students and staf
are efective users of ideas and information. The school library media specialist
[school library media teacher] empowers students to be critical thinkers,
enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information by:
Collaborating with educators and students to design and teach
engaging learning experiences that meet individual needs
Instructing students and assisting educators in using, evaluating, and
producing information and ideas through active use of a broad range of
appropriate tools, resources, and information technologies
Providing access to materials in all formats, including up-to-date, high
quality, varied literature to develop and strengthen a love of reading
Providing students and staf with instruction and resources that reflect
current information needs and anticipate changes in technology and
educations
Providing leadership in the total education program and advocating for
strong school library media programs as essential to meeting local, state and
national education goals
Empowering Learners: Guidelines of School Library Programs. Chicago: American
Association of School Librarians, 2009:8. Print.

Sky View High Schools Mission Statement

The mission of the library media center at Sky View High School is to
ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information
in appropriate formats. My first goal as library media teacher is to support
and enhance the Utah State Core Curriculum for Sky View students.
Beyond that, the library media center provides a wide range of resources
to meet the educational needs and recreational interests of all students
and staff.

Importance of Media Centers

Schools with better funded library media centers have better than
average test scores regardless of whether the schools and communities
are rich or poor, and whether the adults in the community are well or
poorly educated . . . Students who are in schools in which library media
centers are active participants in the instructional process are higher
academic achievers.
The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement.
HiWillow Research and Publishing, Castle Rock, Colorado, 1993.

Materials
Sky View Library Media Center houses 14,268 items. We subscribe to 21
magazines and 2 online databases. We also have access to Pioneer, Utahs

education database. Sky View currently has over 300 e-books that can be
accessed any time of day from a computer, tablet, or smart phone.

This handbook is designed to provide guidance for the daily operation of the Sky
View Library Media Center. It contains references to applicable policies and
procedures, outlines requirements for building level library media center policies,
and provides references to support materials.

Table of Contents
1. APPLICABLE LAWS AND BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICIES
4
2. CURRICULUM
5
3. DISTRICT LEVEL ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES
6
a. 3.1 ACQUISITION
6
i.
BOOK REVIEW
7
ii.
BOOK REQUESTS
8
iii.
RECORD OF ORDERS
9
b. 3.2 DESELECTION
10
c. 3.3 DONATIONS
11
d. 3.4 INVENTORY
12
4. SCHOOL LEVEL ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES
14
a. PROCEDURES AND TIMELINES FOR CIRCULATION
14
i.
CATALOGING
14
ii.
BOOK PROCESSING
15
iii.
CIRCULATION POLICY
16
b. SCHEDULING OF THE LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER
16
i.
ELEMENTARY
16
ii.
SECONDARY
16
iii.
CLASSROOM/STUDENT USE
17
iv.
SCHEDULING POLICY
17
3

5.

6.

7.

8.

c. FINES AND REPLACEMENT OF LOST OR DAMAGED

MATERIALS
17
d. LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER COMPUTER ACCESS
17
e. SCHOOL RULES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR STUDENT
BEHAVIOR
17
f. BUDGETS
18
g. LEDGERS AND BUDGET BINDERS
18
LIBRARY SUPPORT
20
a. 5.1
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS
20
b. 5.2
STUDENT AIDES
20
COMMITTEES
22
a.
6.1 DISTRICT LIBRARY STEERING COMMITTEE
22
b.
6.2 DISTRICT APPEAL COMMITTEE
22
c.
6.3 SCHOOL LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
22
CHALLENGED LIBRARY MATERIAL PROCEDURES
23
a.
7.1 SCHOOL LEVEL CHALLENGE
23
b.
7.2 DISTRICT LEVEL CHALLENGE
23
c. 7.3 CITIZENS REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION OF
LIBRARY OR INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIAL FORM
25
APPENDICES
A. JOB DESCRIPTION
26
B.

COPYRIGHT POLICY
28
C. EDUCATIONAL VIDEO/DVD/ELECTRONIC MEDIA POLICY
31
D.

EMPLOYEE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

33
LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS
34
THE FREEDOM TO READ
35
THE STUDENTS RIGHT TO READ
38

E.
F.
G.

1 APPLICABLE LAWS AND BOARD OF

EDUCATION POLICIES
Library Media Policy and Procedures
Cache School District policy regarding administration of
library media centers, including collection management,
parental rights to control student access, and challenged
library material procedures
Utah State Library Media Core Curriculum
Elementary
http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/library/Core/K5.aspx
Utah State Library Media Core Curriculum Secondary
http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/library/Core/612.aspx
Job Description (Appendix A)
I-AA1
Copyright Policy Statement (Appendix B)
Guidelines for educators in regard to copyright issues,
including a reference chart specifying Fair Use Guidelines for
reproduction of text, graphics, images, and video
I-D2
Educational Video/DVD/Electronic Media
Policy (Appendix C)
Guidelines for using videos, television programs, and other
electronic media to ensure they are used legally and
appropriately in the classroom
StandardsUtah School Library Media Programs
Recommendations from the Utah State Office of Education
for public school library media programs, personnel,
budgets, and facilities
http://digitallibrary.utah.gov/awweb/guest.jsp?
smd=1&cl=all_lib&lb_document_id=12137

CURRICULUM

The primary objective of the Sky View High School Library Media Center program is
to ensure that students and staf are efective users of ideas and information in all
available formats.
The Sky View High School Library Media Center will:
Provide information that will support and enrich the curriculum
as outlined in the Utah State Core Curriculum, taking into consideration
the varied interests, abilities and/or maturity levels of the school
community
Provide information that will stimulate growth in factual
knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and standards
Provide a rich background of information which students can use
to make intelligent judgments in their daily lives
Provide information on opposing sides of controversial issues so
students may develop, with guidance, the practice of critical reading,
viewing, and thinking
Place principles above personal opinion and reason above
prejudice in the acquisition of high quality information in order to assure a
comprehensive collection appropriate for the users of the school library
media center

Support the principles outlined in these documents (Appendices

D-F)
Library Bill of Rights
The Freedom to Read
Students Right to Read

Materials will be selected when judged of greatest value in supporting the

philosophy of the school, the needs of the students, and the requirements of the
Utah State Core Curriculum.

3 DISTRICT LEVEL ADMINISTRATIVE

GUIDELINES
3.1 ACQUISITION
The selection of library resources and materials shall be done by library
professionals or library specialists at each school site using guidelines and criteria
developed under the direction of the District Library Media Supervisor and approved
by the Assistant Superintendent over Curriculum and Instruction. The criteria shall
include at a minimum:
1. Relationship to or support of curriculum
2. Developmental/maturity level of students
3. Format
4. Accuracy
5. Timeliness
6. Reliability
7. Provision of balanced views
8. Recreational needs of students linguistic pluralism
for both English learners and foreign language programs
9. Literary quality
10.Quality of illustrations
Requests and suggestions of students, parents, and faculty which fit these criteria
may also be considered. (see Book Review and Book Request forms)
Selection Tools
Selection aids may include suggested bibliographies from professional education
and library publications; reviews and evaluations in professional publications;
professional knowledge of authors, titles, and publishers; and personal examination
of materials. The professional journals and publications consulted may include
School Library Journal, Library Media Connection, Choice, Booklist, and Horn Book.
Recommended booklists from the American Library Association, the National Council
of Teachers of English, the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
and other professional organizations may also be consulted.

Book Review
Title

______________________________________________________________________________

Author
______________________________________________________________________________
As you preview the book, it would be helpful if you took some brief notes,
particularly if there are objectionable scenes or language (note page numbers).
1. What of value is there in this book?

2. For what age group would you recommend this book?

3. What might be objectionable in this book to you or other parents?

(Please by specific, cite exact parts)

4. Would you recommend the media center purchase this book? Yes / No
a. If yes, what priority should be given to its purchase (top,
medium or low)?

