Administrative Policy Handbook/ Policy Issues Paper

ITEC 7132
Christie Edwards Durden

When Ebenezer Middle School first opened, many of the classrooms and offices were empty. The media center shelves looked bare. The school had
very few resources like computers or science equipment. At lunch the cafeteria was only half full. As the school has grown, there have been many
changes. There has been an addition of 6 new classrooms to one of the wings to accommodate the swelling student population. The school has acquired
a mobile computer lab, a classroom computer lab, and ten new computers in the media center. The shelves in the media center are well stocked. In spite
of these changes, there has been little revision of the school’s media center administrative policies even though it is the current county policy to review
that handbook on an annual basis. In fact, the last county wide revisions were made in July of 2002.
After reviewing the media center policies, my main concerns with the current media center policies are that they neglect information literacy and
intellectual freedom. Also many of the policies as they are written are vague and need further explanation to be truly effective. The table below is a
review and discussion of the current media center policies as well as a discussion of needed additions. It is important to note that Ebenezer Middles
School operates under the school level policies as well as county level policies. County level policies are discussed here.

Evaluation of Ebenezer Middle School’s Administrative Policy Handbook

Current County Level Policies (last revision July 2002)
Policy Evaluation/Discussion of Current Suggestions
Policy
Goals of the This policy lists the goals of My suggestion for this policy is to add the following statement:
School Effingham County's school media The school media program also seeks to uphold the protections of
Library program. It simply states that the students’ rights to access information to read, listen to, view, and
Media selection of media resources be evaluate as defined by the First Amendment of the United States
Programs based on curriculum requirements Constitution (Bishop, 2007). This statement reflects best practice
and the interests and needs of as it pertains to the protection of student’s rights. This particular
students and teachers. statement is also important in the reconsideration of materials
process. The Kankakee high school media center effectively
addresses intellectual freedom in the statement of their goals. An
example of what they have written in their goals can be found at
the website below.

http://www.kv.k12.in.us/kvhs/goals.htm

I would also add the instruction of Information Literacy skills to

the list of goals for the county as this should be the main focus in
the library media program in this technological age. The following
websites address information literacy in the media program. Both
websites are an example of how information literacy can be
addressed in the statement of goals.

http://www.apscms.net/west/media-center/

Roles & This policy designates The Effingham
Responsibilities County Board of Education as the
legal body ultimately responsible for
the selection of materials for school
media centers. It gives the media
specialist along with the media
committee the ultimate responsibility
for selecting resources and for
determining short term and long
term goals. It also gives authority to
the media committee in terms of
challenged materials. I think that it is
an excellent policy to have a
committee to make important
decisions such as these.
Media This policy outlines the criteria that
Selection should be used to select materials. It
Guidelines is a very comprehensive list that
includes criteria like enriching the
curriculum, maturity level of user,
providing different points of view. It
also discusses selecting material
based upon principle and reason as
opposed to personal opinion or
prejudice.
Administrative Policy Handbook/ Policy Issues Paper
ITEC 7132
Christie Edwards Durden
http://chesterfield.k12.va.us/Instruction/Library_Media/Library_Me
dia_Handbook.html
Because the media committee is involved with the consideration
of challenged materials, the first suggestion that I would make for
this policy is to broaden the media committee to include members
of the community as well as additional members with expertise in
the area of the challenge. I would suggest looking at the
Savannah School System’s policies as an example.
https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/ePolicy/policy.aspx?PC=IFBD-
R&Sch=4140&S=4140&RevNo=2.37&C=I&Z=R
I would also provide a better understanding of the day to day
roles and responsibilities of the media specialist and media
assistant. The following links provide a comprehensive list of
duties and responsibilities for the media specialist and media
assistant. I think that this is important to add to the handbook as
it will facilitate a better working relationship between the media
specialist and the media assistant.
Media Specialist:
http://www.georgetownisd.org/programs/support/libmanual/manu
al2.htm#Librarian/%20Library%20Media%20Specialist%20Job
%20Description
Media Assistant:
http://www.georgetownisd.org/programs/support/libmanual/manu
al2.htm#Library%20Assistant/Aide/Clerk
I would suggest adding the following statement to this policy:
Providing media that is relevant to today’s world (Bishop, 2007). It
is important to keep the collection up to date. I might also
reference the goals of the media center in this section as the
goals of the media center should also play a role in selection of
materials. As an additional note, referencing the goals in this
section would also incorporate intellectual freedom into the
selection policy.

