Mesquite ISD

Parents and guardians can view all books and other materials checked out to their children and indicate books they do not want their child to check out.

Parent User Account Instructions for Parent Account

Partnering with Parents and Guardians

Parents and guardians are also encouraged to communicate with the campus librarian and their child’s teacher about special considerations regarding library materials that have been self-selected by their student. In accordance with state law and administrative procedures, parents or guardians may select alternative library materials for their student. 
 

Parents can access the online library catalog here or from the campus library webpage. Library digital resources can be accessed by logging into the student’s account through the MISD online portal.

Library Book Notification

To comply with the law passed by the Texas legislature in June 2025, all parents will receive an email notification when their student borrows a book from the school library. This email notification provides a record of all student checkouts to parents. If you do not wish to continue receiving those emails you can click ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of the email.
 

Parental Access for Digital Library 

To comply with the law passed by the Texas legislature in June 2025, all parents can log into their student’s Sora account through their Classlink portal and setup parental controls. 

Sora Tutorial

Mesquite ISD Board Policy allows parents, staff and community members to formally object to library materials currently available to students. Titles may be challenged if an individual believes the title does not meet the TSLAC mandatory collection standards or District policies related to library materials selection.

This policy is adopted to ensure the District protects the First Amendment rights of its students. In accordance with established Supreme Court decisions, a District cannot remove a library book that has been selected from the collection without first reviewing the title. The District’s policy is designed to ensure an appropriate review is conducted prior to any title being removed from the collection so the requirements of the First Amendment are satisfied. However, the policy is also designed to ensure that materials that do not meet the TSLAC mandatory collection standards are removed upon completion of review.

Following Board policy, the District or campus will strive to resolve any objections informally. They will explain the selection process and discuss the intended purpose for the library material. The librarian or administrator will offer a concerned parent or guardian an alternative library material to be use by the child in place of the material. Concerned parents can restrict their child’s access to that material through the Destiny library catalog using their parent user account.

If the concern can not be resolved informally, the parent or guardian, staff, or community member may submit a formal request using the Library Materials Challenge Form.

Reconsideration Process:

• The District or campus administrator will work with Library Services and the campus librarian to appoint a challenge committee following Board policy.

• The committee members will read and review the material under challenge to determine whether it meets the TSLAC mandatory collection standards.

• All meetings will comply with the meeting requirements under Education Code 33.025(g) and (h) including required notices, minutes, and recordings as well as submission of the same.

• A report will be submitted to the requestor within 90 days of the challenge submission. The requestor may appeal the decision following established Board policy.

• If a challenge to a library material results in the removal of the library material from the school library catalog, each teacher at that level (elementary, middle, or high) will be notified and instructed to remove any copy of that material from the classroom library.

Library Materials Challenge Form

As a trained professional, librarians select library materials for their campus following the TSLAC Mandatory Collection Standards, EFB Local school board policy and the MISD Library Book Selection Criteria that are aligned with both. The ultimate authority for determining and approving the guidelines and policies for acquisition of resources in Mesquite Independent School District lies with the School Board.

Factors Considered

When a book is evaluated for purchase, librarians look at:

• The educational suitability either directly or as it provides recreational reading materials to support reading growth
• The reading level and interest level
• The development appropriateness
• Diversity of appeal and point of view
• Professional book reviews and ratings
• Overall appropriateness for the educational environment and needs of the campus
• Physical specifications and binding to make sure it meets district requirements

To view the full evaluation criteria, please view the MISD Library Book Selection Criteria linked above.

Your child’s campus librarian is your main resource for library materials. They are available to help you and your child with resources available both online and on campus. Here are some helpful resources readily available:

• Each campus library has its own database of available books. Search your campus collection in the Library Catalog.
• Students have access to free eBooks and audiobooks through Sora and Lightbox, which are located in their portal. 

Students have access to a variety of online resources to support classroom learning through eBooks, audiobooks, and learning databases in the portal.

Yes! We love for our students and campus community to visit the library both in person and virtually. To view the books online for your child's campus, they can be found in the library catalog. To visit, in person, please make arrangements with your campus librarian or administrator.

Mesquite ISD school libraries follow the Texas School Library Standards. For elementary schools this means providing a minimum of 11,000 or 14 books per student, whichever is greater. For secondary schools this means providing a minimum of 10,000 or 12 books per student, whichever is greater. School library collections include the physical books and the digital books acquired at the district level for all students to access. The overall average copyright date of the collection should not exceed 14 years. To accomplish these goals, Mesquite ISD librarians weed (remove damaged or outdated items) and update a portion of the collection each year through new acquisitions. Library Services supports campus librarians in keeping school library collections in alignment with the state standards through a centralized budget, maintaining the catalog of materials, digital book purchases, and regular maintenance support.

District digital library resources include both state subsidized and solely district purchased digital content. A consortium called TEXQuest affords Mesquite ISD group buying power on digital resources subsidized by the state of Texas. Because a large number of Texas schools participate, subscriptions are provided at a much lower rate, saving the district funds. These include Encyclopedia Britannica, GALE Research Databases, ProQuest, EBSCO LearningExpress, and Teaching Books. In addition to these, Mesquite ISD Library Services provides additional subscriptions to meet instructional needs. These include PebbleGo, Lightbox, Tumblebooks, GALE high school resources, GALE Ebooks, Culture Grams, Learn360, Britannica Image Quest & Image Quest Junior, and Soundzabound - a royalty free music database. Many of these resources are available in English and Spanish and most have translation features that include all world languages. These resources are all accessed through the district online portal.

No, when Mesquite ISD subscribes to a database or service, the district subscribes to all content within that service. However, not all students can access all content. Content is filtered in an age appropriate way by campus level so that elementary students see elementary content, etc. Additionally, some subscription services allow the district some customization capabilities to ensure that content is appropriate for each campus level.

While instructional materials and library books are both evaluated similarly, they are not the same and the terms should not be used interchangeably. 

Instructional materials are used in classroom instruction as part of the required curriculum which is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, while Library Materials are used for voluntary inquiry.

Since school and classroom libraries are viewed as places for voluntary inquiry, library books are treated differently from instructional materials used in classroom instruction.