The purpose of the School Library Materials Selection Guidelines is to provide guidance for the evaluation, selection and acquisition of educational materials in school libraries, ensuring that the materials support school goals, learning objectives, diverse needs, and foster lifelong learning.
To best implement, enrich and support the educational program of the school, the school library should:
Provide materials that enhance and reinforce the curriculum by collaborating with teachers and evaluating relevant data, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, learning needs, and maturity levels of the students served.
Provide materials for teachers and students based on their needs that encourage growth in knowledge, and help to develop literary, cultural and aesthetic appreciation and ethical standards.
Provide materials which reflect the broad ideas and beliefs of religious, social, political, historical, and ethnic groups and their contribution to the local, national and world heritages and cultures, thereby enabling students to develop empathy and intellectual integrity in forming sound judgments.
Provide a variety of print and nonprint formats to support needs-based student learning.
Place the principles of intellectual freedom above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in selection of materials of the highest quality in order to ensure an appropriate comprehensive collection that encourages open access to information, diverse viewpoints, and the free exchange of ideas.
School librarians, library assistants, and school administrators are encouraged to review the updated guidelines to ensure that the selection and maintenance of materials best supports the school goals and purpose of school library materials.
The PDF version of the full guidelines can be downloaded from the HIDOE Intranet Portal. After signing in, search for "Library Material Selection Guidelines."
Official Memo regarding School Library Material Selection Guidelines (updated 7/17/2023) is attached.