It’s an age old question. I’ve bought the outfit. Will I buy the shoes and belt to match?  The keen fashionista may observe that an outfit isn’t complete without matching accessories, and that such a question is anathema and worthy of a stern, quizzical brow.

Whilst the stakes may be different, libraries are faced with a similar issue. Rather than shoes and belts, school libraries are constantly asking whether their collections match the context of their patrons. School libraries, particularly, bear a heavy responsibility to curate a collection that suits not only the specific context of the institution, but one that supports teaching and learning of the curriculum. When school library collections don’t meet this need, then the quizzical brow comes from both teachers and students as the library becomes nothing more than a blip: like Lady Gaga on a list of this week’s worst dressed celebrities.

However, unlike Lady Gaga, libraries are concerned about where the money is coming from. Lamb and Johnson (2012) suggest that finances are a significant consideration for any learning community. They challenge teacher librarians to approach their collection development as collaborators, stewards and thinkers. That is, fiscally minded leaders who take into consideration the needs and views of a range of stakeholders as they thoughtfully use the financial resources they have to develop a balanced and useful collection. School library budgets vary from “the smell of an oily rag” to Abba’s “Money, Money, Money” on repeat.

So, is budget the only measure that can be used to judge the worth of a school library? Lady Gaga spending $100,000 on a dress made of steak certainly made a statement, but did it translate to a useful and worthwhile fashion solution? A library might have shelves full of books. Does this mean it’s serving the needs of the teaching and learning community? When 61% of respondents to the Softlink APAC School Library Report (2019) suggest that their school library is under resourced in terms of budget or staffing, or that 81% of respondents stated that their budgets had either remained the same or decreased from the previous year, then other measures to judge the worth of a collection are needed.

Establishing reliable output measures is a good place to start. A number of questions can be asked to help engage with this alternative paradigm:

1. How often are resources being borrowed?
2. Is the collection relevant to teachers and students?
3. Does the way the collection is presented make it easy for teacher and students to access the curriculum?
4. Do different stakeholders know how to find information across the different resource types contained in the collection?

A balance between quantitative and qualitative data generally provides a substantial picture of how a collection is being used. This, in turn, informs decision-making about future purchases and budget allocations. There’s little point spending money on resources that aren’t being used. It is important to make sure we are collaborating with students and staff to ensure they are actually aware of what resources the library has, and how to use them before we throw the baby out with the bath water.

Particularly with digital resources such as databases.

Taking stock of what key stakeholders understand about, and how often they access, the current collection is a robust output measure to judge the quality of the collection, and how well the library is communicating the depth and scope of current resources.

Lamb and Johnson’s notion of collaborator, steward, and thinker is fundamental to how librarians can develop a collection that is judged not on how big and expensive it is, but on how it meets the needs of the people using it.

An expensive meat dress is all well and good for saying, “Here I am, look at me”. I’d like to see how it holds up after a run through the laundry.

(Module 3 – Accession and Acquisition – Forum post 3.1)

References:

Lamb, A. & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist.  http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html

Smith’s Garden Town (2021) The Age Old Question [Image] https://smithsgardentown.com/age-old-question/

Softlink. (2019). 2019 Australian and New Zealand school library survey.  https://www.softlinkint.com/downloads/2019_Softlink_Australian_and_New_Zealand_School_Library_Survey_Report.pdf