Definitions of Collection Management and Collection Development
Reviewing the readings in module 1 I was left with the belief that both collection development and collection management involve interconnected and interdependent activities and to attempt to distinguish between the two is meaningless.
The NSW Department of Education (2015) Handbook for School Libraries does not separate the terms development and management but instead looks at the process of curating the school library’s resources (collection) under the heading ‘Provision and management of resources’. The key elements noted encapsulate both the process element of collection development as well as the collection management of these resources. So we see selection, acquisition and organisation of current (up to date) materials to support the school’s teaching and learning, listed alongside the need for collection policy development and system management to ensure access and availability. The suggestion here is that presenting collection development and management under the same heading quite simply recognises that they are of equal importance when it comes to providing the most relevant, physical and digital collection to meet the needs (teaching, learning, social and recreational) of the school community. More importantly this document identifies that a school library must develop and manage it’s resources (p.2) in order to fulfil it’s purpose of providing quality teaching and learning opportunities.
However, it has been argued by Johnson (2009) that collection management is an overarching term to include all aspects of the collection process and decision making. Corrall (2018) seconds this distinction between the two in that she identifies collection development as involving the mechanics of collection creation (selection, acquisition and deselection), whereas management “is seen as a broader term” (p.5) to include the manipulation and dissemination of the resources.
It is interesting to note the emphasis placed on teaching and learning when discussing the school library and it’s collection. Kimmel (2014, p.46) argues that school libraries must take into account the needs of the users when managing the availability of resources to “provide spaces for all of these kinds of creative work, ranging from quiet, solitary reading to collaborative group work, to the active creation of individual and group products”. Much the same the DOE (2015) sees the importance in creating flexible environments that “provides variety according to class, group or individual needs, supporting Quality Teaching” (p.3). This suggests that a school library’s collection is much more than a shelf of carefully selected books or a variety of ebooks to choose from, much more than “efficient library systems” (DOE, 2015, p.3), it is perhaps the development and management of the library as an experience that Teacher Librarians must look to curate to meet the needs of the users.
I am left considering not just the idea of attempting to distinguish between development or management but to consider the many important collection decisions a Teacher librarian must make – with a solid Collection Policy in place to drive these decisions. The Teacher Librarian is looking to the library users, the teachers and students, collaborating where necessary, to provide a physical and digital collection curated within a carefully considered environment to engage, inform, entertain and support. The starting point is the school and its dynamics, who teaches and who learns there, what are their needs? Taking into account the school and its vision each year (outlined in the school plan), scope and sequences and programs available for each stage allows a Teacher librarian to consider the collection, how to develop it, what it will look like and how it will evolve throughout the school year.
References
Corrall, S. (2018). The concept of collection development in the digital world. In M. Fieldhouse & A. Marshall
(Eds.), Collection development in the digital Age (1st ed., pp. 3–24). https://doi.org/10.290/9781856048972.003
Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of collection development and management [ALA Editions version]. (Vol. 2nd ed). Chicago: ALA Editions.
Kimmel, S.C. (2014) Developing collections to empower learners, American Library Association, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1687658.
NSW Department of Education. (2015). Handbook for School Libraries. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/media/documents/schoollibrarieshandbook2015.pdf