Religious materials

[Rachel Carlson <aixoise@NETCOM.COM>]

I'd appreciate input on the following quandary:  One of the campus clubs
has donated money to the library (club) for "religious books."  This club
is a Christian group, and is one of the clubs allowed to meet but no longer
allowed to be a part of ASB on our campuses; therefore, it had to dispose of
its treasury.

Now this isn't a whole lot of money, but here's the dilemma:  I'm sure that
when they say "religious," they mean Christian.  However, at least half
of our student population is non-Christian (Buddhist, Muslim, etc.); more
that half of our 290's -- three quarters, probably -- consists of
Bibles and other Christian-based books.

The question is, How would you spend the money?  My thought is that first
and foremost we need a balanced collection that honors and serves the
needs of all our students.  However, I'm getting hints that the
donors'intentions should override the principles of collection development.

What do you think?  All insights appreciated; I'll post a summary if I
receive a number of replies.

TIA -

Rachel Carlson
Westminster High School
Westminster, CA