Collection development in school libraries
In this class, we put our focus on examining or creating a collection development policy for our school library and critically examining a section of our library. Overall, the class got us to really think about how we select materials for our library and also about how we weed items from our library as well.
collection policy project
Phew! Our collection policy project spanned most of the class as we looked at a specific area of our library and examined it from multiple angles. I chose the biography section of our library and was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. Even my professor seemed concerned that my choice was going to be too large, but I felt it was a section of the library that needed a lot of focus, so I stuck with it.
One of the first things we needed to do was the map the collection in a visual way. I found this activity to be very useful, and it really got me to think about what our biography section contained. Below are two pie charts I chose to map our collection with. Because of the size of the collection I chose to focus on, I chose a significant random sample and projected from there. Therefore, these numbers may not be 100% accurate.
One of the first things we needed to do was the map the collection in a visual way. I found this activity to be very useful, and it really got me to think about what our biography section contained. Below are two pie charts I chose to map our collection with. Because of the size of the collection I chose to focus on, I chose a significant random sample and projected from there. Therefore, these numbers may not be 100% accurate.
In mapping the collection this way, I discovered much about our collection, particularly the different types of biographies we carry. By looking at the biographies in this visual way, I can see where there are gaps in the collection, and it will guide me in future purchases of biographies.
In addition to examining this collection in depth, we also had to critically look at our current collection policy as well as the policy of another similar school to discover where our own policy could be improved. I found this assignment particularly helpful when I looked at our own policy and found where it stood out and where it could use improvement. Before I wrote my paper on this assignment, I used a brainstorming tool to map out the two policies. It is pictured below. You can click on it to view it larger.
In addition to examining this collection in depth, we also had to critically look at our current collection policy as well as the policy of another similar school to discover where our own policy could be improved. I found this assignment particularly helpful when I looked at our own policy and found where it stood out and where it could use improvement. Before I wrote my paper on this assignment, I used a brainstorming tool to map out the two policies. It is pictured below. You can click on it to view it larger.
I color coded the map to make writing my paper easier. Each topic in the collection policy has a different color. For example, "Dealing with Challenged Materials" is all in pink. "Style of the document" is in black. Beyond that, anything in green is something unique to my school's policy. Anything is blue is unique to Susquehanna's policy. In the end, I found this to be a useful tool not only to write my paper but a useful one for the future as I think about any changes I would like to make to our collection policy.
putting my studies into practice
So how did I take all of this work and apply it into my practice as a teacher librarian at Ponderosa? First of all, I understood the need for a good variety in our book orders. I could not just choose books based on requests or what I felt would be popular. I needed to create something that would allow me to choose books for every student at Ponderosa. Therefore, for my books orders, I created a Collection Development Matrix, as seen below.
Each month as I select materials to add to our fiction collection, I use this matrix to make sure that I choose a wide variety of materials that will appeal to all the different students at Ponderosa. The last column on the matrix, "Male or Female" indicates whether the main character is a male, female, or both. I found in past book orders, I chose books with mostly female main characters by accident, and I wanted to make sure I did not continue to do this in the future. Therefore, I create a column for it on my matrix.