The mission of the North Creek Library Information and Technology program is to ensure that students are effective users and producers of ideas and information. We seek to provide an environment where students and staff feel welcome and supported in their search for information.

We provide information and technology literacy instruction.

We provide reading advocacy and support. 

We teach students to be safe, ethical and responsible digital citizens.

North Creek High School Library

Collection Development Policy

Statement of Philosophy

The North Creek High School Library supports the school mission by providing a wide range of learning resources at varying levels of difficulty, with diversity of appeal and the presentation of different points of view to meet the needs of students and teachers.

Selection Objectives

Based on the Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association, materials in the North Creek High School Library will be selected:

• To enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the students served,

• To stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards,

• To provide a background of information that will enable students to make intelligent judgements in their daily life,

• To present opposing sides of controversial issues so that young citizens may develop, under guidance, the practice of critical reading and thinking,

• To be representative of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups, and

• To promote a love of reading and literature.

Responsibility for Selection

The responsibility for coordinating the selection of library materials rests with the teacher-librarian(s) who seek faculty, student, and parent recommendations for purchase. Favorable reviews from professional book review journals, peer reviewers, and authoritative selection references should be used when developing the library collection. Whenever possible, direct examination of materials is advisable to ensure that they meet selection criteria.

Selection Criteria

In general, materials shall be selected for their strengths rather than rejected for their weakness. The following criteria are used as a guide in selection:

• Educational significance

• Lasting importance or significance to a field of knowledge

• Contribution to the general curriculum, the educational goals of the school, and to the interests of the students

• Contribution the material makes to breadth of representative viewpoints on controversial issues

• Contribution to multicultural and pluralistic awareness

• Timeliness or permanence

• Validity, currency, and appropriateness of material

• Favorable reviews found in standard selection sources

• Favorable recommendations based on preview and examination of materials by professional personnel

• Reputation and significance of the author, producer, and/or publisher

• High artistic quality and/or literary style

• High degree of potential user appeal and quality, durability, and variety of format

• Value commensurate with cost and/or need

Selection is an ongoing process that should include the removal of materials no longer appropriate and the replacement of lost and worn materials still of educational value.

Gift materials shall be judged by the criteria outlined above and shall be accepted or rejected by those criteria.

Position of Intellectual Freedom

This selection policy reflects the philosophy and goals of the school system and supports the principles of intellectual freedom described in Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs, the ALA Library Bill of Rights, NCTE Students’ Right to Read, and other position statements on intellectual freedom from the American Library Association and the American Association of School Librarians.

Role of Reviewing and Selection Tools

In selecting learning resources, professional personnel will evaluate available resources and curriculum needs and will consult reputable, professionally prepared aids to selection and other appropriate sources.