Criteria for This policy is somewhat
Media different from the Media
Selection Selection Guidelines discussed
above. It is more of a checklist
that should be used for
selecting quality materials. It
includes criteria like selecting
books and other materials that
have been critically reviewed
by reputable, professional
organizations, material that is
durable and well bound,
material that has undergone
personal examination by
teachers, the media committee
or the media specialist, and
material that accommodates
various learning styles.
Special Selection This section of the policy deals with
Considerations materials that are not necessarily
purchased by the media center. The
selection policies here refer to
material that is brought to school by
teachers and students, gifts and
loans, and sponsored material. The
selection policies here are the same
for purchased material.
Books and other media provided by
private, commercial, or non-profit
donors will meet the same criteria
established for purchased materials.
Administrative Policy Handbook/ Policy Issues Paper
ITEC 7132
Christie Edwards Durden
Although this policy has some different guidelines for selecting
material, it is a bit redundant. It goes back over the many of the
same criteria listed in the Media Selection Guidelines policy. It
restates that material should be selected to support and enhance
the curriculum. It also restates that material should be selected
based upon student maturity level and allow for different points of
view. So, I would suggest combining these two sections into a
more concise policy. I would also add the statement that selection
of material not be limited to just one criteria or standard (Bishop,
2007). I would add this statement because there seems to be a lot
of emphasis in this section about selecting materials and books
based upon written reviews. It is good practice to consider
reviews when selecting material, but decisions should not be
based upon reviews alone. I would suggest using the following link
as a guideline for developing a better selection policy. It also is a
good example of how to incorporate intellectual freedom into the
selection process.
http://www.d91.net/LRC/LRCPDF/LRC%20Selection%20Policy.pdf
The main thing that I would add to this policy is the following
statement: Gifts should be free of advertisements. In addition all
gifts become the property of the school district and when declared
surplus can be dispensed as deemed appropriate by the media
specialist. The media center does not accept gifts with restrictions
or conditions relating to their final use (Bishop, 2007). The
following website provides an example of a policy on gifts and
donations that could be modified for our use. I like the fact that it
gives a list of what is acceptable and not acceptable for donation.
http://www.stafford.ctschool.net/Shs/LIBRARY/PdfsDocs/giftpolicy.
pdf

Reconsideration This section of the policy describes
of Challenged the procedures that are to be
Materials followed when material is
challenged. I think that it is a fair
policy and it is a very well written.
Collection This section of the policy
maintenanc describes the procedures for
e the disposal of media
equipment/hardware. It gives
the media committee the
authority to dispose of material
that is damaged.
Administrative Policy Handbook/ Policy Issues Paper
ITEC 7132
Christie Edwards Durden
The only thing that I would change about this particular policy is
to add the following statement: The material being challenged
shall remain on the media center shelf until the final
determination is made. It is essential to intellectual freedom to
have this in a challenged materials policy. The website below for
Wamego High School has a very comprehensive challenged
materials policy. It too states that challenged material shall
remain in circulation.
http://www.usd320.k12.ks.us/whs/lmc/challenged.html
I would change this policy in several ways. First I would add a
weeding policy to this section. This policy only describes
procedures for disposal of equipment and hardware. It does not
mention books and other materials. To remedy that I would add
the following: Materials in the media center will be
reevaluated/removed using the MUSTY criteria as developed by
Joseph Segal and taken from the Harmony High website below.
Materials would be removed at the discretion of the media
specialist, principal, or media committee.
M - misleading (obsolete), including out-of-date materials in both
fiction and nonfiction areas
U - ugly, referring to the book's physical condition
S - superseded, meaning that there are newer copies available
T - trivial, whether or not it is appropriate. Factors considered
include writing quality, accuracy, interest and reading level the
book.
Y - your collection has no use or room for the book. Factors
considered include usage and quality of format.
 Administrative Policy Handbook/ Policy Issues Paper
ITEC 7132
Christie Edwards Durden
http://www.hhs.osceola.k12.fl.us/mcpolicies.asp

The following website also has some criteria that I would

incorporate into the collection maintenance policy. It provides a
comprehensive list of criteria that should be used when weeding
items from the collection. It also provides a list of reasons why it
is necessary to weed a collection. I think that this is important
because many people do not understand why it is essential to the
quality of a collection to do periodic weeding.

http://www.libraries.phila.k12.pa.us/handbook/handbook-
weeding.html

Circulation This part of the policy discusses The University Laboratory High School Library has developed a
Procedures the types of things that clear timetable for the return of materials for students and staff. I
teachers and students can liked the fact that they give students a longer length of time to
borrow from the media center. return certain types of books. I also like the fact that it is very
It also discusses the length of specific in terms of how long certain items can be checked out. I
time that patrons may keep think it is a good model, and can be used to develop our own
items. For students, it is very policies.
specific. They have two weeks
to return borrowed items. For http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/library/policies/index.php
teachers, it is very vague with
regard to how long teachers
are allowed to keep material.
The current policy states that
material should be returned in
a timely manner. It also states
that items like LCD projectors
and VCR’s are for short term
loan.
Needed Policies
Policy
Discussion and Suggestions
Controversial I think that this is a much needed section in any media program. I like the following Controversial
Materials Materials policy statement taken from the Atlanta Public School’s website below. It does an excellent job
of readdressing students’ rights. I think I would put it before the reconsideration of challenged materials
section. This also reflects best practice as a section on controversial issues should be included in a
selection policy (Bishop, 2007).
 Administrative Policy Handbook/ Policy Issues Paper
ITEC 7132
Christie Edwards Durden

Controversial Materials
Training for effective citizenship is accepted as one of the major purposes of the Atlanta Public Schools.
The instructional program developed to achieve this purpose properly places great emphasis upon
teaching about our American heritage, the rights and privileges we enjoy as citizens, and the citizenship
responsibilities that must be assumed in maintaining our American way of life. In training for effective
citizenship, it is frequently necessary for students to study issues that are controversial. When
considering such issues, students will have the following rights:
1. To study any controversial issue that has political, economic or social significance and concerning
which, at the appropriate level, the student should begin to have an opinion.
2. To have free access to all relevant information, including the materials that circulate freely in the
community.
3. To study under competent instruction in an atmosphere of freedom from bias and prejudice.
4. To form and express opinions on controversial issues without thereby jeopardizing relationships
with teachers and/or the school.

https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/ePolicy/listing.aspx?S=4004&Sch=4004&C=I&F=

References

Bishop, Kay (2007). The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts, Practices, and
Information Resources. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.