This subject has provided me with a lot to think about – especially how I can apply what I am learning and understanding to my practice. Knowing that ‘it is the responsibility of the teacher librarian to develop a balanced collection’ is a good starting point (O’Keefe, 2019). I have a much deeper awareness about the selection process – should the library be looking at digital rather than physical to move us into the 21st Century? Fiction v nonfiction is another area which ‘necessitates decision and thought ‘, (Zwar, 2019) and has motivated me to review this part of the KHS collection. Important to remember that the reading achievements of students is underpinned by “appropriate fiction and nonfiction resources’ (blogme) and that the love of reading (another TL role and responsibility) is “positively associated with success and learning “. I am certainly more aware of matching resources to specific need and how important it is to have resources that underpin teaching and learning and I agree with Mary Rule (2019) that “The TL has a role in locating and suggesting resources for a unit of work”.
I have been thinking about how I can measure and evaluate the school collection to demonstrate value for money and advocate for a reasonable budget. The budget is important and key to the collection’s maintenance and has to be negotiated and managed carefully “A realistic budget is required to enable school library programs and services to adequately and equitably serve the whole school,” (ALIA, 2017).
This subject has alerted me to the importance of having a school library collection development policy (CDP); from an organisational viewpoint (public assets need to be managed to maintain their value) and because the CDP represents and reflects the school vision and makes a clear policy statement regarding the provision of, and access to a diverse range of resources in various formats, (ALIA, 2017). I really understand the importance of having a selection criteria policy and appreciated the clarity of a flowchart displaying the decision process, (O’Keefe, 2019) Collaborating with a committee or members of the school community ensures the ‘appropriateness’ as well as a balanced collection that adheres to the criteria for physical and digital resources, (O’Keefe, 2019). Resourcing the curriculum is an important part of the selection process and one possible way to make sure resources are accurate and relevant is to ‘gather all the scope and sequences’, (Murray, 2019).
I understand how the CDP has to be focused on KHS and I am more confident to write a CDP for the school. I feel that writing the policy reaffirms my focus on being a TL: supporting teaching and learning, providing access to diverse resources in a variety of formats and focuses on encouraging the love of reading. These elements are echoed in McIlvenny’s (2018) presentation that sees libraries as a centre of knowledge creation and TLs as instructional leaders in “achieving best practice in learning’.
Figueroa (2018) identifies various components in a ‘Future Ready Librarians Framework’, that requires acknowledging trends and changes that align with your library’s priorities. He sees the importance of aligning future programs and services with the collections’ purpose and values. Changing technologies will play a large part in the future and I see the need to constantly update my skills in this area in order to be able to be a leader and teacher of change within the school. Many commentators discuss the importance of individualised learning in the future and Duvall (2018) suggests the ‘decentralized library’ providing library activities wherever they are needed to suit the diverse needs of students who are the ‘now’ generation. This is an idea that could work very well in my current school. I am really interested in her idea of a pop up library as part of ‘fresh outreach perspectives’ that includes’ roving reference’ and ‘serendipitous encounters’ that continues to connect students to relevant resources, (Duvall, 2018). E-books can provide access on a 24/7 basis and a ‘pedagogical innovation’ (O’Connell, Bales & Mitchell, 2015) and this is another area that I need to investigate. The KHS collection has subscribed to a provider of e-books for fiction only as faculty attitudes to non-fiction e-books has not been enthusiastic due to cost and prior investment made in physical resources which were needed when the curriculum changed.
I think the future will require a TL to keep abreast of an ever changing world and its effect on a school collection so that collaboration with faculties will be even more important to ensure that resources are aligned with the curriculum and are accessible to students when and where they need them.
References
Australian Library and Information Association. (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/ALIA%20Schools%20policies%20and%20procedures%20manual_FINAL.pdf
Beene, S., Jackson, A.S., Kostelecky, S. & Quinn, T. (2019). Reach Out! Highlighting Collections and Expanding Outreach to Non-Traditional Communities across Academia. The Reference Librarian, 60(1), 29-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2018.1547891
Duvall, S. (2018). The future of school libraries. Knowledge Quest. 46 (4), 6-7.
Figueroa, M. (2018). Futuring for future ready librarians. Knowledge Quest. 46(4), 14-17.
McIlvenny, L. (2018). Future focused library master. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/LeonieMcIlvenny/future-focused-library-master
Murray, I. (2019, April 6). Collaborative resource selection. [Online discussion comment]. Retrieved from Charles Sturt University website: https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_42383_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_78886_1&forum_id=_147532_1&message_id=_2225735_1
O’Connell, J., Bales, J., & Mitchell, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. The Australian Library Journal, (64)3, 194-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043
O’Keefe, A. (2019, March 12). Definition of collection management or development. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/aok1/
Rule, M. (2019, April 27). ETL503: Budget and collection management. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/missrule/
Zwar, T (2019, April 25). The school library collection: some thoughts. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/adivergentpath/