Evaluators Signature
_________________________________________________________________

Date

_________________________________________________________________

Book Requests

Date

Student Name

Book Title

Author

Part of
a
Series

Order
Date

Record of Orders

Date

Vendor/Description

PO #

10

Amoun
t

File

Date
Receiv
ed

3.2 DESELECTION
Deselection is the continual evaluation of the library/media collection to remove
obsolete, damaged, and rarely used materials. Deselection ensures that
library/media materials are useful, attractive, and accessible for patrons. The
following guidelines for discarding materials will provide direction and consistency
as the collection changes in response to the needs of the school.
1. Physical condition
Antiquated appearance that discourages use
Discolored, brittle, mutilated, warped or extensively damaged
Inferior sound or visual reproduction
2. Format
Print too small for general use or age level
Poor quality illustrations
3. Content
Obsolete: areas to watch closely include computers, science,
medicine, health, technology, geography, travel, and transportation
Poor writing
Inaccurate or false information
Superseded edition
4. Inappropriate for specific collection
Unneeded duplication
Unneeded titles in little used subject areas (retain basic titles)
Interest or reading level inappropriate for school
Superfluous media on subjects of little interest to library
clientele
Insufficient use (must never be the sole governing factor in
deselection)
5. Classes of media that particularly lend themselves to deselection
consideration
Media with inaccurate or unfair interpretations (consult subject
specialists when in doubt)
Almanacs and yearbooks
Popular fiction of ephemeral value
Media containing racial, cultural, or sexual stereotyping
6. What NOT to deselect
Classics
Local and state materials
Annuals and other school publications
11

 Materials published by or about the school which might be

considered archival
Items incorrectly classified or poorly promoted which might
circulate with proper handling and promotion
Dictionaries (especially unabridged), biographical sources,
expensive geographic sources
Media useful for term papers using an historical approach (high
schools)
7. Deselection schedule: Any routine task is accomplished more
efficiently if a rotation schedule is established. The following schedule is one
example that allows for systematic deselection over a five year period:
Year 1: 800 900
Year 2: Fiction
Year 3: 000 100 200 400 700
Year 4: 300 Biography
Year 5: 500 600 Reference
8. Age suggestions for consideration for deselection: Obsolescence occurs
much more rapidly in some subject areas than in others. Some such as
mythology are timeless; others such as technology change frequently. The
following list is intended as a general guideline only:
000
3 years
100
5 years
200
10 years
300
5 years
400
10 years
500
5 years
600
5 years
700-921
10 years
Biography 10 years
Popular fiction of an ephemeral nature: 10 years
Folk tales, fairy tales: keep indefinitely
Almanacs, yearbooks, directories: 3 years in reference, retain in
circulating collection if desired for 3 additional years
Encyclopedias: 5 years
General reference books: evaluate on an individual basis
Periodicals: Consider use, storage space available, whether
material is available in another format
Materials which have been selected for deselection should be treated as follows:
1. Remove the barcode, spine label, and card pocket from materials being
removed from the collection.
2. Stamp No longer property of Cache School District, Discard, or
Withdrawn inside the front and back cover of the book or on the front of AV
materials.
3. Books may be given to a recycling vendor or other organization, or
disposed of through the school trash pick-up system.
4. Discarded equipment will be handled using District surplus procedures.
12

3.3 DONATIONS
Professional library staf must review potential library media center donations using
the criteria for selection of purchased material. In addition, the following criteria
shall be considered:
1. Materials should be new or barely used (in good to excellent condition
with no writing or other defacing marks), complete, clean, durable, and
attractive.
2. Reference materials, including atlases, encyclopedias, subject specific
multi-volume sets, and other non-fiction resources should be no more than
five years old; science, medical, computer, and other like resources in areas
in which information quickly becomes outdated should be no more than three
years old. Multi-volume sets should be complete.
3. Fiction books should be no more than five years old with the exception
of books from well-known childrens authors and classics.
4. All materials should have a reading level and an interest level of Pre-K
through 12th grade.
5. Non-fiction books should not reflect outdated stereotypes of racial or
cultural groups in either the text or the illustrations and should avoid
oversimplification of complex issues and other distortions that would give
readers erroneous or misleading information.
6. Materials that generally are not appropriate for library media center
use, such as textbooks, consumable instructional materials such as
workbooks, standardized test, most periodicals pamphlets, and catalogs will
not be accepted.

3.4 INVENTORY
1. The school library media professional is responsible to maintain a
regular inventory of materials and equipment. An ongoing inventory process
identifies lost, stolen or damaged items and allows for an organized collection
development process.
2. A formal inventory may be conducted at the end or beginning of the
school year to assess the collection and help with selection/acquisition of
materials and equipment.
3. A complete inventory of all materials and equipment shall be
conducted at least every two years. Alternatively, partial inventories may be
conducted throughout the year and finalized on a regular basis as scheduled
by the library media professional.
4. Missing items should be regularly deleted to maintain an accurate
catalog.
5. Inventory Steps
a. Unpack the WASP scanner. Insert one of the batteries into
scanner and set the scanner into its base. Plug the power source of the
base into an electrical outlet. Charge overnight.
13

b. Plug the base into your checkout computer with the USB
cord.
c. Turn the base over and find the two barcode labels.
d. Scan the set connection barcode label. The scanner will
beep once. Next, scan the serial number barcode. The scanner will
beep twice with a low then high beep. When it establishes an RF
connection with the base, the scanner will emit three short beeps,
indicating that the connection has been made between the scanner
and the base.
e. Open Destiny program and select Back Office from the
top tabs. On the left side menu, click on inventory. Then choose
start new. Give it a name (i.e. January 2016).
f. The cursor should be blinking in the window for your first
scan. Scan a books barcode and wait for scanner to beep. Then the
computer will reply with a two tone beep and the book will be entered
into inventory.
g. Scans are automatically saved until you finalize the
inventory after you have scanned all materials. At the end of the hour
or day, have aides write down the last book scanned or turn a book on
its side to mark your place. Depending on how many aides you have,
inventory takes from 7-12 days.
h. When you think you have scanned everything, run a
report of unmarked copies and print it out: Go to Inventory in Destiny
and select view in progress & completed inventories. Then click the
button view on the righthand side of the screen. On the line that says
unaccounted for click see details. That screen will bring up all the
items you have not yet scanned. If there are more than 25, you will
have to tell it show all. Then hit the printable button at the top of
the screen and print the list.
i. Take the list to the shelves and try to find the unmarked
copies. Dont just compare titles, but match the barcode on the book
with the barcode on the list. When you find an item on the unmarked
list, you can scan it or just mark it on your list. Then go to Destiny on
your computers unmarked copies screen and click on the found
button. Keep trying to find the lost items until you are sure they are not
in the library.
j. Finalize the inventory: Go to Inventory and select the
finalize button. Make sure that mark all unaccounted for copies
lost is selected. If you select ignore them, these titles will show up
as available during a library search.
k. Disassemble the scanner, take out the battery, and store
it until next year.

14

4 SCHOOL LEVEL ADMINISTRATIVE

GUIDELINES
Sky View High School shall establish written guidelines for the operation of their
schools library media center. The principal shall be responsible to approve the
guidelines. The guidelines shall include:
1. Procedures and timelines for circulation of materials.
a. Cataloging
Library
Section

Call #

Notes
-All use 14 point Arial Narrow in bold
-All are placed with bottom of call number label 1
from the bottom of spine of the book (one exception is
CD label is placed even with the bottom of spine)
-In general, nonfiction labels are placed horizontally and
fiction labels are placed vertically

Audio CD

Audio
CD
F
Taylor

-Under the top line, put the regular call # as for a book,
whether fiction or nonfiction
-Vertical, place at bottom of spine

Biography

B
Lincoln

-Blue label over call #

-Entire name of biographee
-Vertical

Fiction

F
Taylor

-Fantasy and science fiction have light purple label over

the call #, but are shelved with the fiction
-Vertical

French

AL-

-Green label over call #

15

French
Cervant
es

-AL means alternative language

-Entire last name of author
-Vertical

Graphic
Novel

GN
SUG

-Pink label over call #

-First 3 letters of authors last name
-Horizontal

Nonfiction

398.215
TAY

-Dewey # with up to 3 decimal points

-First 3 letters of authors last name in caps
-Vertical

Picture Books

E
Bunting

-E, two spaces, followed by entire last name of author

-Vertical

Playaways

Audio PA
F
Taylor

-Orange label over call #

-Use regular call # after first line, whether fiction or
nonfiction
-Vertical

Psychology

-Brown label over call #

-Regular call #
-On copy record, sublocation=Psychology
-Vertical for fiction, horizontal for nonfiction
-Psychology section contains books donated by the
psychology teacher, who wanted them kept in a
separate section for easy access for required reading for
his class (however, all SV students may check them out)

