Whether parents agree or disagree with  what  the librarian has to offer to students, it is helpful to know a few basics of just how librarians go about building the collection of the library. Below are a few major ideas about this process:

It is the responsibility of a professional librarian to build a quality selection of materials to their patrons based on their needs.  To do this, librarians create collection policies for their library that you as a patron and parent can read. Sometimes the individual library will have its own policy, but in a public library system or school district, there will often be a policy that governs member libraries. The American Library Association gives the following advice:

"Selection policies should include specific criteria to guide professionals in purchasing items. The criteria should be relevant to the library’s objectives: excellence (artistic, literary, visual, etc.), appropriateness to level of user, authoritative and varying perspectives on controversial issues, accessibility, and ability to stimulate further intellectual and social development. Librarians should consider authenticity, public demand, general interest, content, and circumstances of use." ALA, 2018

As a parent, you might ask the librarian to:

• Provide you a copy of the current selection policy.

• Indicate when the policy was created and if it is updated regularly

• Sections in the policy that apply to books but also to other types of materials and formats such as databases, multimedia materials, subscriptions, software, and connections to open educational resources (OERs), just to name a few of the information resources now available.

• Describe how materials are weeded from the collection

• How the selection of an item happens and how it is acquired and through what budgets.

• Point to the section in the policy that handles patron objections to various items in the collection and the process for reconsidering that ownership or connection to.

• Point out that there is no such thing as a non-controversial book, film, blog, etc. so choices have to be made to provide the best of the best.

Public Library Responsibility for Selection

Collection development and management varies depending on the size of the library. In larger library systems, it is achieved through the participatory efforts of centralized materials selection coordinators and branch/department managers. In smaller libraries, these responsibilities can be carried out by one or more librarians charged with the selection and management of those resources. Regardless of the size of the public library, the communication of patron requests and needs is a vital part of this process. Communication among library staff is also essential to patron-oriented collections (American Library Association).

School Library Responsibility for Selection

Although the Board of Education or governing authority is legally responsible for the resources used in a school, it delegates the selection of the library’s resources to its professional school library personnel. Many selection policies direct the library professional to seek recommendations and work collaboratively with others in the school community during the selection process. Teachers, students, administrators, and others participate by making recommendations; however, strong policies state that the final responsibility for the selection decisions rests with the school library professional (American Library Association).

Academic Library Responsibility for Selection

In academic libraries, librarians or library faculty are responsible for selecting items for the collection. Librarians may have experience in specialized subject areas of collection development and/or may collaborate with academic faculty in the institution. Staff, faculty, and students may make recommendations for purchase. Academic librarians are guided by the institution’s curriculum and the library’s selection policy that outlines the types of material a library will collect. Librarians in academic libraries are responsible for making the final decisions regarding a library’s collection (American Library Association).