Spruce Creek High School Library Mission Statement
Our mission is to ensure that all students and staff are effective users of ideas and information by providing resources that help all students achieve information literacy and contribute to lifelong learning. We will provide a collection of diverse learning resources that represent a wide range of subjects and levels of difficulty, allow intellectual and physical access to materials in all formats and in all areas of the curriculum and provide instruction that fosters competence in using media centers and stimulates interest in reading, viewing, and using information.
|
Serving All StudentsAnd our kids are not only different ages; they arrive at school with different reading levels, different backgrounds, and different experiences that have shaped their lives in both positive and negative ways. So it makes sense that they have different needs when it comes to reading.
The book that is perfect for your wide-eyed ninth grader isn’t likely to be a good fit for a nineteen-year-old who’s living on their own and paying their own bills. The book that twelfth grader will read and love is probably not one that would be right for your ninth grader right now. But as teachers and librarians, we have a responsibility to serve all of the kids who come to us. We have a responsibility to offer a wide range of book choices that speak to all of them and meet all of their diverse needs. |
|
Parent Rights
We respect your right to help your own young adult choose reading material, and we ask that you respect the rights of other parents to do the same. If you object to your teen reading a particular book, send it back to the library, and we’ll help your student find another selection. We’ll put the first book back on the shelf because even though you don’t feel it’s the right book for your teen right now, it may be the perfect book for someone else’s. Our library will continue to have a wide range of choices for students – to meet all of their varied needs and help them all develop a love of reading. If we can ever be of help to you in recommending titles for your family, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Parent Options for Support
We support you! By default, we will not limit what your teen can check out of their school library, but we encourage you to look at the online catalog together to select the books that your student checks out. If you prefer, you have additional options to support your teen's reading habits.
- If you are a parent or guardian with legal custody, you can contact the library and ask that your teen not be able to check out a particular book or books within a particular genre.
- The parent or guardian can contact the school library and ask that their teen not be able to check out any books without prior authorization from the parent. What that authorization looks like will be discussed when you reach out, but it could be an email or phone call verification from the parent.
Collection Development Policy
Responsibility for Selection
The media collection is developed in accordance with the district’s media selection policy number 320, Media Selection Practices for Volusia County Schools and Florida Statutes 233.165, Standards for Selection. Our school has a Media Advisory Committee made up of teachers, school administration, parents and students. Our district media specialists also work together as a league of trained professionals, forming an overall District Media Specialist Committee. The ultimate responsibility for selection of library materials rests with the media specialist who operates within the framework of the policies determined by the Volusia Media Services. The media specialist develops a purchase list made up of curriculum knowledge, requests of faculty and students, interests of students and highly reviewed lists appropriate for the age band of the media center. Updated current information and materials from reputable, unbiased, and professionally prepared selections are given strong consideration. Any materials may be shared with the school Media Advisory Committee, or subcommittee, led by the school-based principal or designee, for discussion prior to ordering.
Interlibrary Loan
Because of limited budget and space, the library cannot provide all materials that are requested. Therefore, interlibrary loan is used to obtain from other libraries those materials that are beyond the scope of this library's collection. In return for utilizing interlibrary loan to satisfy the needs of our patrons, the Spruce Creek High School Media Center agrees to lend its materials to other Volusia Schools libraries through the same interlibrary loan network.
Weeding
An up-to-date, attractive, and useful collection is maintained through a continual withdrawal and replacement process. Replacement of worn volumes is dependent upon current demand, usefulness, more recent acquisitions, and availability of newer editions. This ongoing process of weeding is the responsibility of the media specialist. Withdrawn materials will be handled in a similar manner and under the same authority as donated items. The Spruce Creek High School Media Center uses the CREW method to determine what should be withdrawn from the collection – Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding. Continuous weeding enhances the library’s value to the campus as a source of reliable, current information. It saves space and reduces clutter, which helps library users find materials more efficiently and reduces the amount of labor needed to maintain the collection. Continuous weeding also provides ongoing feedback on the collection’s strengths and weaknesses as well as a systematic way to address mending, binding, and replacement needs.