Quick Reads

-Pink label over call #

-Regular call #, vertical
-On copy record, sublocation=Quick Reads
-Lexile label inside back cover at the top right corner
(i.e. L=780)
-These books are all high interest, low reading level
(under 800 Lexile and fewer than 200 pages)
-Vertical

Reference

R
582.34
YOU

-Yellow label over call #

-Dewey # up to 3 decimal places
-Restrict circulation on copy record
-Horizontal

Spanish

ALSpanish
Bartow

-Orange label over call #

-Complete author last name
-Vertical

Story
Collection

SC
Soto

-Green label over call #

-Complete last name of author or editor
-Vertical
16

Video

DVD
780
NIG

-DVD on first line

-Dewey # on second line
-First 3 letters of title (or if a work of literature, first 3
letters of the authors last name)
-Horizontal

b. Book Processing
i. Stamp book with the Sky View stamp in the
following locations:
1. inside front cover in the center
of the page
2. title page
3. bottom margin of page 31
ii. Put security tag inside back cover centered,
a couple of inches from the bottom.
iii. Cover the security tag with a book pocket
(printed with Sky View)
iv. Change call number if necessary in Follett
cataloging (see Sky View Library Call Number Specs).
v. Attach call number label according to the
Sky View Library Call Number Specs page. Measure the
distance from the bottom of the spine with ruler and place the
bottom of the call number label at exactly 1 inches. Order call
number labels from Demco, product #P14201721. The labels are
inch by 1 inch. They come on a sheet with 7 across and 14
down.
vi. Attach bar code on front cover vertically 2
inches from the bottom and to 1 inch from the spine. Cover
barcode with non-glare label protector (Demco product
#12806530).
vii. If the book is a part of a series, place the
series label with the book # in the series at the bottom of the
spine and cover with non-glare label protector. If there is more
than one series by an author, cover the series # label of the
second series with 2 gray color-tinted label protectors (one gray
label cover does not give enough contrast), and then cover with
the non-glare label protector. If there is a third series by an
author, cover the third series label with one light purple-tinted
label protector and then with a clear non-glare label protector
c. Circulation Policy
i. Students may check out books for ten days.
Books may be renewed as many times as needed if no other
student has reserved the book.
ii. Faculty may check out any instructional
material for as long as needed.
iii. No fines will be charged for overdue books.
Overdue notices will be distributed to students on a regular
17

basis through e-mails and notices distributed through home

room teachers. If a student has an overdue book, the library
media teacher may limit checkouts until the overdue book is
returned or payment for a replacement is given.
iv. When materials are lost or damaged, the
patrons account will be charged. When payment is made for
materials, this money will be refunded in full in the event the
lost item is found and returned in good condition.
v. Videos will be checked out to faculty only.
Audiobooks may be checked out to students or faculty.
vi. Magazines may be checked out by students
or faculty.
2. Scheduling of the library media center to include:
a. Elementary
i.
Libraries will be open during regular school
hours. Scheduling of classes is under the direction of the school
library media teacher or specialist.
ii.
The first week and the last week of school
are reserved for library administrative tasks.
iii.
Library media teachers or specialists are not
expected to supervise students in assemblies, field days and at
other special activities.
b.
Secondary
i. Libraries will be open during regular school hours and 15
minutes before and
after school.
ii. Scheduling of classes is done in collaboration with teachers and
administrators.
iii. Materials will be circulated from the first day of school.
c. Classroom/Student Use
i.
To schedule a class visit to the Media Center, teachers sign up in
advance in the scheduling book located at the circulation desk
and discuss their needs with the library media teacher, including
teaching objectives and research topics.
ii. The teacher needs to accompany the class to the media center.
It is the
teachers responsibility to keep reasonable order.
The media center is a
place to locate and use information. It
may also mean discussion with others. Although perfect quiet is
not required, students need to be working, not distracting others
from their tasks.
iii. The media center should be left clean and organized: reshelve
books, push in chairs, and get rid of litter.
iv. No food or drinks are allowed in the media center except with
permission from the library media teacher.
v.

Individual students may come to the media center any time

during the day with permission from their classroom teacher.
They should bring a media center pass and have a specific
assignment to work on. Students should not be sent to the
18

media center to hang out because their work is completed.

Students in the media center without permission from their
classroom teacher will be asked to leave.
d. Scheduling Policy
i. The library media center will be open 30 minutes before school
and 30 minutes after school as well as throughout the day.
ii.
Open scheduling system is used in the Sky View Library Media
Center. Teachers will sign up for their classes to use the library
on a first come, first served basis. However, priority will be given
to research needs.
iii. Materials may be checked out by any member of the school
community at any time during the school day.
3. Fines and replacement of lost or damaged materials.
a. Secondary students will be charged replacement value for
library materials which are damaged or lost. Secondary library media
teachers may provide a means for students to work of their fees
incurred while using library materials.
4. Library media center computer access.
a. Patrons of the school library media center must have a
current signed District Acceptable Use Agreement Policy before using
school computers.
b. Students may use the library media center computers
before and after school, during lunch and with a scheduled class for
instruction or research.
c. Students may use the library media center during class
time as requested by teachers and verified by the secondary library
media teacher.
5. School rules and expectations for student behavior while in the library.
6. Budgets

Budget Category

Number

Estimated
Amount

Sky View High School Media Center

$1,000.

Cache County School District Library Books

$7,000.

Cache County School District Audio Visuals

$2,000.

Cache County School District Periodicals

$2,000.

State Funds for Library Books and Supplies

$1,500.

Legislative Teacher Supplies

$150.

7. Ledger and Budget Binders

19

a. The ledger keeps a running account of the various

budgets and their credits, debits, and balances. Each order is assigned
a number or letter, which refers to the tab in the large Budget binder
(one binder for every year). All paperwork for that order is kept under
that tab. Information regarding returns, etc. is filled in the Budget
binder as well.
b. In the front of the Ledger, there is a Record of Media
Center Orders sheet where orders are filed and can be tracked. Also
list the dates received so it is easy to see which orders are still waiting
to be received.

Library Media Center Reservations

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesd
ay

Morning

1st Hour

2nd
Hour

3rd Hour

20

Thursda
y

Friday

Saturday

RoCK
Hour

4th Hour

5th Hour

Afternoo
n

Evening

Week of ______________________________________ to
____________________________________

LIBRARY SUPPORT

Sky View Library Media Center may use volunteers and /or student aides who will
support the library media professional with tasks as instructed by that school library
media professional or specialist.

5.1 COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS

The library media professional will welcome the help of willing volunteers from the
community in the library media center. Volunteers form a significant connection with
the community and can become the key to strong community support.
Good communication between the school library media program and various
organizations often providing adult volunteers such as the local PTSA and senior
citizens groups will be developed and maintained. Tasks assigned to adult
volunteers will tend to be those tasks requiring longer periods of time.
Tasks to be assigned to adult volunteers include, but are not limited to:

assisting patrons in finding needed materials

checking out materials to patrons
processing materials
data entry on automated system
repairing damaged materials
21

 inventory assistance
shelving materials
The training and supervision of adult volunteers is the direct responsibility of the
library media professional. It will be very important to match assigned tasks to
volunteers willing to perform them. Additionally, it will be essential for the library
media professional to monitor the work of all adult volunteers to be sure that they
have understood the directions they have received to accomplish their task.

5.2 Student Aides

1. 1st hour aide daily schedule:
a. stamp new cards (check for date)
b. check in books
c. shelve fiction/biography/psychology/graphic novels
d. cleaning job for the day
e. extra jobs (see library media professional)
2. 1st hour aide weekly schedule:
a. Monday:
i.
doors and windows at front entrance, writing
lab and presentation room door windows
ii.
handrails going down the ramp and stairs
iii.
wipe black tables
b. Tuesday: circulation desk
i.
wipe all counters
ii.
straighten
iii.
wipe computer screens and printers
iv.
organize newspapers
c. Wednesday: Reeders Readers and magazines areas
i.
remove books and magazines and wipe
areas
ii.
put magazines in correct area
iii.
straighten magazines stored underneath
d. Thursday:
i.
clean all shelf tops in nonfiction, short story,
and reference areas
e. Friday: office
i.
wipe counters
ii.
wipe computer screens and keyboards
The library media professional will continue best practices through attendance at
required district trainings to remain current with library media trends and resources.

