ETL503 – A Hundred Ways to Learn

The Power of the Collection- Reflections

Laura Beaumont ETL503 June 3, 2023CDP, Collection Develpoment 0 Comment

My understandings of the role and nature of a school library collection have increased in complexity through research, discussion and practice in developing a collection. I have discussed the power of the collection in influencing the engagement and success of student learning (Beaumont, 2023, April 9) and have begun to understand the impact that the collection can have on teacher engagement and success. Through advocating, collaborating and support, the Teacher Librarian (TL) and the collection can have huge impacts on the quality of the entire educational experience (Libraries Tasmania, 2022). I had not considered this until commencing my work in the school library and had previously only considered the direct impacts a collection may have on students. I now understand that if the TL is the information and curriculum specialist, then a well-considered collection can support quality just-in-time learning, satisfying Ranganthan’s (1931) fourth law ‘save the time of the reader’ whilst also saving the time of the teacher. This means that the careful development and management of a collection can encourage increased engagement, by allowing users to find information as required (Opara, 2017).

Collections are developed to respond to the needs of its users, whilst also catering for potential future needs (Fieldhouse, 2011). I understood that collection development was mostly a set of processes or steps to follow (Beaumont, 2023, March 4). I now understand this is the collection management process. I had little consideration for the values-based policy that needed to exist in order to guide these processes. The why was missing from my understandings. I began to explore how the values must be firmly embedded into the library mission and subsequent Collection Development Policy (CDP) to guide all procedures, acquisitions, management, decision making and associated teaching and learning (Beaumont, 2023, April 9). The CDP sits at the heart of all decisions made in relation to all parts of the collection. The following statement from the IFLA School Library Guidelines 2^nd ed. (2015) highlights the importance of the Collection Development Policy in relation to school library collection development:

“A school library should be managed within a clearly structured policy framework that recognises the library as a core resource and centre for reading and inquiry. A school library policy should be devised bearing in mind the overarching policies and needs of the school and should reflect the ethos, mission, aims, and objectives, as well as the reality of the school (p 22-23).”

In advocating for the school library and the collection, it is essential that a strong CDP Policy exists and can be used as a tool in making strategic decisions benefiting teaching learning and wellbeing of staff and students.

A clear CDP will assist in futureproofing the library collection by incorporating statements on the community, the collection and selection aids. I have explored the ways in which collaboration between the TL, Teachers, students and the community is an important element in keeping the collection relevant to its users (Beaumont, 2023, March 12). In collaborating, rather than consulting, the resources selected for addition to the collection would be most appropriate to the learning that is taking place. The selection aids as stated in the CDP would then include a statement on user selection and the ways in which this offers student agency and teacher collaboration.

I have previously discussed the way in which information in the 21^st century is becoming an increasingly complex web of communication (Beaumont, 2023, May 13). I have explored how the collection must address this, ensuring easy access to clear, purposeful, relevant and authentic information. I can now see the selection criteria in the CDP can also be applied to digital information sources, assisting in the selection of appropriate online student resources. The CDP is an ever-evolving policy with school values and students at the core, assisting in the navigation of the information landscape of the 21^st century.

Fieldhouse, M. (2011). The process of collection management. In M. Fieldhouse & A. Marshall (Eds.), Collection Development in the Digital Age. (pp. 27-43). Facet Publishing.

IFLA. (2015, June). IFLA School Library Guidelines, 2nd revised ed. IFLA. https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

Libraries Tasmania (2022). Effective School Libraries. School Library Guidelines. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/school-library-guidelines/effective-school-libraries/

Opara, U. (2017). Empowering library users through the five laws of library science. Library Philosophy and Practice, 2017(1).

Ranganthan, S. (1931). The Library is a Growing Organism. The Five Laws of Library Science. Mandras: Mandras Library Association.

