Lehighton Area School District’s board of directors approved the first reading of a new policy concerning classroom libraries and library materials at its voting meeting Monday night.

According to the policy, which can be found on the district website, library materials are to “support and enrich the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, learning needs, learning styles, and maturity levels of the students served.”

Additional criteria stated in the policy include meeting high standards of literary, artistic, and aesthetic quality, as well as the appropriateness of content relative to students’ ages, emotional development, and social and intellectual levels.

The policy’s delegation of responsibility stipulates that the superintendent or a designated administrator will recommend all library materials. In the event of a proposed addition or change that does not follow this recommendation, a two-thirds vote of the board is required.

Furthermore, the superintendent or their designee is required to maintain a list of library materials that is accessible to board members, district staff, students, parents, and community members.

Interim Superintendent Jack Corby said Monday night while the policy places a lot of responsibility on the superintendent, he would not be heavily involved as his time in the district is likely winding down.

“With the board winding down the search for the district’s next superintendent, I hesitate to throw myself fully into that process,” Corby said. “Under the section of responsibilities and delegations in this policy, I have asked Mary Figura, assistant to the superintendent, to head up the process of developing not only the final policy, but also the administrative regulations that will go along with it.”

Corby noted that a number of community suggestions regarding the policy had already been received, but none had been incorporated as of the meeting.

“We have not incorporated any of those thoughts into the policy yet,” he added. “It just doesn’t make sense to me to continue to piecemeal thoughts together as we go along. A better process will be to put a committee together, solicit opinions and then sit down over a period of time and develop a final policy and administrative regulations.”

As part of the policy, library resources must be regularly reviewed and updated to remove outdated materials and replace worn or lost items.

The “weeding” process involves a periodic reassessment of the school libraries’ collections, aligning materials with current curricular content and instructional methods. Materials considered no longer appropriate or useful may be removed or replaced. Donations to the school libraries will be evaluated with the same criteria applied to all resources.

School board member Joy Beers commented Monday on the reduced attendance at the meeting compared to earlier discussions on the policy, when community concerns were at their height.

“A couple months ago the meetings were packed as there was a lot of misunderstanding and rumors,” Beers said. “Now that the policy is here we can see the crowd is smaller. This policy has dialed the concepts in to cover sexual content and profanity and not the other items people were concerned about.”

According to the policy, sexual excerpts and/or profanity do not automatically discount a book from inclusion in the collection. Rather, the decision is made “based on whether the book is of literary value and suitability for the intended audience is determined by consulting reviews by professional literary critics for children’s and young adult literature.”

The policy calls for the district to maintain a list of the books in its collection that contain sexual excerpts and/or profanity and make such a list available to parents and/or legal guardians who may request that their child be restricted from accessing such materials.

In cases where library materials are challenged by a student, staff member, or resident, the policy establishes a formal process for reconsideration. Individuals may submit a “Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials” form, which will be reviewed by a committee assembled by the superintendent or designee.

This committee will include staff members, administrators, and potentially community members and will have up to 30 school days to provide a report summarizing its determination regarding the material.

Decisions on challenged materials may include unrestricted use, adjustments to access, or discontinuation of the material. The superintendent or designee must notify the requesting party of the committee’s decision within the same 30-school-day period.

While the policy has not yet incorporated all community feedback, Corby acknowledged that the board intends to further involve stakeholders as the policy develops.

“Will this be a perfect plan and there be no hills to climb? Absolutely not. However, I believe if the plan is to move ahead with this policy, then this is a start,” Corby said. “The process will take time, maybe lots of time, but I ask that everyone is civil throughout the process and genuinely listens and considers others’ opinions.”

Like all district policies, it will need board approval of a second reading to become official.

Board members said the district will proceed with forming a committee and conducting further reviews as it moves toward finalizing the policy and its administrative regulations.