Specific Criteria for Materials Selection

Selection of media centers and instructional materials shall be based upon:

  • Relevancy or permanent value
  • Accuracy
  • Authoritativeness
  • Readability
  • Clear presentation and format
  • Educational significance
  • Need and value to the collection
  • Age appropriateness
    • Elementary (grades PK-5, ages 0-10)
    • Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 10-13)
    • High School (grades 9-12, ages 13-17)

When media specialists internally “weed” or audit their collections as well as make initial purchases and selections, the selection of materials shall be made as follows:

  1. Publisher recommendation of grade and/or age range
  • Elementary (grades PK-5, ages 0-10)
  • Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 10-13)
  • High School (grades 9-12, ages 13-17)
  1. Agreement of grade/age appropriateness from at least two of the following approved review sites
    • School Library Journal
    • Kirkus
    • Booklist
    • Publisher’s Weekly
    • Common Sense Media
    • NovelList
  2. If additional reviews from the above sites show disagreement about the age appropriateness of the material, a discussion among all of the media specialists at that level, secondary or elementary, will be held.  In that case, a majority vote will determine whether the resource should be selected.
  3. Professional examination of the book may be appropriate for recently published materials that do not have sufficient reviews. 
  4. Some books are not specifically rated for students in grades K-12 but may be appropriate for older students.  These may include classics (To Kill a Mockingbird), science fiction, thriller (Tom Clancy novels) or historical novels.  Special attention should be paid to these books before selecting them, including multiple reviews and/or physical examination of the book.