22

COMMITTEES

6.1 DISTRICT LIBRARY STEERING COMMITTEE

District Level Committee The District Library Media Steering Committee exists to
promote library media programs, provide professional development, recommend
policies and procedures, and address library issues. The Committee consists of the
District Supervisor and representatives from elementary and secondary library
media teachers.

6.2 DISTRICT APPEAL COMMITTEE

District Level Committee The District Appeal Committee shall consider appeals of
school level challenges and make decisions regarding those appeals. The
Committee shall consist of an odd number of voting members, not less than five,
and may include a member of the superintendency or designee, a parent
representative, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction or designee, a student
representative where appropriate, an elementary and secondary library media
professional, and teacher(s). The District Supervisor shall be a voting member of
and chair the District Appeal Committee.

6.3 LIBRARY MEDIA ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Each school shall have a Library Media Advisory Committee which provides input,
promotes library programs and handles challenges to materials at the school level.
This Committee consists of an odd number of voting members, not less than five,
and may include an administrator, department chair or grade level teacher, parent
representative, and student representative where appropriate. The school library
media teacher or library media specialist shall be a voting member of and chair the
Committee. This Committee should be in place early in the school year and shall
meet at least one time during the school year.

23

7 CHALLENGED LIBRARY MATERIAL

PROCEDURES
Parents desiring action beyond restricting their own childs access to a particular
book or material contained in the library media center of the school their child
attends may challenge the placement of the item through the Challenge of Library
Media Materials process.

7.1 SCHOOL LEVEL CHALLENGE

1. The parent must submit a completed Citizens Request for
Reconsideration of Library or Instructional Material Form (Form) to the
schools library media professional or specialist. The Form may be obtained
from the schools library media professional or specialist.
2. Upon receipt of the completed Form, the library professional or
specialist will notify the District Supervisor of the request and call a meeting
of the Library Media Advisory Committee (School Committee) to introduce
the request.
3. The material in question will remain in use during the challenge
process.
4. The school library professional or specialist will provide the School
Committee members access to the challenged material as well as public
written reviews of the material from professional review sources. The School
Committee members will be assigned to read, view, or listen to the material
in its entirety as well as the reviews.
5. After being aforded time to review the material and reviews, the
School Committee will reconvene, at which time the parent has the option to
meet with the School Committee to present his/her views. The School
Committee will then dismiss the parent.
6. The School committee will deliberate the issues and reach a decision. A
decision is made by a majority vote. The School Committee will decide
whether to retain the material in the library media center, relocate the
material within the library media center, or remove the materials from the
library media center.
7. The parent will be notified of the School Committees decision in
writing within a reasonable time period.
8. The same material cannot be challenged at the particular school for at
least three (3) years.
24

7.2 DISTRICT LEVEL CHALLENGE APPEAL

If the parent is not satisfied with the decision of the School Committee, he/she may
appeal the decision through the District Level Challenge Appeal process.
1. The parent shall submit a written request for a District Level Challenge
Appeal along with a copy of the original Form within ten (10) school days of
receiving the decision of the School Committee.
2. The material in question will continue to be used as determined by the
School Committee during the District Level Challenge Appeal process.
3. The District Supervisor will convene the District Appeal Committee
(District Committee) and provide them with access to the challenged
material as well as public written reviews of the material from professional
review sources.
4. The District Committee members will read, view, or listen to the
material in its entirety as well as the reviews.
5. After being aforded time to review the material, the District
Committee will reconvene, at which time the parent will be given the option
to meet with the District Committee to present his/her views. The District
Committee will then dismiss the parent.
6. The District Committee will deliberate the issues and reach a decision.
A decision is made by a majority vote. The District Committee will decide
whether to retain the material in the library media center, relocate the
material within the library media center, or remove the material from the
library media center. This decision will only apply to the library media center
from which the challenge originated.
7. The parent, the library professional or specialist, and the school
principal from the school where the challenge originated will be notified of
the District Committees decision in writing within a reasonable time frame.
This response shall serve as the final administrative action in the matter.

25

Citizens Request for Reconsideration of Library or Instructional Material

Request initiated by
_________________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________________________
__
City/State/Zip
Code__________________________________________________________________
Telephone__________________________ E-mail address
__________________________________
Complainant represents: Self

Organization

Identify organization or group you

represent_____________________________________________
Title ______________________________________________________________________________
Author____________________________________Publisher_________________________________
1. To what in the work do you object? (Please be specific & cite pages)
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. What do you feel might be the result of using this material?
____________________________________________________________________________
3. For what age group would you recommend this material?
___________________________________________________________________________________
4. Is there anything good about the work?
___________________________________________________________________________________
5. Did you read or view the entire work? ______________ If no, what parts?
_______________________
6. Are you aware of the judgment of this work by literary critics/reviewers?
________________________
7. What do you believe is the theme of this work?
_____________________________________________
8. What would you like the library/media center/school to do about this
material?
Do not assign or lend it to my child
Withdraw it from all readers or students as well as my child
Send it back to the selection official for re-evaluation
9. In its place, what work of equal literary/educational quality would you
recommend that would convey as valuable a picture and perspective of the subject
treated?
____________________________________________________________________________________
26

Signature of
Complainant__________________________________________Date__________________

27

School Library Media Teacher Job Description

Information Power (Chicago: American Library Association, 1998) describes the role
of the School Library Media Teacher as:
Administrator of the School Library Media Center
Information Specialist
Teacher
Instructional Consultant
Administrator of the School Library Media Center:
Manages annual budgets
Selects items to establish a vibrant and responsive collection for
teacher and student use
Processes items for access by the teachers and students
Maintains the collection through ongoing acquisition, deselection and
inventory
Generates statistical and descriptive reports
Chairs the Library Advisory Committee
Handles library material challenges through the Library Advisory
Committee
Information Specialist:
Supports scheduling appropriate to school needs
Encourages the use of other information centers
Assists students and staf in developing systematic modes of inquiry
Understands the needs, skills, interests, and abilities of information
users
Teacher:

information

Teaches students the Utah Library Media Core Curriculum

Teaches students, staf and other patrons how to select, locate and use
in varied formats to meet their information needs
Promotes and supports lifelong reading and learning
Promotes and supports critical reading and thinking
Teaches appreciation for freedom of information
Teaches understanding of and respect for copyright and privacy laws

Instructional Consultant:
Participates in designing literacy curriculum and instructional
strategies
Collaborates with classroom teachers
Guides readers in developing positive reading attitudes, habits,
interests, and preferences

28

Expanded Job Description for Use by Principals and School

Library Media Teachers
Budget: The library media program shall have an annual, ongoing budget that
ensures the continuing development of a balanced, relevant, and current collection,
including supplies and operational materials.
(Standards: Utah School Library Media Programs, 2003).
Manage yearly budget, which is allocated by the principal according to
available resources (should be within guidelines as set by district media committee)
Apportion budget to various areas of library/media program
Prioritize expenditures
Order and acquire materials
Select new materials:
Evaluate materials for selection using
o teacher, parent and student input
o professional reviews
o catalogs
o online author/illustrator sites and online book
buying sources
o professional conferences and district
meetings
Use professional and district standards for establishing a collection
responsive to school needs (see page 1 of Cache School District Library Media
Policy and Procedures)
Process items:
Maintain materials and supplies for processing acquired items
Process acquired materials
Deselect and maintain the collection: Adequate resources (financial and time
allotted) shall be allowed in scheduling to ensure regular inspection, repair, and
replacement of materials and equipment (Standards: Utah School Library Media
Programs, 2003).
Deselect collection yearly
Attend to overdue, lost, and damaged items
Maintain a current inventory of the collection
Generate statistical and descriptive reports:
Circulation reports
Program status and facility usage
Year-end report to administrator

