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Challenged Materials

Any resource may be considered to be controversial or offensive to some members of the school community.
  • Complaints in Context
    In general, complaints against materials in school libraries are rare. However, it is important that every school has a policy and procedure in place to deal with those that do arise.

    These policies and procedures should be developed within the school community. The
    School Library Bill of Rights published on the Australian School Library Association [ASLA] Website is a useful starting point.

    As part of the overall Collection Development Policy a Challenge Policy should be available to provide guidelines for dealing with a complaint.
    For more support contact your District Library Support Officer.



  • Dealing with Complaints
    Dealing with complaints is a systematic process involving:
    • completion of a complaint form by the challenger;
    • decision on whether to remove the item from the shelf immediately or after it has been reviewed;
    • referring challenger to the school's Collection Development Policy, and
    • review of challenged resource by a Committee, which includes the principal, resource teacher, a P&C representative and the person making the complaint.
    The final decision to remove or retain the challenged item is the responsibility of the Principal.

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