Consultation is the theme which has continually emerged for me as I have worked through the course material for ETL503, and an early takeaway was how essential the role of advocate is for the teacher librarian (TL) to undertake (Whisson, 2025a, para. 5). The library needs to be useful and used, and if it is not, and its value is not communicated and understood, getting the support and funds it needs is tough. During the 21st century so far, the way we consume information has shifted overwhelmingly online, but I was amazed to read in the 2024 Australian School Library Report that 60% of school libraries surveyed overall do not include eBooks or e-audiobooks, or subscription databases in their collections. It is difficult to imagine how these libraries can remain relevant without a significant shift. The top reasons given by respondents were budget, followed by a lack of interest from students and school leadership, then a lack of understanding about how these resources work.
In considering how a TL might build a case for investing in developing the collection, I planned for consultation:
Whisson, 2025b
This process includes early consultation with both staff and students (including input measures such as feedback, collection mapping, and gap analysis), and adds patron driven acquisition to the selection process. Output measures such as circulation data to measure collection use only give one side of the collection story. Combining these with input measures provides a more complete picture. The process ends with promotion of the collection to the school community so they understand how to use it and how it will benefit them. I believe this allows for the possibility of truly transformative collection development where teachers and students experience ownership of it (Whisson, 2025c; Charles Sturt University, 2025).
Consultation also came into play for the process of responding to challenges I referenced in Assessment 2. A real-life challenge by a parent led to a primary school library in Brisbane undertaking a review of its collection to remove harmful material relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Klimm & Robertson, 2007). The review involved a lengthy collaborative process between the TL and parent. I was able to find the list of titles removed and questioned one of them. This provided me the opportunity to apply the AITSIS Guide to evaluating and selecting education resources (2022) to a resource, along with my own selection criteria. This led to wider reading around the issue of censorship and the decolonisation of collections as I completed my review, which can be read here: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2025/05/25/to-deselect-or-not-to-deselect-removing-harmful-material-from-the-collection/ (Whisson, 2025d).
I believe I am now in a much better position to undertake a review of this nature and seek appropriate guidance to do so.
The use of data, such as output measures combined with consultative input measures interests me greatly and I see this as a potential topic for ETL567 Research in Practice. Effectively combined with research demonstrating the correlation between a well-funded library and student outcomes (Hughes, 2014) a powerful case can be built for adequately funding a school library collection. Wider reading also highlighted collaboration as a strategy for combining budgets to achieve shared collection and curriculum ends (Lamb, 2012, para. 18, 19)
With consultation, outreach and promotion of the collection becoming areas of increasing interest for me, I am looking for ways to engage with these concepts. I currently work in a council library and am I about to start work in an outreach programme bringing teens into the library one night a month after closing to socialise, play games and explore the collection. My next bit of reading, before study starts again next period will be research by Pandora and Hayman (2013) on school and public library collaborations, and I am excited to explore this in practice. I hadn’t really considered it, having been out of the classroom for more than 15 years, but I may end up back in a school once again!
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. (2022). AIATSIS Guide to evaluating and selecting education resources. https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/research_pub/AIATSIS%20Guide%20to%20evaluating%20and%20selecting%20education%20resources.pdf
Charles Sturt University. (2025). Policy and procedures [Topic 6.1]. ETL503, Brightspace.
Hughes, H., Bozorgian, H., & Allen, C. (2014). School Libraries, Teacher-Librarians and Student Outcomes: Presenting and Using the Evidence. School Libraries Worldwide, 20(1), 29–50. https://doi.org/10.29173/slw6869
Klimm, K., & Roberston, D. (2007). How an old book created a commitment to better represent First Nations Australians. Scis Connections(117), 4-5. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-117/how-an-old-book-created-a-commitment-to-better-represent-first-nations-australians/
Lamb, A. & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist. http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html.
Pandora, C., & Hayman, S. (2013). Better serving teens through school library-public library collaborations (1st ed.). Libraries Unlimited. https://doi.org/10.5040/9798400617751
Softlink Education. (2024). 2024 Australian School Library Report. https://www.softlinkint.com/resources/reports-and-whitepapers/
Whisson, A. (2025a, March 8). The evolving information landscape and school library collections. Learner Librarian at Large. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2025/03/08/the-evolving-information-landscape-and-school-library-collections/
Whisson, A. (2025b, March 22). Engaging learners in school library resource selection ETL 503 Module 2.1 Reflection. Learner Librarian at Large. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2025/03/22/engaging-learners-in-school-library-resource-selection-etl-503-module-2-1-reflection/
Whisson, A. (2025c, June 13). I completely agree, and as a bit of a data nerd, [Comment on “Output measures”. Forum: Module 5.1 Discussions: Using output measures as tools for purchasing. https://learn.csu.edu.au/d2l/le/50305/discussions/threads/128364/View
Whisson, A. (2025d, May 25). To deselect, or not to deselect – removing harmful material from the collection. Learner Librarian at Large. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/arew/2025/05/25/to-deselect-or-not-to-deselect-removing-harmful-material-from-the-collection/