A teacher librarian wears many hats, Information specialist, curriculum coordinator and resource manager (NSW Dept of Education, 2019) and it is expected that a Teacher Librarian (TL) develops a relevant, current and efficient collection based on the needs of its users ( Johnson 2018) whether they be educational, recreational or of a professional nature.
As a newly minted TL, I believed my choices in resource management were sound – I mean, everyone seemed to be happy right? But I couldn’t yet figure out why collaboration between myself and library stakeholders was so hard. The problem was, I did not realise just how haphazard many of my choices were and this was because I really had no guidelines to go upon. The definition I described in Forum 1: Definition management (Facey 2021 March 02 ) stated that” every library collection should be established for a specific purpose” (Gessesse, 2000) and that purpose should, as I now know, be also inclusive of the whole school community (Scholastic 2016) without knowing the in-depth needs of the school community, our library collection habits can become disorganised and can often be defined by our own ethics and morals ( Rickman, W n.d) and this can often lead us TL’s feeling isolated from the collaborative process that the libraries so dearly need to stay relevant in a 21st-century learning environment. This can also lead to ignorance from those who decide just how important we are ( Facey Nov 2020).
The nature of the school library collection is dependent on the context in which the library is located ( Facey Nov 2020). Collaboration is key when it comes to creating a meaningful resource centre that meets the needs of the entire school community. As I stated in the blog post Module three: Who budgets what? (Facey April 2020) considering the school plan is an integral part of the process when developing an effective library collection but this is not the only factor of success. TL’s must be also aware of how technology affects the collection as well as more subtle criteria such as trends, moral and ethical nature of the collection ( Facey March 2021).
The development of a collection development policy, I’m afraid to admit, naively, we new to me. I was not aware that all the actions that I had taken under the librarian role needed to be documented on paper. I always just assumed that we were a protected species, protected under our retrospective organisations ( Facey March 2021) but i now realise this is an integral part of
What being a high school librarian is all about. My library, luckily enough, is well funded ( Facey April 2021) and I was dismayed to what I had read on the discussion boards just how underfunded many school libraries are.
Unfortunately, this is a growing trend ( B.Novak 2021 N.d). The downside of having a large budget is management and accountability (Johnson 2018) and a collection development policy can help rectify this and create a justification of funding allowing for a connection to curriculum, allow for meeting needs and wants and a collaborative decision making process ( Johnson 2018).
So how can a collection development policy help future proof a school library? In a world where many schools are moving away from traditional library spaces ( Facey April 2021) a collection development policy can clearly communicate to other stakeholders in the school exactly what it is that a school librarian does and what it will do for the school community ( Herring 2017). It cements us clearly, front and centre as the “information specialist” ( Lamb A, P Johnson H.L 2012) and provides a clear pathway in how we can be relevant in the future. By including items such as digital and nonphysical resources, 21st century learning applications and consultation of future school planning, a school librarian can show in the collection just how relevant and important they are to the learning needs of the school community. ( Facey April 2021).
In saying this, I believe I have identified quite a few weaknesses in my own practice. My library has been somewhat neglected – not just in regards to my own processes, but also by predecessors who had quickly come and gone – each putting their mark on how the library ran, but none of which had documented what they had done ( Facey April 2021). This made it very difficult for me to know exactly how to start developing a collection that would be relevant to my students as the only collection development policy that had been developed was now over 10 years old and severely out of date. This has meant that my current library collection has not kept up with 21st century learning practices and has fallen away into the background – becoming the “dumping ground” for disengaged students – Well no more! Collaboration is severely lacking in my school but I do believe that it will be one of the ways I can remove the cloak of invisibility that has shrouded us for so long. STEM, cross curricular and inquiry based learning has also been identified in the school’s three year plan and I believe that this will be a strong opportunity to collaborate with faculty KLA which could very well help collection which focuses strongly on technology, information skills and cross curricular priorities.
Bibliography
Herring, J. E. (2017). The future role of the teacher librarian. Connections Issue 100. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-100/the-future-role-of-the-teacher-librarian/#:%7E:text=As%20the%20school%20librarian%2C%20I,using%20information%20and%20the%20library.
Johnson, P. (2018). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management (4th ed., Vol. 4). ALA Editions. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0838916414?tag=scribbr00-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1
Lamb, A. & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist. http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html.
Novak, B. (n.d.). It’s time: let’s improve schools’ perceptions of teacher librarians. Http://Www.Scisdata.Com. Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-99/it-s-time-let-s-improve-schools-perceptions-of-teacher-librarians/#:%7E:text=Teacher%20librarians%20can%20support%20teachers,skill%20held%20by%20teacher%20librarians
Rickman, W. (n.d.). A Study of Self-Censorship by School Librarians. School Library Research. Retrieved March 22, 2021, from http://www.cala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol13/SLR_StudyofSelf-Censorship_V13.pdf
Scholastic. (2016). School libraries work! A compendium of research supporting the effectiveness of school libraries. www.scholastic.com/slw2016