Potential Problems or Challenges
The Spruce Creek High School Media recognizes that some materials are controversial and that any given item may offend some patrons. Although materials are carefully selected, there can arise differences of opinion regarding suitable materials. Custodial parents and legal guardians are able to request restricted access to certain materials for their student by contacting the media specialist to have an alert put on their student’s library account as outlined above. Patrons requesting that material be withdrawn from or restricted within the collection may complete a "Statement of Concern About Library Resources" form (Volusia County District Policy 320) which is available in the library if you reach out to Mrs. Murray at [email protected]. Please reach out to the school directly if you have any concerns with materials in the library. We are all on the same team with the same goals, to do what is best for kids! And we all agree that not every book is right for every student. A resolution is usually possible with a conversation.
Gifts and Donations
Just like all aspects of education, the library is always welcoming of your support in the form of gifts and donations. The library accepts gifts of books and other materials with the understanding that they will be added to the collection only if appropriate and needed, so please reach out before donating. We also welcome financial donations for books, materials, and programs. Thank you for your support!
The media collection is developed in accordance with the district’s media selection policy number 320, Media Selection Practices for Volusia County Schools and Florida Statutes 233.165, Standards for Selection. Our school has a Media Advisory Committee made up of teachers, school administration, parents and students. Our district media specialists also work together as a league of trained professionals, forming an overall District Media Specialist Committee. The ultimate responsibility for selection of library materials rests with the media specialist who operates within the framework of the policies determined by the Volusia Media Services. The media specialist develops a purchase list made up of curriculum knowledge, requests of faculty and students, interests of students and highly reviewed lists appropriate for the age band of the media center. Updated current information and materials from reputable, unbiased, and professionally prepared selections are given strong consideration. Any materials may be shared with the school Media Advisory Committee, or subcommittee, led by the school-based principal or designee, for discussion prior to ordering.
- The main points considered in the selection of materials are:
- individual merit of each item
- popular appeal/demand
- suitability of material for the clientele
- existing library holdings
- budget
- Reviews are a major source of information about new materials. The primary source(s) of reviews is (are) TitleWave, Goodreads, FAME, FRA, and Literacy Awards.
- The lack of a review or an unfavorable review shall not be the sole reason for rejecting a title which is in demand. Consideration is, therefore, given to requests from library patrons and books discussed on public media. Materials are judged based on the work as a whole, not on a part taken out of context.
Interlibrary Loan
Because of limited budget and space, the library cannot provide all materials that are requested. Therefore, interlibrary loan is used to obtain from other libraries those materials that are beyond the scope of this library's collection. In return for utilizing interlibrary loan to satisfy the needs of our patrons, the Spruce Creek High School Media Center agrees to lend its materials to other Volusia Schools libraries through the same interlibrary loan network.
Weeding
An up-to-date, attractive, and useful collection is maintained through a continual withdrawal and replacement process. Replacement of worn volumes is dependent upon current demand, usefulness, more recent acquisitions, and availability of newer editions. This ongoing process of weeding is the responsibility of the media specialist. Withdrawn materials will be handled in a similar manner and under the same authority as donated items. The Spruce Creek High School Media Center uses the CREW method to determine what should be withdrawn from the collection – Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding. Continuous weeding enhances the library’s value to the campus as a source of reliable, current information. It saves space and reduces clutter, which helps library users find materials more efficiently and reduces the amount of labor needed to maintain the collection. Continuous weeding also provides ongoing feedback on the collection’s strengths and weaknesses as well as a systematic way to address mending, binding, and replacement needs.
Potential Problems or Challenges
The Spruce Creek High School Media recognizes that some materials are controversial and that any given item may offend some patrons. Although materials are carefully selected, there can arise differences of opinion regarding suitable materials. Custodial parents and legal guardians are able to request restricted access to certain materials for their student by contacting the media specialist to have an alert put on their student’s library account as outlined above. Patrons requesting that material be withdrawn from or restricted within the collection may complete a "Statement of Concern About Library Resources" form (Volusia County District Policy 320) which is available in the library if you reach out to Mrs. Murray at [email protected]. Please reach out to the school directly if you have any concerns with materials in the library. We are all on the same team with the same goals, to do what is best for kids! And we all agree that not every book is right for every student. A resolution is usually possible with a conversation.
Gifts and Donations
Just like all aspects of education, the library is always welcoming of your support in the form of gifts and donations. The library accepts gifts of books and other materials with the understanding that they will be added to the collection only if appropriate and needed, so please reach out before donating. We also welcome financial donations for books, materials, and programs. Thank you for your support!