INTRODUCTION  

The primary purpose of the school library is to enrich and support the educational program of the school. A comprehensive and high-quality collection of print materials, eBooks, databases, and digital products in the school library supports teaching and learning in all content areas and allows students to pursue personalized interests. These collections should meet the requirements set forth by the state of Tennessee¹ and the guidance of the American Association of School Librarians.

Individual schools or classrooms may choose to provide classroom libraries in addition to their school library. Classroom libraries include any materials, regardless of form or physical location in the school, made available to students outside the course of curriculum and direct instruction.²

OVERVIEW  

The development of the school’s library collection is the responsibility of the school library media specialist, in cooperation with teachers, students, parents, and administrators. Additional detail on this cooperative responsibility is found in Knox County Schools Administrative Procedure AP-I-241-2 “School Library Councils.”³ Using multiple data points and a variety of stakeholder input, continuous development will result in a school library collection appropriate for the age and maturity levels of the students who may access the materials, and that is suitable for and consistent with the educational mission of the school. Collection development, a continual and integral part of school librarianship, includes the following processes:

1. Needs Assessment.
2. Selection & Acquisition.
3. Access.
4. Evaluation.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT  

In order to build a collection suitable for the users at a particular library, the needs of the users must be considered and assessed. The Needs Assessment not only addresses what the users need, but by extension, it also addresses what the collection needs. Consequently, it addresses what capital is needed as well. The following steps are recommended for conducting a Needs Assessment:

1. Determine the needs of the users through student data, surveys, requests, instructional collaboration, and/or curriculum alignment, as appropriate to the school.
2. Determine the needs of the collection through circulation data, online usage data, digital collection analysis, as appropriate to the school. Identify gaps in the current collections’ offerings.
3. Create a long-range plan to address the needs of the users and the collection.
   1. Apportion the long-range plan into smaller, short-range plans that can be accomplished within the school year.
   2. Strategically allocate the budget to accommodate the short-range plans for the year.

SELECTION AND ACQUISITION  

Once the users’ needs have been identified and prioritized, materials should be sought to meet those needs. Long- and short-range goals should be served by selection decisions. Materials should represent a balanced treatment of subject matter. Personal biases should be monitored. 

As described in Knox County Board of Education Policy I-241 “School Libraries,”⁴ materials selected must
be in compliance with the Age-Appropriate Materials Act⁵. Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, materials
may not contain, in whole or in part, nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse, nor may they be patently offensive or appeal to the prurient interest, as those terms are defined in T.C.A. § 39-17-901.

The following general selection criteria, as delineated in Knox County Board of Education Policy I-211
“Selection of Instructional Materials Other Than Textbooks,”⁶ provide guidance for assessing each item under consideration. These criteria are not intended to be used as a checklist; depending on the expected usage, or the role it plays within the full collection, a given material may not meet every point below. However, the preponderance of evidence should support the selection decision.

• Educational purpose (as defined by the Tennessee State Academic Standards).
• Contribution the subject matter makes to the curriculum and to the interests of the students.
• Appropriateness to social, emotional, and intellectual level of intended audience.
• Measures of complexity: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Reader and Task are appropriate for grade level and time of year.
• Favorable reviews found in standard selection sources.
• Favorable recommendations based on preview and examination of materials by professional personnel.
• Reputation and significance of the author, producer, and publisher.
• Validity, currency, and appropriateness of the material.
• Contribution each material makes to the breadth of representative viewpoints on controversial issues offered by the materials collection as a whole.
• High degree of potential user appeal.
• High artistic quality and/or literary style.
• Quality and variety of format.
• Value commensurate with cost and/or need.
• Timeliness or permanence.

Materials are ordered according to the processes defined by the Knox County Schools Finance Department and the Knox County Purchasing Department. Detailed guidance for ordering from library vendors will be provided and updated by the Academic Resources Department each year.

ACCESS 

The preparation of selected materials for use should work to maximize materials access to users. Physical access includes organization within the facility according to standard classification schemes, labeling, repair, regular inventory audits, and other administrative tasks associated with each material item.

Digital access for all parts of the school library collection should be provided through the school library website. Additional digital access routes may be provided through the district’s learning management system or other platforms relevant for the school. Records of all non-digital items in the school library’s collection will be maintained through standard library automation software and made searchable through the open public access catalog (OPAC).

These technical processes should be aligned with instructional and promotional efforts, facility scheduling,
circulation routines, and other programmatic factors affecting access. 