Selecting Resources through a Reggio Lens

Laura Beaumont ETL503 March 12, 2023March 12, 2023coconstruction, collection development, demand driven acquisition, Just in Time, purchase by request, Reggio Principles 0 Comment

“To make a lovable school, industrious, inventive, liveable, documentable and communicable, a place of research, learning, re-cognition and reflection, where children, teachers and families feel well – is our point of arrival.”
Loris Malaguzzi

In reflecting on the Reggio Children (2022) twelve principles of the Reggio Emilia Educational Project:

Children are active protagonists
Progettazione
The hundred languages
Organisation
Environment and spaces
Participation
Environment and spaces
Co-construction
Professional growth
Educational Research
Documentation
Evaluation

You can see that resource collection must be a collaboration between the Teacher Librarian, Classroom Teachers, learners and the wider community.

As a Teacher Librarian (TL), guided by the principles above, the relationship that exists between TL and teacher, TL and learner, learner and teacher and each with the wider school community must be reciprocal and collaborative. Observing children in their learning and play, being an active part of teacher research and planning and being the conduit between the school and greater community will ensure that resource selections are relevant and authentic to the learning that is taking place.

It is also important for the TL to know what is available in order to introduce teachers and learners to new provocations and ideas.

Child agency is extremely important. Children must be consulted as to the types of resources that would best support their learning and interests. They may even use this provocation as a basis for a project inquiry surrounding how resources are selected.

Just in time purchasing is a considerable proportion of the development of the collection with the TL making contributions based on the values and direction of the curriculum for the learners.

So how would this look in my setting:

Conversing with borrowers about their interests, inquiries and preferences.
Working with teaching teams to create bibliographical resources to support their student/class inquiry projects.
Planning collaboratively with all teaching teams.
Promoting the purchase by request service to teachers and students.
Including a ‘Suggest a book’ service in our space.
Ensuring that my knowledge is up to date, regarding new publications in order to suggest these to the community.
Observing the learners engaging with texts and researching how we can optimise their learning experience.
Constantly observing, questioning, reflecting and collaborating.
Ensuring the environment is organised in a way that the teachers and learners can easily see what resources we have, in order to uncover the possibilities of what we can acquire.

Reference:

Reggio Children. (2022) Values: Principles of the educational project. Reggio Emilia Approach. https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/valori-en/

Making the most of eBooks.

Laura Beaumont ETL503 March 11, 2023March 12, 2023 0 Comment

Our collection is made up of digital and hard copy resources. I’ll need to do a bit of digging, but I suspect that the digital resources are not getting the work-out that they ought to be! I thought I’d have a think about the benefits and challenges regarding eBooks in order to understand why and uncover ways to promote them further.

Benefits of eBooks:

eBooks are convenient. As long as you have your device you have a whole library at your fingertips, wherever you are.
Access to a greater range of material.
They take up no space for the user or the library.
eBooks are sustainable.
They can’t be damaged.
Digital resources can be edited or updated without having to be reproduced.
Borrowers don’t have to commit. If the text they have isn’t useful, they can instantly return and borrow another.

Challenges:

Access to eBooks could be inequitable depending on having access to a suitable device and internet connection. Some families do not have access to these things, so the learner is disadvantaged by their circumstances.
Using eBooks could be seen as increasing screen-time for children.
Is it a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for children borrowing ebooks? Do children need something physical (like a hardcopy book) to remind them to engage?
Digital devices present distractions that may take the reader away from the text.
Additional features of eBooks such as narration, animated illustrations, and complementary games take the focus away from reading the print. (de Jong & Bus, 2002)
eBooks can have an impact on the level of interaction an adult may have with the child when engaging with the text. (Korat & Or, 2010)

Questions to consider:

How many students/families are accessing our online resources?
How can we promote our eBook collection further?
What is our investment in eBooks, how does this work?
How do families feel about reading from screens?

