• Collection Development Guidelines

    Library collection development is the process of strategically building and maintaining a library’s collection of materials. It involves the systematic selection, acquisition, evaluation, and ongoing management of various types of resources such as books and electronic resources. The purpose of collection development is to ensure the library’s collection is relevant, current, diverse, and of high quality, catering to the educational, information, and recreational needs of the community it serves.

    The goal of the LISD campus libraries is to provide a balanced collection of materials that:

    • Present multiple viewpoints related to controversial issues [see EMB regarding instruction about controversial issues].

    • Provide a wide range of background information that will enable students to make intelligent decisions in their daily lives. 

    • Include accurate and authentic factual content from authoritative sources

    • Have a high degree of potential user appeal and interest. 

    • Ofer a global perspective that promotes equity of access including a print and nonprint materials such as electronic and multimedia, to meet the needs of individual learners

    • Represent diverse viewpoints and cultures appropriate to each campus to ensure the collection embodies the unique background of its student population.

    A campus library collection includes age-appropriate materials suitable to the campus and students it serves. Professional staff ensure that collection resources meet the following selection criteria: 

    • Enrich and support the Texas Essential Knowledge and SKills (TEKS) and curriculum established by Education Code, while talking into consideration students’ varied interests, maturity levels, abilities, and learning styles.

    • Foster grown in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and societal standards.

    • Encourage the enjoyment of reading, foster high-level thinking skills, support personal learning, and encourage discussion based on rational analysis.

    • Represent the ethnic, religious, and cultural groups of the state and their contribution to Texas, the nation, and the world

    To determine if a material (including donated) meets the district’s selection criteria, a certified librarian or trained professional must consider how materials would fit in the current collection, two authoritative reviews from professional journals in library science, and at least one of the following:   

    • National and state award recognition lists

    • Consideration of recommendations from parents, guardians, and local community members. 

    • Consultation with the school district’s educators and library staff and/or consultation with library staff of similarly situated school districts and their collections and collection of development policies. 

    • An extensive review of the text of item. 

    • The context of a work, including consideration of the contextual characteristics, overall fit within existing school library collection, and potential support of the school curriculum.

    In accordance with state and  LISD administrative procedures, library collections are evaluated and updated regularly based on the collection’s age, relevance, diversity, and variety. Standard maintenance procedures for the library collection include repair, replacement, and removal of materials as necessary.