EVALUATION 

Ongoing evaluation of the collection is a vital part of ensuring that users’ needs are being met. The following factors are recommended for evaluating the success of the selection process:

1. Usage and circulation of new items.
2. Quality and relevance of items purchased.
3. Alignment of content to the school’s educational mission and the library’s programming.

With any substantial addition of materials, the collection shifts and changes. This affects the overall composition of the collection and its usefulness to patrons. Regular deselection of some items in a collection helps ensure maximum collection quality and access to the remaining materials. Successful evaluation of materials selection, therefore, should also include evaluation of individual materials for possible deselection, as part of a comprehensive review process based on multiple data points including stakeholder input.

School library materials selected prior to 2024-25 that are not in compliance with the updated standards set by the Age Appropriate Materials Act, described above in the Selection and Acquisition section of this document, must be excluded from the collection. The following additional factors are recommended for evaluating items for deselection:

1. Age and condition of items.
2. Outdated information in age-sensitive nonfiction classifications.
3. Appropriateness of material and illustrations.
4. Bias in materials, particularly through shifting cultural norms over time

Materials in a school’s collection may be requested for reconsideration by a student, a student’s parent or guardian, or a school employee in accordance with Knox County Board of Education Policy I-212,⁷ “Reconsideration of Instructional Materials and Textbooks.” That policy and its accompanying administrative procedure provides details on the contacts, timeline, and appeal process to follow if an item is requested for review.

Items deemed no longer beneficial to the school library through deselection or reconsideration should be removed from circulation or discarded according to guidance provided and updated annually by the Academic Resources Department. Evaluation of the collection will inform the Needs Assessment for the next year’s collection development cycle. As necessary, the long-range plan may be adjusted to accommodate the results of the collection evaluation. Library media specialists will periodically receive feedback from peers, building-level leadership, and Academic Resources staff to help ensure that this ongoing cycle results in collections that are appropriate for the age and maturity of the students and consistent with the educational mission of the school.

CLASSROOM LIBRARIES

Classroom libraries are subject to the same legal and policy requirements as school libraries. Teachers who choose to implement classroom libraries should, to the best of their knowledge and ability, make a reasonable approximation of the same Needs Assessment, Selection and Acquisition, Access, and Evaluation cycle in maintaining their own collections, at a scale commensurate with the size and depth of the collection. Materials in all classroom libraries must be publicly listed on their schools’ websites, in compliance with the Age-Appropriate Materials Act.

DISTRICT-WIDE COLLECTIONS 

In addition to the materials collected and maintained for each school site, some materials and products will be provided at the district level for stakeholders to share. While the core of collection development should happen at the building level, in order to narrowly tailor resources to each school community’s unique needs, the efficiency and cost savings realized by district-wide resource sharing can provide a significant benefit to all students when used appropriately. Shared resources may include databases, digital resources, and/or eBooks. Districtwide resources will be selected and evaluated based on needs assessment by Academic Resources staff, school librarians, content-area specialists, and other stakeholders as needed. District-wide collections will be developed using the same major processes as school-based collections.

GIFTS 

Any acceptance of gift materials should be in compliance with Knox County Board of Education Policy D130 “Donations, Gifts, and Bequests”⁸ and is contingent upon the previously established selection standards and the school librarian’s discretion.

In the event that a donor organization wants to gift a material to all school library collections districtwide, the Academic Resources department staff will consult with appropriate school leaders and content-area specialists to assess the material, then place the proposed donation in one of the following categories:

• Accept the materials for all schools.
• Accept the materials per a specific regional need.
• Accept the materials generally, but allow individual schools to opt out of receiving.
• Do not accept the materials generally, but allow individual schools to opt in to receive.
• Do not accept the materials for any schools.

Communication about the donation will be made with school librarians accordingly.

All gifts become the property of Knox County Schools.

References:  

1. “District and School Operations.” TRR/MS 0520-02-.07.
2. Ballard, Christy. (2022). “The Age Appropriate Materials Act of 2022” [Memorandum to Directors of Schools and Public Charter School Leaders]. Tennessee Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/legal/PC0744_AgeAppropriate_Materials_Memo.pdf.
3. Knox County Schools Administrative Procedure AP-I-241-2.
4. Knox County Board of Education Policy I-241.
5. T.C.A. § 49-6-3803 and T.C.A. § 39-17-901
6. Knox County Board of Education Policy I-211.
7. Knox County Board of Education Policy I-212.
8. Knox County Board of Education Policy D-130.