29

Cache County School District

Copyright Policy Statement (Policy # I-AA1)
It is the intent of the Cache County School District to adhere to the provisions of the
copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) regarding print and
non-print instructional materials.
Cache County School District recognizes that copyright infringement can be a
problem for industry. Additionally, violations of copyright laws contribute to high
costs and lessen incentives for the development of good education materials. In an
efort to discourage violation of copyright laws and to prevent such illegal activities,
federal and state laws must be followed. Any use or reproduction of copyrighted
materials will be done either with the written permission of the copyright holder or
within the bounds of Fair Use guidelines provided in the Copyright Act; otherwise,
the individual responsible for use or reproduction may be liable for infringing the
copyright under existing laws.
The Cache County School Board in recognizing the importance of the copyright law
of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) asserts that employees who
willfully infringe copyright law will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and
including termination of employment.
Library media teachers within the Cache County School District, with the support of
school and district administration, will be responsible to provide guidelines for
faculty and staf in regard to copyright issues. An addendum (below) to this policy
entitled Classroom Copyright Chart will be periodically reviewed and updated to
reflect current copyright law.
Printed Material (including text for use in multimedia projects)
Medium
What you can do
According to
The Fine Point
United States
No more than one
Poem Teachers may
make multiple
Copyright Office
copy per student.
less than
copies for
Usage must be: At the
250 words
Circular 21
"instance and
Excer classroom use.
inspiration of a single
pt of 250
Students may
Fair Use
teacher" and when the
words from
incorporate text in Guidelines for
time frame doesn't
a poem
Educational Media allow enough time for
greater than multimedia
projects.
asking permission.
250 words
Only for one course in
Articl
Teachers may
the school. No more
es, stories,
incorporate into
than nine instances
or essays
multimedia for
per class per term
less than
(current news
2,500 words teaching courses.
publications such as
Excer
newspapers can be
pt from a
used more often).
longer work
Don't create
(10% of
anthologies.
work or
"Consumables" can't
1,000
be copied Don't do it
words,
30

whichever is
less--but a
minimum of
500 words)
One
chart,
picture,
diagram,
graph,
cartoon or
picture per
book per
periodical
issue
Two
pages (max)
from an
illustrated
work less
than 2,500
words (like
childrens
books)
A
chapter
from a book
An
article from
a periodical
Short
story, short
essay, or
short poem
Chart,
graph,
diagram,
drawing,
cartoon,
picture from
a book,
periodical,
newspaper
Portio
ns of a work
An
entire work
A
work if "the
existing
format in

every term (if time

allows, seek
permission). Can't be
directed by "higher
authority." Copying
can't be substitute for
buying. Copies may
be made only from
legally acquired
originals.
Teachers may use for
two years, after that,
permission is
required. Students
may keep in portfolio
for life.

Teachers may
make a single
copy for teacher
use for research or
lesson
preparation.

United States
Copyright Office
Circular 21

Same as above

A librarian may
make up to three
copies "solely for
the purpose of
replacement of a
copy...that is
damaged,
deteriorating, lost

Section 108
Copyright Act
(1976) as
amended by the
Digital Millenium
Copyright Act

The library must first

determine that after
reasonable
investigation that
copycannot be
obtained at a fair
price or that the
format is obsolete

31

which a
work is
stored has
become
obsolete"

or stolen"

(e.g., betamax videos).

Video
Videot
apes
(purchased)
Videot
ape (rented)
DVD
Laser
Discs

Teachers may use

these materials in
the classroom
without restrictions
of length,
percentage, or
multiple use. May
be copied for
archival purposes
or to replace lost,
damaged, or stolen
copies.

Section 110 of the

Copyright Act

Video (Motion Media) for use in Multimedia Projects

Videot Students "may use
Fair Use Guidelines
apes
portions of lawfully for Educational
DVD
acquired
Multimedia
Laser
copyrighted works
Discs
in their academic
Quick
multimedia",
Time Movies defined as 10% or
Encycl three minutes
opedias (CD
(whichever is less)
ROM)
of "motion media"
Adoption Date: 9/1/2007
SECTION I - BOARD POLICIES
32

The material must

be legitimately
acquired (a legal
copy). It must be
used in a
classroom or
similar place
"dedicated to faceto-face
instruction". Not
for use as
entertainment or
reward. The use
should be
instructional. The
place should be a
non-profit
educational
institution. If
replacements are
unavailable at a
fair price or are
available only in
obsolete formats
(e.g., Betamax
videos).
"Proper attribution
and credit must be
noted for all
copyrighted works
included in
multimedia,
including those
prepared under fair
use." Tina Ivany,
UC San Diego
12/08/95

Educational Video/DVD/Electronic Media Policy

1. Video/DVD/Electronic Media Usage Policy
a. Instructional Use The primary use of videos/DVDs
and other electronic media is for instructional purposes. By law,
any program that does not include public performance rights
must comply with the fair use provision of copyright law. This
requires that programs are:
(1)
Used with students in face-toface instruction by the classroom teacher
(2)
Correlated to instructional.
Videos/DVDs and other electronic media are shown in
segments. By exception and with prior principal approval
an entire video/DVD or other electronic media.
(3)
Shown in a normal classroom
instructional setting (not in large group settings such as in
an auditorium or gymnasium)
(4)
Not shown for reward,
entertainment, fundraising, or the charging of admission
(5)
Video and/or film materials that
are rated NC-17, R, or X by the motion picture association,
and television programming that is rated TV-14 or TV-M by
the television industry should not be shown at any time.
Educators who violate this policy will be subject to
employment discipline.
(6)
Segments of video materials
that serve a legitimate instructional purpose and that are
determined by the educator and school administration to
have sensitive content or that are rated by the motion
picture association as PG or PG-13, or unrated materials
and television programs with a TV-PG or TV-14 rating
should be carefully considered before use in a classroom
setting. Prior parental consent must be obtained before
showing such video/electronic material.
33

2. Video/DVD Ratings and Other Electronic Media

a. Elementary Schools may only show G rated
programs.
b. Middle Schools /8-9 Centers
(1)
may show G rated programs
(2)
may show P.G. rated programs
with approval of the department head and principal
(3)
may not show programs with
more restrictive rating
c. Senior High Schools
(1)
may show G rated programs
(2)
may show P.G. rate programs
with approval of the department and principal
(3)
may show P.G.-13 rated
programs with approval of the department head,
principal, and designated official at the district office (this
must be written approval)
(4)
may not show any program with
more restrictive ratings (e.g. R, NC-17, X).
3. Program Sources
a. Any program recorded from Instructional Television
(i.e. ITV channels 7&9) may be shown in accordance with the rights
stated in the ITV Schedule Book, which is produced and distributed
quarterly to all schools.
b. All videos/DVDs and other electronic media legally
purchased by the school media centers may be used for
instructional purposes if approved by the building administrator and
the department head (secondary) or grade level team leader
(elementary).
c. Commercial Television programs may be used for
instructional purposes once by individual teachers in a classroom or
similar place devoted to instruction. A program may be used up to
10 school days after the broadcast.
d. Commercially rented programs that carry individual
restrictions may not be shown.
e. Privately owned or commercially rented programs
may be shown, provided they are original copies and they follow
the usage criteria in Section 1.
4. Efective Video/DVD and Other Electronic Media Utilization
a. All programs must be previewed by the teacher or
library media teacher before its use.
b. Intended instructional objectives must be written
and filed with the building administrator (may be part of the
approved class syllabus).
c. Sound instructional principals that maximize
34

instructional time should always be employed (e.g. show only

relevant clips, inform students of the instructional purpose, stop
and start program to integrate other instructional activities, use
pre/post questions and discussions and assessment, etc.).
SECTION I BOARD POLICY
D. Instructional Program Policy
Educational Video/DVD/Electronic Media Policy
Policy # I-D2
Revised\Adopted
Revised\Adopted
Revised\Adopted
Revised\Adopted

July 1989
January 2002
August 2012
November 2012

Please sign and return to the Library Media Center.

