collection development

Are reference sections going extinct?

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School library reference sections seem to be getting smaller and smaller (at least in my experience). What I remember as a small room filled with books not to leave the library when I was in high school turned into a large shelf of books when I became a teacher and is now less than one shelf housing what look like texts that are being kept for nostalgia rather than usefulness.

Most resources can be found in a digital format and most students will go straight to Google when looking for information. We have noticed in our school library that the only time students show an interest in the print reference collection is when they need to bring a dictionary into an exam. Farmer (2014) brings up some interesting points around whether or not digital reference materials are better than print.

COST

Budgets are always tight in school libraries. This means that the choice to move to digital reference materials needs to be carefully considered. Online reference materials tend to come with a yearly subscription cost and may also require a setup fee. Although the resource itself may be amazing with hyperlinks, internal search engines, multimedia features, and constant updates to the information if it leaves little to no room for other spending, it will not be worth it.

 

VALUE-ADDING

It is also really important to consider which digital resources will work for your school. A resource that simply replicates the print text is not a useful tool to invest in.

It may be better to invest teaching time into supporting digital literacy in teachers and students so that they are better able to use what is freely available to them through public library systems or for all.

 

MAKE BEST USE OF WHAT YOU HAVE

Every library has different needs and different capacities to bring in digital content. Work out what your students want. Look at what you have. Fill knowledge gaps through education and continue to reflect, not be too precious about the ideas that have not worked out and keep updating to support the needs of your specific community of users.

Reference

Farmer, L.S.J. (2012). Introduction to reference and information services in today’s school library. Rowman & Littlefield.

 

The bright future of children’s literature

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What do we want? Young people who are passionate and independent readers!

When do we want it? Always and forever!

How can we achieve it?

STUDENT VOICE

Image by klimkin from Pixabay

A conversation must exist between the students and those who are providing books (in this case I’m referring to the school library). Opportunities to try not only a range of genres but a range of formats allows students to develop preferences. When this is coupled with an honest and open dialogue about the different formats, libraries can make informed choices about what students will access and respond to positively.

DIVERSITY

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Although there continues to be a lack of diversity in children’s books, there is an increasing push for books that represent a wider range of cultures and experiences (Short, 2018). Students are unlikely to engage with books if their every experience centres on characters that do not represent their own selves.

Libraries (and educators) need to ensure that they provide contemporary titles that represent a wide range of cultures, gender identities, and abilities. This will allow all students to find a book that they can connect with and will also expose students to a world that they are perhaps not familiar with to develop empathy and inclusion.

CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH DISCUSSION

Image by Miranda Bleijenberg from Pixabay

As is highlighted in Wolf (2014), the discussion around the interpretation of texts needs to evolve to ensure that young people are developing the skills needed to unpack the added layers of visual and auditory elements to a narrative in order to fully and critically consider the author’s/illustrator’s purpose. To be able to do this, educators need to have experience with a range of text formats so that they are able to support the development of metalanguage and direct discussion to the ways in which these elements add to or alter the written word.

Young people are immersed in a visual culture with an emphasis on immediacy so the need for the ability to critically interpret and evaluate the information coming at them is vital (Duncam, 2002).

VISUAL LITERACY

Image by PixelAnarchy from Pixabay

Firstly, educators and librarians need to have experience reading, interpreting and discussing a range of illustrated books, graphic novels, visual narratives, and multimodal reading experiences. Through this, they will be able to develop their own knowledge of what these different styles of story-telling bring to a tale and then work with students to help them to also understand the ways that visuals can affect a narrative.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EDUCATORS

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I often come across educators who bemoan the way that students always seem to be one step ahead in terms of technological advancement and use this as an excuse to maintain a status quo in their practice. This is simply not good enough. It is the responsibility of educators to ensure that they are aware of the ways that students are interacting with their world so that they can support the development of skills that will allow them to successfully navigate and use these the tools available to them.

References:

Duncam, P. (2002). Visual culture art education. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 21, 15-23.

Short, K.G. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.

Wolf, S.A. (2014). Children’s literature on the digital move. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 413-417.

