School Library Services

Arrangements of School Library Collection

Under the principle of school-based management, schools can, taking into consideration students’ needs, choose high-quality books and reference resources that are in line with the aims, objectives and content of the curriculum. However, it is incumbent upon schools to play the role of professional gatekeepers in the selection of curriculum resources. Schools should carefully select curriculum resources, including learning and teaching resources, school-based teaching materials, library collections and other reading materials, with close reference to the school administration and education guidelines, curriculum documents and relevant circulars issued by the Education Bureau (EDB) in order to ensure that the curriculum resources are aligned with the curriculum aims and learning objectives, contain content and information that are accurate, complete, objective and impartial, and emphasise the development of proper values, attitudes, and behaviours among students. With the development and prevalence of e-reading, schools should carefully review, select, recommend and procure e-reading resources, including e-books, online reading platforms and online reading programmes, in accordance with the same principle. To safeguard the quality of students’ reading, it is also important to refrain from subscribing to services that provide electronic platforms or affiliated local or overseas platforms for students to access books or resources freely.

Should there be a need to engage external individuals or organisations in conducting reading related school activities, schools should make prudent choices to ensure that the invited parties can fulfil the schools’ requirements, and the messages they convey are consistent with the learning aims and curriculum goals in school education.

Teacher-librarians, who are in charge of the school library, should regularly review the library collection, coordinate and communicate with the school management and subject panels to ensure that the school library provides quality curriculum resources (including printed and electronic books as well as other reading and curriculum materials) without any elements that endanger national security or any content which is unsuitable for student reading. If these curriculum resources are found to involve serious crimes or moral impropriety, potentially breach the law or contain elements that endanger national security or are contrary to the interests of national security, they should be removed or withdrawn from use immediately so as to avoid causing negative impacts on students.

Schools are required to establish/strengthen their school-based monitoring mechanism. The school management leads teachers to conduct a regular review of the content and quality of the learning and teaching resources (including printed and electronic library collections and other reading and curriculum materials for students) of individual Key Learning Areas (KLAs) and cross-curricular subjects in the school. Schools should also devise appropriate reference booklists for students in accordance with the relevant EDB guidelines, circulars/circular memoranda and curriculum documents. In addition, schools should timely review and monitor that all reading related activities conducted on-campus and organised in the name of the school (including student activities, extra-curricular activities, external services procured/ invited, talks by external guest speakers, activities organised by alumni or parent-teacher associations for students, activities engaging outside instructors, etc.) do not lead to situations that endanger national security. Relevant documents are listed below:

Curriculum Documents Relating to the Arrangements of School Library Collection