Friends School of Baltimore
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Libraries:

Collections & Policies

Collections

Lower School

The Lower School library collection consists of approximately 19,000 books and videos, appropriate for grades Pre-Kindergarten through 5th, in addition to professional shelves for parents and faculty.

Middle School

The Middle School Library has a collection of over 11,000 items, including books, audio and visual material, and computer databases. Students have access to the Friends School Computer Network for software applications, the Friends School Digital Library for reference and research and the Internet. Equipment is available for student use during the school day (7:30 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.), including a variety of projectors, cassette and cd recorders/players, TVs, VCRs, cameras and camcorders.

Upper School

The library collection includes over 11,000 items including books, magazines, newspapers, audio books, CDs, videos, and pamphlets which complement and enhance the school's curriculum and address subjects of interest to young people. In addition to print materials, an extensive collection of online resources are available though subscription databases in the School's Digital Library.

Digital Library

The Friends School Digital Library is a collection of online subscription databases and library catalogs. The databases include current issues and back files of thousands of magazines, journals and newspapers, as well as sources covering language, art, music, history, science, literature, and current events, and addressing the needs of all grade levels represented at Friends School. The databases can be accessed at school and from home through the Friends School intranet.

Circulation Policies

Lower School

  1. Grades PK-P1st may borrow one book for one week.
  2. 1st - 5th grades may borrow as many books as they can reasonably manage for three weeks. Once they have finished with a particular book they are encouraged to return it to the library as soon as they can.
  3. Audiovisual equipment is circulated to faculty and staff for academic use.
  4. Videos are borrowed by faculty and are used in concordance with copyright law.
  5. An index of the library’s holding is available in the online catalog.

Four times a year (November, late February, mid-April, and late May), parents will be mailed a letter listing overdue titles. Books not returned will be assumed LOST. Twice a year, in December and July, parents will be billed for the cost of replacing the lost title(s).

Middle School

  1. Checkout period: Books may be borrowed for three weeks and they may be renewed. Reference books, reserve and nonprint items do not circulate. Because of copyright and licensing restrictions, computer software and cd-roms do not circulate. Audiovisual equipment is not circulated to students after school or overnight. All audiovisual equipment must be returned to the library by 3:45 p.m. on the day it was it borrowed.
  2. Holding books: If a book you want has been checked out, ask a librarian to put it on hold for you. You will be notified when it has been returned so you may check it out.
  3. Overdue books: When an item becomes overdue, you will receive an overdue notice reminding you to return the item. When an item becomes four weeks overdue, it is assumed “lost," and parents will be billed for the cost of replacing the lost title(s).
  4. Audiovisual equipment is available to students during the school day (7:30 am - 3 pm) for academic use on campus and to faculty and staff for academic use.

Upper School

  1. Most library materials can be taken out for 3 weeks and can be renewed an indefinite number of times.
  2. Reserve materials are available for shorter periods of use. The rules vary with each assignment.
  3. Certain items are restricted for use in the library only.
  4. Replacement costs are charged for materials that students lose. Billing normally occurs in May and June. If an item is returned within a few weeks of a bill being sent, payment will be refunded.

Selection Policy for Library Resources

The purpose of the Friends School libraries is:

  • To support the school’s mission statement
  • To reflect the values of the Religious Society of Friends
  • To provide students and faculty with materials related directly to the curriculum and the process of teaching
  • To provide materials which will encourage reading by the school community for enjoyment or non-curricular interest

Selection of Library Resources

Materials will be selected by the librarians to meet the following objectives for the collection:

  1. To provide a broad range of materials, whether they be in print, non-print, or electronic form, that will supplement and complement the curricula both directly and generally.
  2. To provide learning resources appropriate for the subject area and for the age, emotional development, ability level, learning styles, and social development of the students for whom these materials are selected.
  3. To provide materials for students and faculty that will both encourage the growth of knowledge, and develop literary, cultural, aesthetic appreciation, and ethical standards.
  4. To provide materials that reflect the ideas and beliefs of religious, social, political, historical, and ethnic groups and their contributions to world heritage and culture, thereby giving our students the opportunity to develop intellectual integrity in forming judgements.
  5. To provide materials in certain areas which are of interest to the school community because of the Quaker nature of the school, its history, its historical and current interests, or because of their relevance and value as historical records of the school itself.
  6. To provide materials relating to the profession of teaching and the field of education.

The following recommendations are used by the librarians in their search for materials which are recognized as accurate, authoritative, and of high quality both in content and format, and which are of use and value in relation to one or more of the specific objectives of the library collection listed above.