Developing my understanding (Assessment 2- Part B)

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What an eye-opener this subject has been! I remember approaching my own school library to ‘check out’ (pun intended) our Collection Development Policy (CDP) only to find myself caught up in an argument that had been running for many years around who is responsible for such a document.

Mother and daughter having an argument

 

 

“Mother and daughter having an argument” by Tambako the Jaguar is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

 

This policy does not currently exist for my school and this answered a few questions for me around how our library is used and viewed by both students and teachers (Kempinger, 2019a). Without a clear CDP, how does the school community understand the reason for the collection’s existence and the principles that govern it (Australian Library and Information Association, 2017)?

I’m going to unpack this through personal examples based on the following aspects of a CDP (this is not a full list):

  • The nature of the users & Collection evaluation
  • Selection criteria
  • Development of the digital collection
  • Acquisitions
  • De-selection

The nature of the users/Collection evaluation

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2944064">Gerd Altmann</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2944064">Pixabay</a>
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

My school is diverse (Kempinger, 2019b) and this needs to be at the centre of a CDP. We have a large number of international and EAL (English as an additional language) students who need to be catered for. I don’t often see these students in the library and suspect it is because there is little in there to tempt them. Our students come from a broad range of circumstances and their reading levels and engagement range from little ability and no engagement, through to voracious readers who can comprehend complex texts and think critically about them. All students need to be able to access both content and entertainment and this can be assured by acknowledging their diversity within the CDP (Morrisey, 2008).

Selection criteria

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Image by TeroVesalainen from Pixabay

Having a CDP with clearly defined selection criteria means that there is a rational process in place that supports the priorities of the school (Debowski, 2001). Having spent years in large staff rooms, I have heard many complaints about various aspects of school policy. What I had failed to realise was that I was also hearing complaints and concerns about the lack of a CDP! Some examples include:

  • “Why does English always get what they want?”
  • “I took my class to the library for research only to find that the topic we are studying only has one resource on the shelves!”
  • “My low literacy kids have no resources they can understand.”
  • “One of the books a student borrowed from the library is set out in such a confusing way that it took me and two aides ten minutes to interpret one page!”

If the Teacher Librarian (TL) works together with administration and staff to create a CDP, it will be based on the curriculum, as well as the needs and interests of the school community (IFLA, 2015).

Development of the digital collection

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/StartupStockPhotos-690514/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=849822">StartupStockPhotos</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=849822">Pixabay</a>
Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Perhaps because of the lack of a CDP, my school has no centralised digital resource plan despite the fact that technology is constantly changing the way people view, use and create knowledge (Newsum, 2018). Although our school does use a range of digital resources, only those who use them seem to be aware of them and they are not always managed through the library.

  • Edrolo (used by senior teachers in a range of subject areas and managed by the curriculum leader with no input from the library)
  • Reading List (managed by Head of English)
  • World Digital Replica (managed through the library- trialed in 2019, staff surveyed and opted to keep it in 2020 but was not budgeted for and is therefore possibly unavailable for this year)
  • E-books- this is an area that I am keen to explore (Kempinger, 2019c) (none available currently through the school apart from a link to Project Gutenberg on the library website)
  • Useful websites for teachers and students are sometimes embedded in curriculum documentation or shared with students via Compass
  • Databases (there are links to the A-Z government services (broken), Reuters, Vic law handbook (broken), and the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the library website)

A consistent approach is clearly needed to ensure that all resources are managed and assessed against the same criteria that are underpinned by the priorities and goals of the school (IFLA, 2012). A centralised approach would also make searching for specific resources manageable (Newsum, 2018).

Acquisitions

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/qimono-1962238/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1872634">Arek Socha</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1872634">Pixabay</a>
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

While it can be important to have more than one person involved in acquisitions, to avoid self-censorship and conflict of interest (Morrisey, 2008), the acquisition process needs to be clearly outlined within a CDP so that there is a procedure to follow. Our library is experiencing tensions at the moment due to a lack of this exact process. There are two staff members (one TL and one Library Administration Assistant) who both have budgets and acquisitions in their job descriptions but no CDP to help them differentiate roles within the process. This has resulted in duplicate and unnecessary purchases, running out of funds and a general sense of frustration. School administration has been working with these staff members to try to come up with a solution without realising that a CDP is what is needed.

