In Bastrop ISD, collection development is a cornerstone of the educational experience on every campus. In partnership with the Board of Trustees, the district's certified library media specialists are the professional stewards responsible for building and maintaining the library's collection. The fundamental goal is to cultivate information literacy, empowering students to critically evaluate, ethically use, and effectively communicate information across all subjects. School libraries aim to develop students into autonomous critical thinkers, capable of both consuming and producing ideas in fiction and nonfiction. This process is grounded in ethical and legal principles, including fair use, intellectual freedom, and confidentiality, which are supported by local school board policy (EF), the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, and the First Amendment.

The selection process is guided by certified, full-time librarians who hold graduate degrees and engage in continuous professional development, as recommended by state standards, rules, and laws. These professionals collaborate extensively with educators, students, parents, and community members to acquire materials. It is important to distinguish between instructional materials, which are required for classroom curriculum, and library books, which are chosen for voluntary inquiry and personal interest. Because library resources are not tied to specific curricular mandates, the collection is intentionally developed to reflect the wide-ranging interests, personalities, and diverse perspectives of the individual students it serves, fostering a love of reading and lifelong learning. Bastrop ISD does not remove titles based on the background of authors, the characters, or the viewpoints expressed. The goals, standards, and criteria below describe how library materials are evaluated and selected.

Collection Development Goals

In addition to the requirements in state law and rules, BISD library collections strive to:

1. Present multiple viewpoints related to issues.
2. Provide a wide range of background information that will enable students to make intelligent decisions in their daily lives.
3. Include accurate and authentic factual content from authoritative sources.
4. Have a high degree of potential user appeal and interest.
5. Offer a global perspective that promotes equity of access, including print and nonprint materials such as electronic and multimedia, to meet the needs of individual learners.
6. Represent diverse viewpoints and cultural groups of the state and their contributions to the state, the nation, and the world, to ensure the collection embodies the background of all students.

Procurement Standards

BISD librarians and other professional staff will ensure that our materials:

1. Enrich and support the TEKS and the state and local curriculum, taking into consideration students’ varied interests, maturity levels, abilities, and learning styles.
2. Foster growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and societal standards.
3. Encourage the enjoyment of reading, foster high-level thinking skills, support personal learning, and encourage discussion based on rational analysis.
4. Represent ethnic, religious, and cultural groups of the state and their contributions to the state, the nation, and the world.

Selection Criteria

In the recommendation and procurement process of a library material, BISD staff must consider at least two of the following factors:

1. Recommendations from students, parents or guardians, teachers, and District residents.
2. Consultation with District teachers and library staff.
3. Consultation with library staff from other districts.
4. Extensive review of the library material.
5. Context of the library material, including overall fit within the existing collection and support of District curriculum.
6. Reviews of the library material from sources such as professional journals in library science, recognized professional education or content journals with book reviews, national and state award recognition lists, library science field experts, and highly acclaimed author and literacy expert recommendations.
7. Coverage of topics, authors, series, or genres that fill gaps in the school library collection.