What books should teachers buy for their classroom libraries? State auditors recommend policies

SALT LAKE CITY — State auditors are asking schools and lawmakers to establish policies to help educators choose books for school and classroom libraries.

A new audit found that teachers are unsure what materials they can purchase for classroom libraries. State auditors said policies would clarify this.

“Because school districts haven’t provided clear direction, teachers have autonomy and accountability for the books they choose for their classroom libraries … However, in the case of sensitive materials, a lack of policy or procedures could leave teachers vulnerable to disciplinary action or community scrutiny,” state auditors said in the audit.

Selection policies would also help guide purchases for school libraries, the audit found.

Policies geared toward removing books from classroom libraries

Auditors presented the report at a committee meeting on Wednesday, saying they found most policies for school libraries are geared towards removing materials, and not how to avoid that situation.

“Implementing proactive library material selection policies may prevent sensitive materials from entering schools and later save time and resources due to book challenges,” auditors said in the report.

The audit resulted in four recommendations, two of which dealt specifically with book selection. The first was aimed at lawmakers:

We recommend that the Legislature consider the policy question of whether to require Local Education Agencies to have a policy for library book selection processes.”

The second spoke to those within the education system:

We recommend that Local Education Agencies create and implement policies and processes to ensure communication with all school staff regarding sensitive materials processes, and utilize tools offered by the Utah State Board of Education to do so.”

Utah’s new Superintendent, Dr. Molly Hart, said the board had considered creating book selection policies.

“At this time, we chose to stick to what was in legislation. And selection was not in legislation at that time,” Hart said.

Hart said they could provide additional training to teachers on what materials are considered appropriate, but reiterated it is generally up to each school district to decide what is appropriate for their schools.