Sky View High School

Copyright Compliance Agreement
I have been informed of the appropriate uses of instructional media, fair use
guidelines, and the copyright compliance policy of the Cache County School District.
I, the undersigned, acknowledge that I understand these policies and guidelines and
that any uses I may make of instructional materials or audiovisual equipment in a
classroom setting will be in accordance with both federal law and said policies and
guidelines.
________________________________________
Teacher
________________________________________
Date

35

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums
for
information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should
guide their services.
I.
Books and other library
resources should be provided for the interest, information,
and enlightenment of all people of the community the
library serves. Materials should not be excluded because
of the origin, background, or views of those contributing
to their creation.
II.
Libraries should provide
materials and information presenting all points of view on
current and historical issues. Materials should not be
proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal
disapproval.
III.
Libraries should challenge
censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to
provide information and enlightenment.
IV.
Libraries should cooperate with
all persons and groups concerned with resisting
abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
V.
A persons right to use a library
should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age,
background, or views.
VI.
Libraries which make exhibit
spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they
serve should make such facilities available on an
equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of
individuals or groups requesting their use.
Adopted June 18, 1948.
Amended February 2, 1961; June 28, 1967; and January 23, 1980,
inclusion of age reaffirmed January 23, 1996,
by the ALA Council

36

The Freedom to Read

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack.
Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to
remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label
controversial views, to distribute lists of objectionable books or authors, and to
purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of
free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to
counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of
politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as
librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public
interest in the preservation of the freedom to read. Most attempts at suppression rest
on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by
exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans
to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about
what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their
heritage of a free press in order to be protected against what others think may be bad
for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.
These eforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought
against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet.
The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these
pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by
those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.
Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change.
And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension.
Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps
open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice.
Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the
toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with
controversy and diference. Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest
freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally
available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small
audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried
voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the
extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of
knowledge and ideas into organized collections.
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and
a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the
danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our
democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must
jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own
freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound
responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the
readers to choose freely from a variety of oferings. The freedom to read is guaranteed
by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these
constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that
accompany these rights.
37

We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest
diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or
considered dangerous by the majority.
Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is diferent. The bearer of every
new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt
to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that
challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to
change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from
among conflicting opinions ofered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at
birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the
constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength
demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we
believe it.
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or
presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to
establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining
what should be published or circulated.
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available
knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning.
They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought.
The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than
those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It
is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to
writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private
lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers
to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine
adults to the
reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to
achieve artistic
expression.
To some, much of modern expression is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking?
We cut of
literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuf of life. Parents
and teachers
have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to
which they
will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for
themselves.
These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them
from reading
works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters values difer, and values
cannot be
legislated; nor can machinery be devised that will suit the demands of one group
without limiting the
freedom of others.
38

5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label
characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to
determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals
must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But
Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the peoples
freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups
seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by
the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public
information.
It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the
moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with
those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine
for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will
recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law
into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other
members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the
accepted and the inofensive. Further, democratic societies are more safe, free, and
creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by governmental
prerogative or self-censorship.
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom
to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and
expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that
the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good one.
The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit
for that readers purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the
positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought
and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed
down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to
read requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves
of all Americans the fullest of their support.
We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake
out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is
possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free.
We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of
ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state
these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We
believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous;
but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a
dangerous way of life, but it is ours.
This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of
the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in
1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the
Association of American Publishers. Adopted June 25, 1953; revised January 28, 1972,
January 16, 1991, July 12, 2000, June 30, 2004, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom
to Read Committee. A Joint Statement by: American Library Association of American
Publishers
39

40

The Students Right to Read

The current edition of The Students' Right to Read is an adaptation and updating of
the original Council statement, including "Citizen's Request for Reconsideration of a
Work," prepared by the Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of
Teachers of English and revised by Ken Donelson.
The Right to Read and the Teacher of English
For many years, American schools have been pressured to restrict or deny students
access to books or periodicals deemed objectionable by some individual or group on
moral, political, religious, ethnic, racial, or philosophical grounds. These pressures
have mounted in recent years, and English teachers have no reason to believe they
will diminish. The fight against censorship is a continuing series of skirmishes, not a
pitched battle leading to a final victory over censorship.
We can safely make two statements about censorship: first, any work is potentially
open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason; second,
censorship is often arbitrary and irrational. For example, classics traditionally used
in English classrooms have been accused of containing obscene, heretical, or
subversive elements. What English teacher could anticipate judgments such as the
following--judgments characteristic of those made by many would-be censors:
Plato's Republic: "This book is un-Christian."
George Eliot's Silas Marner; "You can't prove what that dirty old man is
doing with that child between chapters."
Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days: "Very unfavorable to
Mormons."
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: "A filthy book."
Shakespeare's Macbeth: "Too violent for children today."
Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment: "Serves as a poor model
for young people."
Herman Melville's Moby Dick: "Contains homosexuality."
Modern works, even more than the classics, are criticized as "filthy," "un-American,"
"overly realistic," and "anti-war." Some books have been attacked merely for being
"controversial," suggesting that for some people the purpose of education is not the
investigation of ideas but rather the indoctrination of certain set beliefs and
standards. The following statements represent complaints typical of those made
against modern works of literature:
J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: "A dreadful, dreary recital of
sickness, sordidness, and sadism." (Without much question, Salinger's book
has been for some time the most widely censored book in the United States.)
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five: "Its repetitious obscenity and
immorality merely degrade and defile, teaching nothing."
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: "The word rape is used several
times. Children should not see this in any literature book."
Some groups and individuals have also raised objections to literature written
specifically for young people. As long as novels intended for young people stayed at
the intellectual and emotional level of A Date for Marcy or A Touchdown for
Thunderbird High, censors could forego criticism. But many contemporary novels for
adolescents focus on the real world of young people--drugs, premarital sex,
alcoholism, divorce, high school gangs, school dropouts, racism, violence, and
sensuality. English teachers willing to defend the classics and modern literature
must be prepared to give equally spirited defense to serious and worthwhile
adolescent novels.
41

Literature about ethnic or racial minorities remains "controversial" or

"objectionable" to many adults. As long as groups such as African Americans, Pacific
Islanders, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Latinos* "kept their proper
place"--awarded them by an Anglo society--censors rarely raised their voices. But
attacks have increased in frequency as minority groups have refused to observe
their assigned "place." Though nominally, the criticisms of racial or ethnic literature
have usually been directed at "bad language," "suggestive situations,"
"questionable literary merit," or "ungrammatical English" (usually oblique
complaints about the diferent dialect or culture of a group), the underlying motive
for some attacks has unquestionably been racial. Typical of censors' criticisms of
ethnic works are the following comments:
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: "The book is biased on the black
question."
Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl: "Obscene and blasphemous."
Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice: "Totally objectionable and without any
literary value."
Books are not alone in being subject to censorship. Magazines or newspapers used,
recommended, or referred to in English classes have increasingly drawn the
censor's fire. Few libraries would regard their periodical collection as worthwhile or
representative without some or all of the following publications, but all of them have
been the target of censors on occasion:
National Geographic: "Nudity and sensationalism, especially in stories
on barbaric foreign people."
Scholastic Magazine: "Doctrines opposing the beliefs of the majority,
socialistic programs; promotes racial unrest and contains very detailed
geography of foreign countries, especially those inhabited by dark people."
National Observer: "Right-wing trash with badly reported news."
New York Times: "That thing should be outlawed after printing the
Pentagon papers and helping our country's enemies."
The immediate results of demands to censor books or periodicals vary. At times,
school boards and administrators have supported and defended their teachers, their
use of materials under fire, and the student's right of access to the materials. At
other times, however, special committees have been formed to cull out
"objectionable works" or "modern trash" or "controversial literature." Some teachers
have been summarily reprimanded for assigning certain works, even to mature
students. Others have been able to retain their positions only after initiating court
action.
Not as sensational, but perhaps more important, are the long range results. Schools
have removed from libraries and classrooms and English teachers have avoided
using or recommending works which might make members of the community angry.
Many students are consequently "educated" in a school atmosphere hostile to free
inquiry. And many teachers learn to emphasize their own safety rather than their
students' needs.
The problem of censorship does not derive solely from the small anti-intellectual,
ultra-moral, or ultra-patriotic groups which will always function in a society that
guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The present concern is
rather with the frequency and force of attacks by others, often people of good will
and the best intentions, some from within the teaching profession. The National
Council of Teachers of English, the National Education Association, the American
Federation of Teachers, and the American Library Association, as well as the
42