De-selection

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Image by Pusteblume0815 from Pixabay

Towards the end of 2019, our library re-located into a new building with much less shelf space. De-selection (or weeding) was one of the biggest challenges; again because there is no defined criteria or process. The library staff did not want to weed an entire collection so they asked teachers to come in and make decisions. What one teacher was keen to remove, another felt a personal connection with. Multiple copies of the one text were kept because teachers could not agree on which was the best cover art. Books on topics that have not been in the curriculum for decades were kept ‘just in case’. A CDP that helps staff to understand that schools are not archives would make this process manageable (Vnuk, 2015).

So, I know what my priority will be when I return to school in a couple of days. Use the ‘watch and wait’  (Kempinger, 2020) approach I was planning to use, but fill this time by developing a CDP that fits my school community and is supported by reputable literature. Bringing this to school administration and the library staff will help to start the journey to resolve some of the current issues while providing a framework for all current and future staff to work with.

References:
Australian Library and Information Association. (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres: 2nd edition. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/ALIA%20Schools%20policies%20and%20procedures%20manual_FINAL.pdf

Debowski, S, (2001). Collection program funding management. In K. Dillion, J. Henri & J McGregor (Eds.). Providing more with less: Collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.) (pp. 299-326). Retrieved from https://doms.csu.edu.au/csu/file/b9feaf8b-3c64-48cf-a5f2-ba87f023bc47/1/debowski-s.pdf

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions School Libraries Section Standing Committee. (2015).  IFLA school library guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

Kempinger, N. (2019, December 11). Experiments [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kempinger/2019/12/11/42/

Kempinger, N. (2019, December 11). If you build it, they will come… [Blog post]. Retrieved from      https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/kempinger/2019/12/11/if-you-build-it-they-will-come/

Kempimger, N. (2019). Online access. Forum 1.2. ETL503 discussion forums. CSU. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_38050_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_74553_1&forum_id=_169572_1&message_id=_2591881_1

Kempinger, N. (2020). Online access. Forum 5.1. ETL503 discussion forums. CSU. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_38050_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_74553_1&forum_id=_169584_1&message_id=_2651290_1

Morrisey, L.J. (2008). Ethical issues in collection development. Journal of Library Administration, 47(3-4), 163-171. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=ffee0665-df74-4983-a7b2-cef657e22648%40sessionmgr4007

Newsum, J. M. (2016). School collection development and resource management in digitally rich environments: An initial literature review. School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 97–109. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=d05f4a6d-22d2-4b37-a361-9525d45d97ad%40pdc-v-sessmgr04

Vnuk, R. (2015). The Weeding Handbook: A shelf-by-shelf guide [Chicago, ALA Editions]. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzEwMDQ5MTNfX0FO0?sid=eb279be8-2cf1-42cb-a593-504552c4da27@sessionmgr101&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1

Experiments

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After reading chapter 7 of Developing Collections to Empower Learners by Sue C. Kimmel (2014), I started thinking about ways of bringing ebooks into my school library.

We have a BYOD program that runs reasonably successfully and many students choose to purchase textbooks in an electronic format, so I know that there are some students who prefer to access their reading materials via a screen. I have also come across many students who enjoy reading fiction online.

While introducing some form of ebook lending system would take more research and support from above, the idea of pre-loaded e-readers sparked my interest and I intend to investigate this possibility. I am particularly interested in having genre-specific e-readers that are pre-loaded with a range of titles from a range of reading levels. We have so many students who want to read within a series or genre and students are used to a ‘Netflix’ menu of possibilities, so why not try bringing the two together?

While there will be problems (it is not going to possible for the e-readers to go home with the students), I believe that the information we can potentially gather about the reading habits of our students and the likelihood of their accessing ebooks over paper makes the experiment worthwhile.

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1687658