Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Each Texas
public school district board or governing body must approve and institute a
collection development policy that describes the processes and standards by
which a school library acquires, maintains, and withdraws materials.
(b) A school library collection should
include materials that are age appropriate and suitable to the campus and
students it serves and include a range of materials. A school library
collection should:
(1) Enrich and support the
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and curriculum established by
Education Code, §
28.002 (relating to
Required Curriculum), while taking into consideration students' varied
interests, maturity levels, abilities, and learning styles;
(2) Foster growth in factual knowledge,
literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and societal standards;
(3) Encourage the enjoyment of reading,
foster high-level thinking skills, support personal learning, and encourage
discussion based on rational analysis; and
(4) Represent the ethnic, religious, and
cultural groups of the state and their contribution to Texas, the nation, and
the world.
(c) A school
library collection development policy must:
(1) Describe the purpose and collection
development goals;
(2) Designate
the responsibility for collection development;
(3) Establish procedures for the evaluation,
selection, acquisition, reconsideration, and deselection of
materials;
(4) Consider the
distinct age groups, grade levels, and possible access to materials by all
students within a campus;
(5)
Include a process to determine and administer student access to material rated
by library material vendors as "sexually relevant" as defined by Education
Code, §
35.001 consistent with
any policies adopted by the Texas Education Agency and local school board
requirements;
(6) Include an access
plan that, at a minimum, allows efficient parental access to the school
district's library and online library catalog; and
(7) Comply with all applicable local, state,
and federal laws and regulations. Specifically, a collection development policy
must:
(A) Recognize that parents are the
primary decision makers regarding their student's access to library
material;
(B) Prohibit the
possession, acquisition, and purchase of harmful material, as defined by Penal
Code, §
43.24, library material
rated sexually explicit material by the selling library material vendor under
Education Code, §
35.002, or library
material that is pervasively vulgar or educationally unsuitable as referenced
in Pico v. Board of Education, 457 U.S. 853 (1982);
(C) Recognize that obscene content is not
protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
(D) Be required for all library materials
available for use or display, including material contained in school libraries,
classroom libraries, and online catalogs;
(E) Ensure schools provide library catalog
transparency, including, but not limited to:
(i) Online catalogs that are publicly
available; and
(ii) Information
about titles and how and where material can be accessed;
(F) Recommend schools communicate effectively
with parents regarding collection development, including, but not limited to:
(i) Access to district/campus policies
relating to school libraries;
(ii)
Consistent access to library resources; and
(iii) Opportunities for students, parents,
educators, and community members to provide feedback on library materials and
services; and
(G)
Prohibit the removal of material based solely on the ideas contained in the
material or the personal background of the author of the material or characters
in the material.
(d) Evaluation of materials as referenced in
this section includes a consideration of the factors described in subsection
(b) of this section, consideration of local priorities and school district
standards, and at least two of the following:
(1) Consideration of recommendations from
parents, guardians, and local community members;
(2) Consultation with the school district's
educators and library staff and/or consultation with library staff of similarly
situated school districts and their collections and collection development
policies;
(3) An extensive review
of the text of item;
(4) The
context of a work, including consideration of the contextual characteristics,
overall fit within existing school library collection, and potential support of
the school curriculum; or
(5)
Consideration of authoritative reviews of the items from sources such as
professional journals in library science, recognized professional education or
content journals with book reviews, national and state award recognition lists,
library science field experts, and highly acclaimed author and literacy expert
recommendations.
(e) A
reconsideration process as referenced in this section should ensure that any
parent or legal guardian of a student currently enrolled in the school district
or employee of the school district may request the reconsideration of a
specific item in their school district's library catalog. A reconsideration
process should:
(1) Establish a uniform
procedure an individual must follow when filing a request;
(2) Require a school district to include a
form to request a reconsideration of an item on the school's public internet
website if the school has a public internet website or ensure the form is
publicly available at a school district administrative office;
(3) Require that the completed request for
reconsideration form be distributed to the superintendent or superintendent
designee, school librarian, and school district board of trustees or governing
body at the time of submission;
(4)
Include a reasonable timeframe, approved by the school board, for the review
and final decision by a committee charged with the review of the item in its
entirety. A district should convene a review committee in accordance with
criteria established by the district to ensure a thorough and fair process. A
reasonable timeframe should take into account:
(A) The time necessary to convene a committee
to meet and review the item;
(B)
Flexibility that may be necessary depending on the number of pending
reconsideration requests; and
(C)
Other factors relevant to a fair and consistent process, including informing
the requester on the progress of the review in a timely fashion;
(5) Establish a uniform process
approved by the school district board of trustees or governing body for the
treatment of any library material undergoing reconsideration;
(6) Include a review and appeal process
approved by the school district board of trustees or governing body;
and
(7) Provide that if an item has
gone through the reconsideration process and remains in the collection, a
school district may not be required to reconsider an item within two calendar
years of the final decision.
(f) School districts should ensure a
professional librarian certified by the State Board for Educator Certification
or other dedicated professional library staff trained on proper collection
development standards is responsible for the selection and acquisition of
library materials.
(g) A school
district must develop collection assessment and evaluation procedures to
periodically appraise the quality of library materials in the school library to
ensure the library's goals, objectives, and information needs are serving its
school community and should stipulate the means to weed or update the
collection.
(h) A school district's
collection development policy should be reviewed at least every three years and
updated as necessary.
(i) School
districts may add procedures to these minimum requirements to satisfy local
needs so long as the added procedures do not conflict with these minimum
requirements.
(j) School districts
are responsible for ensuring their school libraries implement and adhere to
these collection development standards.