publishing industry and writers themselves agree: pressures for censorship are
great throughout our society.
The material that follows is divided into two sections. The first on "The Right to
Read" is addressed to parents and the community at large. The other section, "A
Program of Action," lists Council recommendations for establishing professional
committees in every school to set up procedures for book selection, to work for
community support, and to review complaints against any book or periodical.
The Right to Read
An open letter to the citizens of our country from the National Council of Teachers of
English:
Where suspicion fills the air and holds scholars in line for fear of their jobs, there
can be no exercise of the free intellect. . . . A problem can no longer be pursued
with impunity to its edges. Fear stalks the classroom. The teacher is no longer a
stimulant to adventurous thinking; she becomes instead a pipe line for safe and
sound information. A deadening dogma takes the place of free inquiry. Instruction
tends to become sterile; pursuit of knowledge is discouraged; discussion often
leaves off where it should begin.
Justice William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court: Adler v. Board of
Education, 1951.
The right to read, like all rights guaranteed or implied within our constitutional
tradition, can be used wisely or foolishly. In many ways, education is an efort to
improve the quality of choices open to all students. But to deny the freedom of
choice in fear that it may be unwisely used is to destroy the freedom itself. For this
reason, we respect the right of individuals to be selective in their own reading. But
for the same reason, we oppose eforts of individuals or groups to limit the freedom
of choice of others or to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community
at large.
The right of any individual not just to read but to read whatever he or she wants to
read is basic to a democratic society. This right is based on an assumption that the
educated possess judgment and understanding and can be trusted with the
determination of their own actions. In efect, the reader is freed from the bonds of
chance. The reader is not limited by birth, geographic location, or time, since
reading allows meeting people, debating philosophies, and experiencing events far
beyond the narrow confines of an individual's own existence.
In selecting books for reading by young people, English teachers consider the
contribution which each work may make to the education of the reader, its aesthetic
value, its honesty, its readability for a particular group of students, and its appeal to
adolescents. English teachers, however, may use diferent works for diferent
purposes. The criteria for choosing a work to be read by an entire class are
somewhat diferent from the criteria for choosing works to be read by small groups.
For example, a teacher might select John Knowles' A Separate Peace for reading by
an entire class, partly because the book has received wide critical recognition,
partly because it is relatively short and will keep the attention of many slow readers,
and partly because it has proved popular with many students of widely difering
abilities. The same teacher, faced with the responsibility of choosing or
recommending books for several small groups of students, might select or
recommend books as diferent as Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Jack
Schaefer's Shane, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch,
Pierre Boulle's The Bridge over the River Kwai, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations,
43

or Paul Zindel's The Pigman, depending upon the abilities and interests of the
students in each group.
And the criteria for suggesting books to individuals or for recommending something
worth reading for a student who casually stops by after class are diferent from
selecting material for a class or group. But the teacher selects, not censors, books.
Selection implies that a teacher is free to choose this or that work, depending upon
the purpose to be achieved and the student or class in question, but a book
selected this year may be ignored next year, and the reverse. Censorship implies
that certain works are not open to selection, this year or any year.
Wallace Stevens once wrote, "Literature is the better part of life. To this it seems
inevitably necessary to add, provided life is the better part of literature." Students
and parents have the right to demand that education today keep students in touch
with the reality of the world outside the classroom. Much of classic literature asks
questions as valid and significant today as when the literature first appeared,
questions like "What is the nature of humanity?" "Why do people praise individuality
and practice conformity?" "What do people need for a good life?" and "What is the
nature of the good person?" But youth is the age of revolt. To pretend otherwise is
to ignore a reality made clear to young people and adults alike on television and
radio, in newspapers and magazines. English teachers must be free to employ
books, classic or contemporary, which do not lie to the young about the perilous but
wondrous times we live in, books which talk of the fears, hopes, joys, and
frustrations people experience, books about people not only as they are but as they
can be. English teachers forced through the pressures of censorship to use only safe
or antiseptic works are placed in the morally and intellectually untenable position of
lying to their students about the nature and condition of mankind.
The teacher must exercise care to select or recommend works for class reading and
group discussion. One of the most important responsibilities of the English teacher
is developing rapport and respect among students. Respect for the uniqueness and
potential of the individual, an important facet of the study of literature, should be
emphasized in the English class. Literature classes should reflect the cultural
contributions of many minority groups in the United States, just as they should
acquaint students with contributions from the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin
America.
The Threat to Education
Censorship leaves students with an inadequate and distorted picture of the ideals,
values, and problems of their culture. Writers may often represent their culture, or
they may stand to the side and describe and evaluate that culture. Yet partly
because of censorship or the fear of censorship, many writers are ignored or
inadequately represented in the public schools, and many are represented in
anthologies not by their best work but by their "safest" or "least ofensive" work.
The censorship pressures receiving the greatest publicity are those of small groups
who protest the use of a limited number of books with some "objectionable" realistic
elements, such as Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, Johnny
Got His Gun, Catch-22, Soul on Ice, or A Day No Pigs Would Die. The most obvious
and immediate victims are often found among our best and most creative English
teachers, those who have ventured outside the narrow boundaries of conventional
texts. Ultimately, however, the real victims are the students, denied the freedom to
explore ideas and pursue truth wherever and however they wish.
Great damage may be done by book committees appointed by national or local
organizations to pore over anthologies, texts, library books, and paperbacks to find
44

passages which advocate, or seem to advocate, causes or concepts or practices

these organizations condemn. As a result, some publishers, sensitive to possible
objections, carefully exclude sentences or selections that might conceivably ofend
some group, somehow, sometime, somewhere.
The Community's Responsibility
American citizens who care about the improvement of education are urged to join
students, teachers, librarians, administrators, boards of education, and professional
and scholarly organizations in support of the students' right to read. Only
widespread and informed support in every community can assure that
enough citizens are interested in the development and maintenance of
a superior school system to guarantee its achievement;
malicious gossip, ignorant rumors, and deceptive letters to the editor
will not be circulated without challenge and correction;
newspapers will be convinced that the public sincerely desires
objective school news reporting, free from slanting or editorial comment
which destroys confidence in and support for schools;
the community will not permit its resources and energies to be
dissipated in conflicts created by special interest groups striving to advance
their ideologies or biases; and
faith in democratic traditions and processes will be maintained.
A Program of Action
Censorship in schools is a widespread problem. Teachers of English, librarians, and
school administrators can best serve students, literature, and the profession today if
they prepare now to face pressures sensibly, demonstrating on the one hand a
willingness to consider the merits of any complaint and on the other the courage to
defend their literature program with intelligence and vigor. The Council therefore
recommends that every school undertake the following two-step program to protect
the students' right to read:
the establishment of a representative committee to consider book selection
procedures and to screen complaints; and
a vigorous campaign to establish a community atmosphere in which local citizens
may be enlisted to support the freedom to read.
Procedures for Book Selection
Although one may defend the freedom to read without reservation as one of the
hallmarks of a free society, there is no substitute for informed, professional, and
qualified book selection. English teachers are better qualified to choose and
recommend books for their classes than persons not prepared in the field.
Nevertheless, administrators have certain legal and professional responsibilities. For
these reasons and as a matter of professional courtesy, they should be kept
informed about the criteria and the procedures used by English teachers in selecting
books and the titles of the books used.
In each school the English department should develop its own statement explaining
why literature is taught and how books are chosen for each class. This statement
should be on file with the administration before any complaints are received. The
statement should also support the teacher's right to choose supplementary
materials and to discuss controversial issues insofar as they are relevant.
Operating within such a policy, the English department should take the following
steps:
Establish a committee to help other English teachers find exciting and challenging
books of potential value to students in a specific school. Schools without
45

