LIBRARY
The school library actively promotes the philosophy and fundamental concepts of the IB Programmes. These include structured inquiry, holistic education, communication, intercultural awareness and international mindedness. The library aims to facilitate curriculum delivery, and reading for enjoyment, by providing current and relevant resources for the school community.
The mission of the ISD Library Media Centre is to ensure that students and staff can become informed, self directed, discriminating and effective users of ideas and information.
This mission is accomplished by:
- Providing a fully automated multimedia information service offering a variety of quality, accurate and current information resources
- Providing multi-lingual leisure reading opportunities and resources for the entire ISD school community
- Collaborating with educators to design and teach strategies to meet the needs of all learners
Goals
The goals of the library media program are as follows:
- To provide a facility that functions as the information centre of the school
- To provide access to current resources in a variety of formats that represent a wide range of subjects and levels of difficulty
- To provide resources and activities for learning that represent a diversity of experiences, opinions, and social and cultural perspectives
- To provide resources and activities that contribute to lifelong learning and accommodate a wide range of differences in teaching and learning styles, methods, interests, and capacities
- To provide intellectual access to information through learning experiences and activities that are integrated into the curriculum in a developmental and sequential way with subject-specific skills and content
- To help all students achieve information literacy by developing effective strategies for selecting, retrieving, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, creating and communicating information in all content areas of the curriculum
- To provide leadership, collaboration and assistance to teachers and students so they may become life long learners, discriminating consumers and skilled creators of information.
The dependence on computer technology for all aspects of teaching, learning and academic research makes guidelines for their appropriate use necessary.
General use policies
ISD Library reserves the right to impose time limits on computer use, moderate use of computers with special software or database access, and give students, faculty and staff first consideration.
Users should be considerate of the needs of other users. Viewing some kinds of materials may be offensive in a public setting.
The computers are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Unoccupied work stations will be viewed as available, and will be made available to others who need them. Teachers may sign up classes in advance on the Computer Schedule sheet.
Guest computer use policyGuests may use the computers on request if no staff or students are working on them. They can access a computer after obtaining the User Name and Password from the library staff.
The Media Resource Centre provides students with a selection of materials of the highest quality and appropriateness in a variety of formats with a diversity of appeal for a wide range of abilities.
Materials in the MRC are selected to implement, enrich and support the educational programme for the students.
The development and maintenance of the media resource centre collection is the responsibility of the librarian working in collaboration with the faculty, parents and students as appropriate within the guidelines of the general selection criteria. The ultimate responsibility for quality and effectiveness rests with the school administration.
Selection Guidelines
To ensure materials are selected, to further the goals of meeting student and faculty needs, the items should be:
- Purchased in a variety of formats – print, visual, digital and on-line
- Chosen to promote critical thinking and support personal growth
- Chosen with consideration of standard book lists (The Best in Children’s Books, Reference Books for School Libraries)
- Chosen from the IBO curriculum guides
- Able to ensure the rights of the users to a balanced collection
- Able to reflect the mission statement and goals of the International School Dhaka
- Able to reflect the philosophy of the IBO which is to develop students who have a global awareness
- Able to support Host Country and Second Language acquisition
Selection Criteria
The selection shall be governed by professional considerations and not by political, moral and religious views. Materials will encourage and endorse individual human rights and values, as well as explore cultures from other areas in the world to support the curriculum and provide for personal growth. Selection criteria utilized includes:
- Authoritativeness (background and reputation of the author, publisher)
- Accuracy
- Impartiality
- Currency of data
- Scope/depth of coverage
- Appropriateness (to end user, format)
- Relevance
- Interest
- Organization/Style/Aesthetic qualities
- Physical characteristics (Will it stand up to circulation?)
- Special features
- Library potential (Demand/Relation to collection development strategies)
- Cost/Cost-effectiveness
- Instructional objectives
Selection Policy
Selection is an on-going process which will include:
- The replacement of lost and worn materials still of educational value
- Maintenance of and adherence to the Collection Development Plan
- The removal of materials no longer appropriate due to:
- Questionable relevance to curriculum
- Outdated, inaccurate factual content
- Outdated interpretations, values and attitudes
- Condescending, stereotypical, patronizing or biased
- Not useful to classroom teachers
- Not of historical significance
- Poor physical condition
- Amount of circulation or use over the past year/past three years/past five years
- Available in more suitable formats
- Expired or no public performance rights (videos, DVDs)
- Illegal copies of computer software
Retaining materials that are:
- Items that the teacher-librarian and/or principal determine should be retained as unique or as classic examples
- Archival material
- Local materials of interest
Donations and/or Free Materials
The Media Resource Centre will apply the same selection criteria when accepting gifts as when purchasing new materials, and such will be accepted or rejected by these criteria.
When such an objection is made, the following procedures should be followed:
The complaint should be discussed informally with the person filing it and the member of staff most directly involved – the teacher or librarian. Many objections will disappear if it is made clear that the complaint is taken seriously, and good reasons are presented for using a particular book or course content.
- If an objection remains, a formal challenge to materials or course content may be made in writing to the Principal of the school. The Principal may choose to decide the issue, or to convene an ad-hoc committee, made up of teachers, media specialists, administrators, and other persons as deemed appropriate by the Principal to consider the materials or course description. The person filing the complaint will be invited to take part in the ad-hoc committee’s discussion and to present his or her views in detail.
- The committee or principal will render a decision within two weeks of the initial complaint being made. If the complaining party is not satisfied with the decision, the matter may be appealed to the CEO, who may choose to involve the Board, although the final decision will remain with the CEO.
- Challenged materials will remain in use while the complaint is considered.
When considering challenges to school materials, the school’s philosophical belief in the importance of promoting inquiry and exposing young minds to a wide variety of facts and ideas will guide the discussion. While it is expected that staff and students will approach and discuss ‘controversial’ issues with care, tact and objectivity, there must be overriding educational reasons for not using materials or adjusting course content in response to a complaint.
Library hours are Sunday to Wednesday 7:00 am - 3:30 pm, Thursday 7:00 am - 3:00 pm.
Staff: Teacher Librarian - Sue Batte, Assistant Librarians – Syeda Mukta Begum, Tamima Jahan Azmi.