School Library Policy and Legal Opinions of Texas Public School Principals and Certified Librarians

Abstract

This study involved a survey of the attitudes of Texas public school principals and certified librarians, perceptions andexperiences with regard to school library policy for media selection, and procedures for responding to complaints againstlibrary media. Analysis of the data included a methodology of mixed-methods explanatory design. Selection of the principalsand certified librarians was proportionate and stratified according to the state's 20 Education Service Centerregions. Of the 1,036 independent school districts that employed the state population of 10,014 principals and certifiedlibrarians, 275 independent school districts (26.5 percent) allowed participation in the survey. Although random samplingof the state population had not been possible, the demographic and employment characteristics of the study samplewere comparable to those of the state population. Two key findings were (a) that the legal opinions of principals andcertified librarians were useful predictors of their opinions of library media selection policy and complaint proceduresand (b) that the principals' appreciation of selection policy and complaint procedures sometimes differed from the librarians'because of the principals' different legal perspective of library selection policy and complaint procedures.

Keywords

• library
• school
• law