My undergraduate major was in policy studies, so critiquing and making recommendations about revisions to existing policies is a process near and dear to my particular (some would say pedantic) heart. Starting right from the beginning, and writing the policies from scratch, though a totally different kettle of fish, is an equally invigorating challenge.

Braxton (2014) appears to recommend a catch-all approach to developing a collection management policy. Covering everything in the one document, she seems to suggest, is the best way to ensure all contingencies are prepared for. However, this is problematic; the audience for such a policy in a school community is likely to include various parties for whom reading a document of such considerable length is a time-consuming (or impossible) task. This has two key potential pitfalls – readers may skim read and miss particularly salient points (raising the likelihood of misunderstandings further down the line), or they may be deterred from reading it altogether.

In my experience, which lies mostly in educational policy development in state schools and private organisations, writing a policy that is succinct and judicious in its wording can be just as effective and cover as much content as one that is lengthy. Splitting them into separate documents so it is easier to find the relevant information without having to scroll through pages of text is also far more user friendly.

These seem like basic tenets of good writing, but so often they are overlooked.

I think my take-away from this in the context of teacher librarianship is that it is best practice to absorb upon entry what a school already has as its policy documentation, and to live it for a period of time – even if it is not how you would have structured it at first. What feedback do stakeholders give about it? What do the circulation statistics/communication from stakeholders say about it? Record this data and, when the policy is due for review, utilise it to make suggestions accordingly. Sometimes, it is better to start from scratch at this point in the process – especially if it has been a number of years since the policy’s implementation.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. It is, two millenia later, still an evolving landscape. Library-based policy development is the same.

References
Braxton, B. (2016). Sample collection policy. http://500hats.edublogs.org/policies/sample-collection-policy/