Policies for the Library

Hello,

I have talked about library policies previously a time or two. If you have library policies in place right now, just go and see if you need to do any updating on them, then you can quit reading.
If you don’t have library policies in place, then this is the time to get started. I suggest that you have two policies. One will be the policy for your students and any community patrons that you have. These can also be separated if that is easier for you. I have separate policies for students and community patrons because I have a good number of community patrons. I have them update their information each year and their ‘card’ is renewed yearly.

STUDENT POLICY
In your policy for students, include simple things like how many books may be checked out at a time and how long the check-out period will be. If they do not return a library book, what will the consequences be? Will you charge fines? How many times may a book be renewed?

COMMUNITY POLICY
You may not have community patrons, but you never know. Do you have any homeschooling families who might want to use your library? If you need a community policy, include the same things and add the best times for a community patron to check out. In mine, I also let them know that if a student or teacher needs a particular book that they happen to have, we may need them to return it before their due date since the our students and teachers have priority to library materials. I also limit the loan of seasonal books and particular subjects if a classroom has need of them.

SELECTION POLICY
I have a selection policy that gives a description of criteria we use to select our materials and the care of our materials.

RECONSIDERATION POLICY
The last policy is one that seems to be fairly unimportant, but is not. It is the Reconsideration Policy. This policy is in place in the unlikely event that a parent or student feels that a particular book or material is not appropriate for the school library. Most of us when faced with a particular book might just say, “You’re right,” and just discard the book. However, this practice opens the door to anyone just saying that a particular book should be discarded when they haven’t even read it or know what it is about. It really is much easier on the librarian or teacher to say, “You may be right about that. Will you please fill out this form and I will take it to our committee and we will reevaluate the book?” This puts the power in the teacher’s corner and the person who is complaining will need to justify their complaints. If you happen to agree with the parent, you can also add, “I’ll just temporarily set it aside until the process is over,” and then you can find a place for the book. Once the form has been submitted, then take it to your committee. Your committee can be your school board, or if you are in a larger school, choose a parent, a teacher who teaches at the grade level the book is appropriate for, and your principal to help you. Most likely you will never need to meet with your committee since this will probably never happen. But it is good to be ready for an unlikely event. You have fire drills regularly? Have you ever had a fire? Probably not, but you are ready for them in case.

I wish many times that I had had a Reconsideration Policy in place at my first school. A parent came in to complain about a particular book and brought our pastor with him. I spoke up for the book and asked if either of them had read the book. No, neither one had. There was a bad word in the book, but the story was very inspiring. The father and pastor only saw the bad word and came running. If I had a Reconsideration Policy, they would have had to stop and think about the material instead of just reacting. It would have helped me to diffuse the situation in a positive way, rather than being put on the defensive.

I will attach my policies for you to look over. If you need a policy and like how mine reads, please feel free to tweak it to fit your school.

Have a great week!

Audrey

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