POLICIES

Review

The "Cataloguing" portion of the website will be reviewed biennially by all library staff, but can be altered should need demand. Final approval comes from the Director of Academic Affairs. It is preferable that policy changes directly affecting patrons be applied for the next academic year. This website is the official policy statement; no paper copy exists.

​Last updated: Spring 2017

Selection and Acquisition

Guiding Principle

The TCIS Secondary Learning Commons (LC) acquires materials to satisfy both informational needs and recreational needs, primarily for students in Grades 6-12. While we are a Christian school, selection should reflect not only our faith, but also our diverse student body.To be challenged is an essential part of learning; students should be able to find a variety of world-views presented in library materials so that they can achieve in academics and make educated decisions for their own lives. 

General Policies

  • The LC no longer acquires
    • periodicals
    • equipment
    • audio/visual materials
    • realia
  • Library Coordinators are responsible for all selection and acquisitions.
  • Inventory of library materials will be done biennially

Informational Resource Policies

  • Early in the Fall Semester, the Library Coordinator will create a Google Sheet to send to teaching staff for any materials that support their curriculum. 
    • This does not include subject-specific subscription services -- those come out of department budgets.
    • The Library Coordinator will make the final decision on how much money can be devoted to each department, as per the approved budget submitted in the prior academic year. 
  • At this time, any remaining funds should be used to purchase resources that support the DP Core: Theory of Knowledge.

Recreational Resource Policies

  • Early in the Spring Semester, the Library Coordinator will begin selecting and acquiring resources for recreational purposes. This is timed to be after the ALA Midwinter conference, during which the major awards are given. The following are guidelines for selection:
    • First selection goes to award winners and honors
    • Second selection goes to star reviewed books (adverts taken out in SLJ are a good resource for this in the December and January editions).
    • Third selection goes to other popular releases and/or to continue popular series.
    • Fourth selection goes to student requests.
  • The Library Coordinator may exercise professional judgment to manipulate the above guidelines, but this should be done sparingly.
  • eBooks should not be purchased that have an expiration date or a limited number of uses.

Donations

  • The LC will accept any donations of materials, though not all donations will be accepted into the library. 
  • The Library Coordinator will sift through donations in order to judge their value to the mission of the LC. 
    • Use criteria of Weeding policy (below).
  • Donations that are not selected will be disposed of by the Library Coordinator.
    • Materials that are still valuable will be set aside to be sold during I-Fest in May.
    • Materials that are not valuable will be placed in recycling.
  • Donations will not contain information inside of those who donated the materials.
  • Monetary donations must first be approved by the Business Office who will evaluate compliance with the 2016 Korean Anti-Graft Law. 

Weeding

  • Weeding will be done  using the CREW Method, whose general guidelines include:
    • Poor content
    • Poor appearance
    • Unused Materials
  • An acronym worth considering (also in CREW): MUSTIE
    • Misleading
    • Ugly
    • Superseded
    • Trivial
    • Irrelevant
    • Elsewhere available
  • Weeding should be done throughout the school year.
    • Small amounts of time each week is preferred to setting aside a large amount of time that would detract from other responsibilities.
  • Unless a nonfiction resource is an obvious candidate for weeding, consultation with the book's subject teachers is recommended.
  • Weeded materials are disposed of in two ways:
    • Materials that are still valuable will be set aside to be sold during I-Fest in May.
    • Materials that are not valuable will be placed in recycling. 
  • Process
    • Select materials to weed
    • Check usage statistics
    • Remove from library catalogue
    • Stamp as discarded
    • Write "Deleted" in permanent marker on the barcode
    • Sort into boxes for sale or recycling