School Library Collections 6-65.1

School Board of the City of Virginia Beach
Regulation 6-65.1

INSTRUCTION

School Library Collections

Library media specialists follow guidelines to develop and maintain school library collections to meet the various needs of students based on the VBCPS Graduate Profile. Library materials are available for voluntary inquiry, based on student choice and are not necessarily approved for classroom instruction.

1. Collection Objectives
   1. To encourage and support the development of literacy skills for success in school and life by providing informational and recreational reading, viewing, or listening materials.
   2. To support and enrich the Virginia Beach City Public Schools curriculum and the Virginia Standards of Learning.
   3. To meet the needs of students and faculty, taking into consideration diverse interests, abilities, backgrounds, reading levels, maturity levels, home languages, and students’ extracurricular interests.
   4. To ensure that every student is able to find materials in their library with which they can connect, though every item in the collection may not connect with every student.
   5. To comply with applicable law, regulation and School Board policy and regulation regarding instructional and library materials.
2. Selection of Materials
   1. The selection of materials involves input from many people, including school staff and students. However, the responsibility for selecting and purchasing library material rests with the professional library media specialists(s), with final approval by the school principal or designee.
   2. Library media specialists may use reviews found in standard professional selection sources and/or use recommendations based on preview and examination of materials by professional personnel. Best practice utilizes multiple reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared selection aids, such as professional review journals, core collection tools, and conference presentations, when firsthand examination of materials is not possible. Examples of professional journals are set forth in the Library Handbook of Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Library media specialists may not select items that are intended for audiences beyond the grade level that their media center is serving.
   3. Library media specialists will comply with applicable law, regulation and School Board policy and regulations regarding sexually explicit materials.
   4. Selection criteria for purchased or donated materials:
      1. Be appropriate for the ages, ability levels, learning styles, and social, emotional, and intellectual development of students that the library media center serves.
      2. Incorporate accurate and authentic factual content from authoritative sources.
      3. Exhibit a high degree of potential user appeal and interest.
      4. Represent different viewpoints on controversial issues.
      5. Provide a global perspective and promote diversity by including materials by authors and illustrators of various cultures.
      6. Include a variety of resources in physical and virtual formats.
      7. Demonstrate physical format, appearance, and durability suitable to their intended use.
      8. Balance cost with need.
      9. Do not contain sexually explicit materials for elementary school materials.
3. Discard of Materials
   1. Library media specialists analyze the collection at least once per year to determine materials to deselect from the collection.
   2. Withdrawand dispose of library materials pursuant to procedures set forth in the Library Handbook for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

Approved by Superintendent: October 19, 1993
Approved by Superintendent: February 6, 2023
Approved by Superintendent: June 27, 2024
Amended by Superintendent: August 6, 2024