departments or small schools with a few English teachers should organize a

permanent committee charged with the responsibility of alerting other teachers to
new books just published or old books now forgotten which might prove valuable in
the literature program.
Devote time at each department meeting to reviews and comments by the above
committee or plan special meetings for this purpose. Free and open meetings to
discuss books of potential value to students would seem both reasonable and
normal for any English department. Teachers should be encouraged to challenge
any books recommended or to suggest titles hitherto ignored. Require that each
English teacher give a rationale for any book to be read by an entire class. Written
rationales for all books read by an entire class would serve the department well if
censorship should strike. A file of rationales should serve as impressive evidence to
the administration and the community that English teachers have not chosen their
books lightly or haphazardly.
Report to the administration the books that will be used for class reading by each
English teacher.
Such a procedure gives each teacher the right to expect support from fellow
teachers and administrators whenever someone objects to a book.
The Legal Problem
Apart from the professional and moral issues involved in censorship, there are legal
matters about which NCTE cannot give advice. The Council is not a legal authority.
Across the nation, moreover, conditions vary so much that no one general principle
applies. In some states, for example, textbooks are purchased from public funds and
supplied free to students; in others, students must rent or buy their own texts.
The legal status of textbook adoption lists also varies. Some lists include only those
books which must be taught and allow teachers freedom to select additional titles;
other lists are restrictive, containing the only books which may be required for all
students.
As a part of sensible preparations for handling attacks on books, each school should
ascertain what laws apply to it.
Preparing the Community
To respond to complaints about books, every school should have a committee of
teachers (and possibly students, parents, and other representatives from the
community) organized to inform the community about book selection procedures;
enlist the support of citizens, possibly by explaining the place of literature in the
educational process or by discussing at meetings of parents and other community
groups the books used at that school; and consider any complaints against any
work. No community is so small that it lacks concerned people who care about their
children and the educational program of the schools.
No community is so small that it lacks readers who will support the English teachers
in defending books when complaints are received. Unhappily, English teachers too
often fail to seek out these people and to cultivate their good will and support
before censorship strikes.
Defending the Books
Despite the care taken to select worthwhile books for student reading and the
qualifications of teachers selecting and recommending books, occasional objections
to a work will undoubtedly be made. All books are potentially open to criticism in
one or more general areas: the treatment of ideologies, of minorities, of love and
46

sex; the use of language not acceptable to some people; the type of illustrations;
the private life or political affiliations of the author or, in a few cases, the illustrator.
If some attacks are made by groups or individuals frankly hostile to free inquiry and
open discussion, others are made by misinformed or misguided people who, acting
on emotion or rumor, simply do not understand how the books are to be used.
Others are made by well-intentioned and conscientious people who fear that harm
will come to some segment of the community if a particular book is read or
recommended.
What should be done upon receipt of a complaint?
If the complainant telephones, listen courteously and refer him or her to the teacher
involved. That teacher should be the first person to discuss the book with the
person objecting to its use.
If the complainant is not satisfied, invite him or her to file the complaint in writing,
but make no commitments, admissions of guilt, or threats.
If the complainant writes, contact the teacher involved and let that teacher call the
complainant.
Sometimes the problem seems less serious and more easily resolved through
personal contact over the phone. If the complainant is not satisfied, invite him or
her to file the complaint in writing on a form prepared for this purpose. (See sample
below.)
Citizen's Request for Reconsideration of a Work
Author ____________________________________________
Paperback_____ Hardcover _____
Title ______________________________________________
Publisher (if known) __________________________________
Request initiated by __________________________________
Telephone _________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________
City / State / Zip _______________________________________________
Complainant represents
____ Himself/Herself
____ (Name organization) ___________________________
____ (Identify other group) _______________________
1. Have you been able to discuss this work with the teacher or
librarian who ordered it or who used it?
____ Yes ____ No
2. What do you understand to be the general purpose for using this
work?
o Provide support for a unit in the curriculum?
___ Yes ___ No
o Provide a learning experience for the reader in one
kind of literature?
___ Yes ___ No
o Other __________________________________________
3. Did the general purpose for the use of the work, as described by
the teacher or librarian, seem a suitable one to you?
____Yes ____ No
If not, please explain.
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_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
4. What do you think is the general purpose of the author in this
book?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
5. In what ways do you think a work of this nature is not suitable
for the use the teacher or librarian wishes to carry out?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
6. Have you been able to learn what is the students' response to
this work?
____ Yes ____ No
7. What response did the students make?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
8. Have you been able to learn from your school library what book
reviewers or other students of literature have written about this work?
____ Yes ____ No
9. Would you like the teacher or librarian to give you a written
summary of what book reviewers and other students have written
about this book or film?
____ Yes ____ No
10.Do you have negative reviews of the book?
____ Yes ____ No
11.Where were they published?
__________________________________________________________
12.Would you be willing to provide summaries of their views you
have collected?
____ Yes ____ No
13.What would you like your library/school to do about this work?
____ Do not assign/lend it to my child.
____ Return it to the staf selection committee/department for
reevaluation.
____ Other--Please explain
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
14.In its place, what work would you recommend that would convey
as valuable a picture and perspective of the subject treated?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Signature __________________________________________
Date______________________________________________
At first, except for politely acknowledging the complaint and explaining the
established procedures, the English teacher should do nothing. The success of much
censorship depends upon frightening an unprepared school or English department
into some precipitous action. A standardized procedure will take the sting from the
first outburst of criticism. When the reasonable objector learns that he or she will be
given a fair hearing through following the proper channels, he or she is more likely
to be satisfied. The idle censor, on the other hand, may well be discouraged from
48

taking further action. A number of advantages will be provided by the form, which
will
formalize the complaint,
indicate specifically the work in question,
identify the complainant,
suggest how many others support the complaint,
require the complainant to think through objections in order to make
an intelligent statement on work (1, 2, and 3),
cause the complainant to evaluate the work for other groups than
merely the one he or she first had in mind (4),
establish his or her familiarity with the work (5),
give the complainant an opportunity to consider the criticism about the
work and the teacher's purpose in using the work (6, 7, and 8), and
give the complainant an opportunity to suggest alternative actions to
be taken on the work (9 and 10).
The committee reviewing complaints should be available on short notice to consider
the completed "Citizen's Request for Reconsideration of a Work" and to call in the
complainant and the teacher involved for a conference. Members of the committee
should have reevaluated the work in advance of the meeting, and the group should
be prepared to explain its findings. Membership of the committee should ordinarily
include an administrator, the English department chair, and at least two classroom
teachers of English. But the department might consider the advisability of including
members from the community and the local or state NCTE affiliate. As a matter of
course, recommendations from the committee would be forwarded to the
superintendent, who would in turn submit them to the board of education, the
legally constituted authority in the school.
Teachers and administrators should recognize that the responsibility for selecting
works for class study lies with classroom teachers and that the responsibility for
reevaluating any work begins with the review committee. Both teachers and
administrators should refrain from discussing the objection with the complainant,
the press, or community groups. Once the complaint has been filed, the authority
for handling the situation must ultimately rest with the administration and school
board.
Freedom of inquiry is essential to education in a democracy. To establish conditions
essential for freedom, teachers and administrators need to follow procedures similar
to those recommended here. Where schools resist unreasonable pressures, the
cases are seldom publicized and students continue to read works as they wish. The
community that entrusts students to the care of an English teacher should also trust
that teacher to exercise professional judgment in selecting or recommending books.
The English teacher can be free to teach literature, and students can be free to read
whatever they wish only if informed and vigilant groups, within the profession and
without, unite in resisting unfair pressures.
The Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of Teachers of English:
Edward R. Gordon, Yale University, Chair
Martin Steinmann, University of Minnesota, Associate Chair
Harold B. Allen, University of Minnesota
Frank A. Doggett, D. U. Fletcher High School, Jacksonville Beach,
Florida
Jack Fields, Great Neck South High School, New York
49

Graham S. Frear, St. Olaf College, Minnesota

Robert Gard, Camelback High School, Phoenix, Arizona
Frank Ross, Detroit Public Schools, Michigan
Warren Taylor, Oberlin College, Ohio
Permission is granted to reproduce in whole or in part the material in this
publication, with proper credit to the National Council of Teachers of English.
Because of specific local problems, some schools may wish to modify the
statements and arrange separately for printing or duplication. In such cases, of
course, it should be made clear that revised statements appear under the
authorization and sponsorship of the local school or association, not NCTE.
* revised April 2009 to adhere to NCTE's Policy on Involvement of People of Color
This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without
permission from NCTE.

Works Consulted
Cache County School Districts School Library Media Guidelines and Procedures
Policy
Jones, Erma. Personal Interview. October 2015.

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