  1. Faculty members and other qualified persons associated with the school as to materials of excellence in their field of special competence.
  2. Authoritative selection aids prepared for school libraries with high standards. At present, these include, among others, Booklist, Book Links, School Library Journal, Horn Book, Library Journal, Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books, H.W Wilson Standard Catalogs, Kirkus, Multimedia Schools, Multicultural Review, and Video Librarian.
  3. Reviews in the general, scientific, and political periodicals, and in a number of more specialized periodicals related to the curriculum or interests of the school. These include among others, The New York Times Book Review, English Journal, Educational Leadership, and Science News.

No types or categories of materials are excluded from the collection except those that are of no value in relation to the objectives as stated above. Even materials which are not authoritative, are inaccurate, biased, or of poor quality in form and content can, under certain circumstances, be of value to the collection. In the case of obviously biased materials, or materials on controversial issues, the objective is to provide for representation of various points of view. Resources will be selected for their strengths rather than rejected for their weaknesses.

In order to use budgets to the fullest and to meet the libraries obligation to present varying points of view, duplication of individual items will be minimal. Exceptions will occur in cases where multiple copies are required to support the library curriculum and reading program.

Gifts

All donations shall be subjected to the same tests of relevance and quality of content and construction as are items that are purchased. If accepted, they will be integrated into the respective library’s regular collection, using standard classification schemes. Efforts will be made to find uses for donated materials that the library does not accept. In most circumstances, large donations of materials cannot be accepted because of space and staffing considerations.

Deselection of Library Resources

The collection will be inventoried regularly and will be weeded on an ongoing basis. When appropriate, the process will include those faculty members whose subject area is under review. Criteria for removal will include the following:

  1. Physical deterioration exists to the extent that the object can no longer be mended and/or cannot circulate.
  2. Information contained in the object is outdated and of little value as a historical document, or dangerous in its inaccuracy.
  3. Material is judged by the librarians to no longer be appropriate for the collection, according to the guidelines for selection of materials.

Materials to be de-accessioned will be disposed of in the following manner:

  1. Any materials appropriate to another collection within the school will be offered to that collection.
  2. Materials that are no longer current but have historical value to the school will be put in an archive that is accessible to all interested parties.
  3. Materials with clear value to a collection outside of the school, such as Stony Run Meeting, will be offered to that collection.
  4. The librarian may offer remaining books to the school community, a city school or non-profit organization (Midtown Academy, Baltimore Reads) or offer them for sale, as deemed appropriate.
  5. Materials which have no intrinsic value and/or which have deteriorated in condition so as to be deemed useless, will be disposed of by recycling or trash pick-up.
  6. Library staff involved in the weeding process will not be offered weeded materials.

Note: In recognition of the fact that parents may have personal objections to the books assigned as part of the curriculum, motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language, the librarians of Friends School follow the tenets of Free Access to Libraries for Minors, an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights ( ALA’s basic policy concerning access to information). It states that “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents – and only parents – have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children – and only their children – to library resources.”

Selection Policy Addendum: Graphic Novels in the Lower School Library

In building a collection that stimulates children's interest in reading and books in a very media-savvy population, graphic novels must be considered for inclusion in the Lower School Library. Due to the nature of graphic novels and their highly visual content, extra care must be taken in the acquisition of these titles as our youngest students are visually literate long before they are textually literate. Graphic novels will be evaluated for inclusion based on all of the standard criteria for inclusion of materials along with the following standards which are:

  1. Story intensity will be at an age-appropriate level and in keeping with the emotional development of young children.
  2. Specific illustrations and language will be evaluated in the context of the entire work.
  3. Main characters will be predominately children or pre-teens.
  4. Story themes will apply to lower-school aged children.

Extra attention will be given in the examination of the visual content and graphic novels will be included in the collection only if the visual depictions are appropriate for a lower school collection. As with all media, families should carefully monitor what their children are checking out from the library and be mindful that some works may make younger children uncomfortable. In keeping with the school's values, materials representing a wide variety of viewpoints, cultural perspectives and themes will be considered for inclusion as is stated in the main selection policy.

Adopted April 3, 2006 by Matthew Micciche, Head of School

American Library Association's Bill of Rights

Friends School of Baltimore endorses the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights in its policies and practices.

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services:

  1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all the people of the community the library services. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
  2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
  3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
  4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas.
  5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
  6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of the individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1946; amended February 2, 1961; and January 23, 1980 by the ALA Council. Made available by permission of the American Library Association. Adopted May 25, 2000 for the three Friends School libraries.

Friends School of Baltimore Since 1784 | 5114 North Charles Street | Baltimore, MD 21210 | 410.649.3200