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Administrative Policy Handbook/Policy Issue Paper

Policy
1. Hours of Operation and
Accessibility
Last revision date: September 2007
2. Circulation and Fines
Last revision date: September 2007 and the length of time the books can
FRIT 7132
Candice Walton-Spring 2010
Operational Procedures
Strengths
The policy outlines the operational
hours of the media center. It informs
students and teachers of the
procedures for scheduling visits to the
media center. It also informs teachers
of the number of students and classes
that are allowed to occupy the media
center in a given time period.
The policy clearly outlines the amount
of books that students can check out,
be out. It focuses on the procedures
that staff members must adhere to
when checking out resources from the
Weaknesses and Suggestions
The media center opens at 8:00 A.M., and
students arrive to school as early as 7:30 A.M.
At that time, the students can either eat
breakfast or go to the gymnasium. I believe that
the media center should open as early as 7:30
A.M. to accommodate the students that arrive
early to school. Additionally, in order for
teachers to bring a class to the media center,
they must complete a “Media Center Use” form.
In today’s technological society, teachers
should be able to email the media specialist to
schedule a day and time to bring their class. A
policy that reflects my suggestions is the
DeKalb County Public School System’s policy
relating to the hours of operation of its media
centers. The hours of operation policy can be
found on pages 2-3 at:
http://www.dekalbk12.org/plainview/School
%20Library%20Policy%20and%20Procedure
%20Manual2.pdf.
The overall policy is moderately designed.
Students need to be charged fines because it
teaches them responsibility. The only statement
that I would change is “All equipment must be
signed out and returned each day.” This refers
to equipment such as a class set of laptops that

3. Procedures for instructional
planning
Last revision date: September
2007
4. Accessing Outside Information
Sources
media center. Also, the policy outlines teachers can utilize for the classroom. The
the procedures for collecting fines for policy should allow teachers to keep the media
overdue books and fees for damaged resources for at least two days instead of one. A
or lost resources. policy that coincides with my beliefs is the
circulation policy of Peaster Independent
School District. It allows teachers to check out
materials for the length of six weeks. Most
importantly, the policy is aligned to the Library
Bill of Rights. The policy can be found at:
http://txschoollibrarians.wikispaces.com/file/vie
w/Circulation.pdf.
Procedures for Collaborative Efforts
This policy promotes instructional Although the policy list steps for the media
collaboration between teachers and specialist to utilize in planning with teachers,
media specialists. It outlines the steps the steps are vague and do not promote
that the media specialist must take in complete collaboration. For example, step one
order to effectively plan with teachers. states that the media specialist must consult
department chairpersons (when needed) to
discuss instructional materials. I believe that the
media specialists should utilize tools such as
Survey Monkey to question teachers about the
materials needed for effective planning. In order
to sufficiently develop this policy, the media
specialist should review the American
Association of School Library standards
because it will help her to examine the purpose
of her role as well as the media center. The
standards can be downloaded from
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelines
andstandards/learningstandards/standards.cfm.
This policy encourages the use of This policy is very beneficial. With media
collaboration among media centers center’s budgets being slashed, the policy
within the school district. It outlines allows them to share resources. The only

Last revision date: September 2007 the process for obtaining outside
5. Selection Policy
Last revision date: September 2007 of Rights. It states that the process of workbook for selection policy writing. Thus, the
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suggestion that I would recommend is for the
instructional resources, which are not media specialist to develop an actual procedure
a part the school’s media center, from for requesting the information, so she does not
the system media catalog upon
become overwhelmed with requests. In fact, the
requests from the faculty and staff.
media specialist should use Google docs to
develop a formal request document. Google
docs can be found at:
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin
?
service=writely&passive=true&nui=1&continue
=http%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2F%3Fhl
%3Den%26tab%3Dwo&followup=http%3A
%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2F%3Fhl%3Den
%26tab%3Dwo&ltmpl=homepage&rm=false.
Materials & Collection Development
The selection policy is designed to The selection policy is too vague. It is does not
coincide with the School Library Bill coincide with the American Library Association
selecting materials is not solely based ALA selection policy writing workbook can be
on the media specialist, but it involves found at http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?
students, teachers, and parents. It also Section=dealing&Template=/ContentManagem
outlines the factors that influence the ent/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11173 . It
selection of materials. can be used to help the media specialist develop
a more effective selection policy. The
Hopkinton High and Middle school selection
policy can be utilized as a model to help
develop a revised selection policy that includes
the reconsideration of library resources. The
policy is located at
http://www.hopkintonschools.org/hhs/library/se
lpol.html.
6. Weeding
Last revision date: September 2007 materials that shall be weeded from
7. ***NEW POLICY***
Intellectual Freedom
8. Internet Acceptable Use
(IFBG)
Last revision date: 2002
The policy explains the purpose of
weeding. It outlines the types of
the collection and when weeding
should occur.
Currently, neither the school, nor, the
district has a policy to protect the
intellectual freedom of students as
well as teachers. Because today’s
society is so complex, and it revolves
around technology, students need to
be aware of current issues. They also
need to be able to use wikis, blogs,
and networking websites to enhance
their educational experiences.
Internet Safety
The policy coincides with the Children
Internet Protection Act (CIPA), and it
outlines the procedures for computer
and internet access for students and
teachers.
The policy is too vague in listing the factors to
detect which books should be weeded. It
doesn’t list the process in determining how to
weed nonfiction texts. Thus, the policy should
be revised. The weeding policy of Northside
Urban Pathways Charter School can be used to
help revise the current policy. The policy is
located at http://www.google.com/search?
hl=en&q=weeding+policy+for+schools&start=
30&sa=N.
An intellectual freedom policy needs to be
established. In order to develop the policy, the
American Library Association website on the
purpose of intellectual freedom should be
examined. The website can be found at
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedo
m/librarybill/interpretations/intellectual.cfm. A
well-developed intellectual policy that can be
used is found at
http://www.olc.org/LeadershipResources/IFPoli
cyStatements.doc. This policy clearly outlines
the components of intellectual freedom.
The policy is very extensive and well outlined.
The guidelines are clearly stated for students
and teachers’ use of the internet. In the policy,
chats, in the form of networking sites, are not
allowed, but they can be useful in enhancing
students’ learning. The policy should include a
protocol to examine websites before hand to
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determine their relevance. If they are suitable,

they should be unblocked. The internet policy
of the Delaware County Library System has a
procedure to review previously blocked
websites to determine whether to unblock them.
The policy can be found at
http://www.delcolibraries.org/EINPolicy.pdf.