Circulation policy

FREEDOM TO READ

Library staff will assist all library patrons to find materials suitable to their needs and reading levels. Library staff will not prevent patrons from checking out or using library materials that may be perceived as unsuitable, but may offer content warnings if they find it necessary.

ACCESS TO MATERIALS

Library accounts, and physical library cards (upon request), are required to check out any library materials. They are not required to visit the library, use the computers, or read library materials without checking them out. For information on how to access yearbooks or the historical archive, see the section entitled Special Collections.

ELIGIBILITY

Library accounts and cards are available to the following:

• All students of Roby CISD

• Teachers, faculty, and staff members of Roby CISD

• Residents of Roby (proof of residency required)

• Roby-based groups and organizations, such as churches and businesses

DUE DATES

Books may be checked out for two weeks. They may be renewed for another two weeks upon request.

DVDs and CDs require a $1 deposit, which will be returned to the patron upon return of the DVD in working condition.

Audiobooks require a $5 deposit, which will be returned to the patron upon return of the complete audiobook in working condition.

LATE FEES AND REPLACEMENT COSTS

The Joy Walker Library will not charge late fees. For adult patrons only: replacement costs will be charged, of up to $25 per item, if an item is deemed to be lost or irreparably damaged. In lieu of a fee, patrons may choose to replace the item with a similar or identical title, with librarian approval. Patrons with unpaid fees will not be permitted to check out further items.

Collection Development Policy

SELECTION CRITERIA

While the Joy Walker Library will be open to the public at specific times, this is to allow the public to enjoy the Library as it is, rather than transforming it from a school to a public library. Therefore, while community input may be considered tangentially when choosing materials, the needs of the school and its students are of paramount importance.

Instructional materials are selected to implement, enrich, and support the educational program for the student. Materials should serve both the breadth of the curriculum and the needs and interests of individual students. The district is obligated to provide for a wide range of abilities and to respect the diversity of many differing points of view. To this end, principles must be placed above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in the selection of materials of the highest quality and appropriateness. Additional materials may be selected to more directly support the needs of teaching staff, including materials supporting professional development.

Non-book materials, such as DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, game discs, and CDs, are not currently purchased to add to the Library’s collection. Donations of these materials will be added to the collection upon verification of their good condition and appropriateness.

DESELECTION CRITERIA

Removing obsolete, worn, and inappropriate materials from the school library is both desirable and necessary. It gives the library an attractive appearance, increases the likelihood of students finding desirable materials, maintains quality of the collection, and allows space for new items without requiring the purchase and installation of new shelving.

The librarian will weed materials at her discretion, using the CREW method and MUSTIE guidelines in order to do so.

CREW is an acronym, meaning Continuous Review, Evaluation, and Weeding. This means that, instead of weeding the entire library at set intervals, the librarian continually evaluates items for weeding. 

MUSTIE guidelines assist the librarian in determining which materials should be discarded. An explanation of these guidelines follow, listing the types of materials which should rightly be weeded out of the library collection.

• M: Misleading. Inaccurate or outdated materials. 

• U: Ugly. Worn, tattered, mildewed, water damaged, or otherwise visually unappealing.

• S: Superseded. Titles that have been replaced by newer editions, newer formats, or newer titles covering the same information.

• T: Trivial. Poorly written. Items published quickly to cover unexpected areas of sudden high interest should be replaced by better researched works as they become available. 

• I: Irrelevant. Items that are not of use or interest to the community served by the library. 

• E: obtainable Elsewhere. The same information is already available in another format or title.

For more specific guidelines, the librarian will follow the recommendations in CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries, created by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. A copy of this manual is available for perusal upon request.

Challenged Materials

The principles of intellectual freedom, freedom to read, the First Amendment, and the professional responsibility of the staff must be defended, rather than the challenged materials.

Should a patron feel an item should be removed from the library collection, the librarian will first attempt to resolve the issue by following the guidelines posted on https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/respond . 

If informal resolution is ineffective, the librarian will follow the guidelines posted on https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/requestforreconsideration . The challenger will be required to fill out a Request for Reconsideration form. Printed copies of this form will be available in the library at all times, as well as an Addendum to this work.

Special Collections

The Joy Walker Library currently maintains two special collections. The first, the Archive, consists of materials of local history. The second, Yearbooks, contains yearbooks from Roby and McCauley, and are sorted by year and location.

Both collections are available for perusal upon request. 

Materials in the Joy Walker Library's historical archive, including yearbooks, scrapbooks, and so forth, will be made available to Roby residents or alumni upon request.  Up to five photocopied pages may be obtained at no cost, via print or email. Any further pages required will entail a $1 fee per page. 

Items in these collections cannot be checked out of the library, as the materials contained are essentially irreplaceable.

These materials may not be used for commercial purposes or material gain without permission of the persons depicted. Patrons are cautioned to use care, as many of the items are fragile and require delicate handling. The Library reserves the right to refuse access to any person at any time.

Public Relations

The Joy Walker Library will increase its visibility to the community at large by means of newspaper articles, social media posts, ParentSquare announcements, and/or programming such as a summer reading program.

The Library will be pleased to enter partnerships with community groups, such as the Roby Lions Club, to better serve the needs of Roby students and residents.

Donations

The Joy Walker Library will accept donations of materials, so long as the donor recognizes that the Librarian then has authority to determine disposition of said materials. In other words, donated materials may be added to Library shelves, placed on permanent display, added to the Archives for preservation, or discarded at the Librarian’s discretion. Donors wishing to ensure particular actions taken with their donated materials are free to discuss their conditions with the Librarian, who may agree or disagree at his/her discretion.

Donations of mildewed, damaged, inaccurate, outdated, pornographic, or otherwise unusable materials will be rejected and/or disposed of immediately.

Miscellaneous donations, such as of furniture, craft or office supplies, toys, hardware, etc. will be considered on a case by case basis.

Monetary donations will be added to a separate account to ensure it is used solely for Library purposes. Should any conditions be set on such donations, they will be considered on a case by case basis.