Collection Building in the School Library Media Center

Lori L.Franklin

Library Media Specialist  National Board Certified Teacher  ESU SLIM Doctoral Student

Introduction

 Library Media Specialist for 13 years  Opened two new school libraries  Inherited two “middle-aged” collections  National Board Certified Teacher  Currently caught between choices – purchasing print materials v. purchasing electronic materials (including e-Books)

How do you buy personal books?

 Do you consider: - need - what is already in your home - what has been recommended - bestseller lists - what is visually appealing - how much money you have - how much of a hurry you are in

Philosophy

 This might resemble a mission statement: “Smithfield Middle School is committed to providing students with resources of varying appeal, representing diverse viewpoints, in a variety of formats in order to meet curricular and personal enjoyment requirements.”

More Philosophy

 Consider the same goals that the School is trying to accomplish: - reading, writing, math - embracing diversity - bully-free zone - building personal character - career-readiness - fine arts appreciation

What do you remember?

 Talk about your experiences locating, recommending, and checking out books or other materials at any of your school libraries.



http://teachers.olatheschools.com/oelibrary

/

Basic steps in collection building

 Your district’s collection policy provides a roadmap for you.

 This document has information about what are considered “quality” materials of literary value.

 You also need to be sensitive to needs that are specific to your environment or community:

http://www.classkc.org/index.html

Policy as umbrella

 Provides you with guidelines for selecting and purchasing materials.  Should a book reconsideration request occur, the collection policy provides a framework and rationale for justifying why you have purchased materials.

 Fluid document that needs examination and updating on a regular basis, by a party of stakeholders: you, board and community members, parents and students.

The collection policy

“The Olathe School District supports the position that a library media center contributes to the intellectual, cultural, and ethical development of students as they become productive citizens in an ever changing democracy.”

Olathe District School Selection Policy, 2002

Guidelines for Selection

:

- educational need - recommendations from staff/students - educational significance - age appropriateness - recommendations from professional reviewing sources - significance of author/illustrator/producer - accuracy - timeliness, currency, and permanence - quality of material - benefit in terms of cost/financial analysis - readability

Olathe District School Selection Policy, 2002

Outside influences

 You also need to be sensitive to needs that are specific to your environment or community and balance them with access to information rights:

http://www.classkc.org/index.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/ ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm

 You are playing on the same team with your local school board.

Your budget

 How will you allocate budget monies to the different areas in your school library?

 Consider: - fiction - nonfiction - electronic - audiovisual - equipment - supplies

2008-2009 Budget Allocation by Category

4 5 6 7 1 3

1 - Fiction 25,000 2 - Nonfiction 40,000 3- Reference 15,000 4- Audiovisual 8,000

2

5- Equipment 10,000 6- Supplies 5,000 7- Repair 2,500

Major reviewing sources

 School Library Journal  Booklist  Library Journal  Kirkus  Library Media Collection  VOYA  Hornbook  Books in Print

This list is not meant to be exhaustive and reflects collection building resources for the school library media center level.

Collection mapping

 Collection mapping is a way to organize your

knowledge

of what resources are available for students.



Example:

If you need to locate materials for a unit on forensic science, collection mapping would have already determined the different areas in your collection that apply, as well as pinpointing weaknesses.  Results from collection mapping yield better resources per unit compared to a simple OPAC search.

Steps in Collection Mapping

 Count total collection/compute the number of items per student.

 Determine physical and electronic access to materials.

 Collect data showing crossover in Dewey Decimal categories.

 Present the results - collection maps showing areas in collection needing change in next 5 years.

Example of collection mapping

http://searchware.com/assets/images/Collection_Map.jpg

Data from this chart comes from Follett’s Titlewise Collection Analysis by request.

Data from this chart comes from Follett’s Titlewise Collection Analysis by request.

Acquiring materials

 Purchasing from large vendors is easy to do; choices will not reflect local interests.

 Your local bookstore is a great resource for last-minute needs, as well as local-flavor materials.

 Purchasing items on “Preview” means that you are responsible for returning materials you choose not to keep.

“Other” items

 You may receive a call from a community member who offers to donate materials to your library.

 Your district collection policy should address this scenario.

 You will need to weigh the needs of your collection (another function of having collection mapping in place) against the loss of shelf space.

Marketing

 Buying materials is great, but…  Market what you have to the right audiences! This is another area where the benefits of collection mapping can be seen.

Inventory/weeding

 Regular weeding is essential for collection development – it allows you to fine-tune the collection in response to changing factors: - enrollment numbers - curriculum - demographics - budgeting

Recordkeeping

 Systematic, statistical recordkeeping allows you to present highlighted information to your principal for budgetary requests.  Recordkeeping also can help you identify trends (for example, you could compare circulation figures with increased spending in fiction spending).

Questions?

 [email protected]

 913. 780.7130

It does not matter how many books you may have, but whether they are good or not.

—

Epistolae Morale

Lucius Annaeus SENECA (3 B.C.-65 A.D.)

Resources

(2002). The nuts and bolts of library media in USD 233. Olathe, KS: USD 233.

(2005).

The whole school library handbook

. Chicago: American Library Association.

Taylor, J. (2006).

Information literacy and the school library media center

. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Valenza, J.K. (2004).

Power tools recharged: 125+ essential forms and presentations for your school library information program.

Chicago: American Library Association.

Van Orden, P.J. (2001).

The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and information sources, 3 rd ed.

Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.