It is not the TLs job alone to select resources for the school library. When it comes to classroom and support teacher’s being involved, yes they have the right and the responsibility according to teaching standard 3.4 but do they have the time and the inclination?
The TL should take on more of the burden because they have the time to develop the expertise required to fulfill the role of selecting resources successfully. However, one person choosing for many, then has the added burden of introducing the new resources to the staff so that they actually get used. Isn’t that the criteria for successful selecting? High use of the resource?
In light of this, I would definitely seek to include teachers in the choosing of books and resources for both teacher/classroom use and student use. Choice should lead to greater engagement with the material and greater use. There are far too many books gathering dust in the teacher resource section of the school library I currently work in. I would seek a committee with one teacher from each stage and at least one executive staff member to help with budgeting approval and to ensure choices support the School Improvement Plan.
The TL, with their expertise, could still be expected to shoulder a larger portion of the selecting burden by staying on top of new releases and by shortlisting possible resources. In this way they could also enlist the input of students and even parents. Create a shortlist and then ask for their feedback, their vote. I have also successfully tried the student wishlist – my own version of patron driven acquisition (PDA). But I would love to extend this PDA to parents in an effort to encourage more parents to read aloud to their children.
Ultimately, those in charge of the budget will always have the final say with the wish list always being larger than the budget. In this situation it is important that any participants in the selecting of library resources are also involved in setting and prioritising goals for the library collection. And as the TL in this equation, I am interested in learning how to be more creative with spending – 2nd hand books, collective bargaining and have any TLs or community librarians every tried a buy/swap/sell group!?
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