I’ll have to do a bit of research in our school community to uncover the borrowing habits of the students and their understandings of our eLibrary. Hopefully we can encourage increased participation in using eBooks.

de Jong, M. T. & Bus, A. G. (2002). Quality of book-reading matters for emergent readers: An experiment with the same book in a regular or electronic format. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 145-155. http://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.94.1.145
Lowry, L. (2016). E-Book or Paper Book − What’s Best for Young Children? The Hanen Centre. E-Book or Paper Book − What’s Best for Young Children? http://www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/e-book-or-paper-book-whats-best-for-young-child.aspx
Korat, O. & Or, T. (2010). How new technology influences parent-child interaction: The case of e-book reading. First Language, 30(2), 139-154. http//doi.org/10.1177/0142723709359242

Where to start?

Laura Beaumont ETL503 March 4, 2023March 9, 2023Collection, Collection management and development, ETL503, needs, Organisation, Ranganthan 0 Comment

I’ve been reading about collection development and management and have considered the ‘Collection Development process’ See Oddone: School library collection development: It’s not as simple as you might think – Linking Learning

To begin in our large (some may call it intimidating!) collection in our Junior School, I will begin in the ‘Stocktaking and Evaluation’ phase. I have been a part of the school for 14 years, so feel I have a good understanding of our community which is why I think this phase is a good place to start. I’ll take a good look at what’s there already. We have an extremely large collection and I know we don’t utilise it all, but careful consideration needs to be made regarding the things that will support our learners best. I’ll consider:

Which titles and categories are most popular?
Which cohort is accessing these popular texts?
Are there any groups of students who aren’t well catered for?
Are there some categories that are overstocked and aren’t being utilised?
Are unpopular texts taking up valuable real estate?
Are there sections of the collection that aren’t being frequently borrowed and what may be the reason for this? Is it positioning, the condition or age of the books, or are they not appealing or relevant?

Once careful reflection has been made in the ‘Stocktaking and Evaluation’ phase, I’ll move into the weeding phase. As I already know that we have far too many physical books, I will ensure careful consideration is made and will consider weeding out titles that fit into the following categories:

Books that don’t support the needs and interests of the community.
Books that may not support our values or purpose.
Damaged books.
Books which aren’t being borrowed.

Next, I will move into analysing the needs of our community to see if this aligns with what we have and to ensure that new titles and resources will support the needs of the learning community. I will consider:

Are all members of our community represented in the collection?
Is the collection aligned with our values, learner attributes and pedagogy?
Are there opportunities to inspire creativity, provoke curiosity and inquiry and offer insights into different perspectives through rich contemporary texts and resources?
What are the passions, preferences and interests of the learners?

I will then collaborate with Year Level Teams and classroom teachers to ensure that we have the appropriate resources to support planned units of inquiry. Considerations of classroom learning, extension and enrichment, learning support, cultural perspectives and wellbeing will all be made to ensure the collection best caters to the needs of all.

Acquisition, cataloguing and processing will all follow.

Something further to consider is how the physical space is laid out. I’ll need to ensure that the location of books and resources according to need is considered. Can the teacher or learner quickly and easily access what they need whilst also ensuring the space is enticing and inspiring to those who wish to browse and find something new?

There is so much more to collection development and management than I ever thought. According to Ranganthan, the fifth law of library science is “A library is a growing organism.” I’m wondering if this growth is transformative or ever expanding, and if it is the latter, then how many books is too many?

I’ll leave you with this quote, which sums up my thoughts beautifully.

“We need to think of the school as a living organism. Children have to feel that the world is inside the school and moves and thinks and works and reflects on everything that goes on.

Of course not all children are the same — each child brings a part of something that’s different into the school.”

Loris Malaguzzi

Malaguzzi, L. (1994) Your Image of the Child. Where Teaching Begins in Child Care Information Exchange 3/94 Translated by Baji Rankin, Leslie Morrow and Lella Gandini, Child Care Information Exchange U.S.A.
Accessed from: https://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/malaguzzi:ccie:1994.pdf