Probably the most well known and yet misunderstood aspect of the role of the teacher librarian is deselection. We’ve all been asked, “You’re throwing out books?” in a horrified tone by well meaning teachers and parents. My favourite response at the moment is, “Yes. Do you want it?” Invariably the answer is in the negative. I work in a school library, not a museum or archive. Shelf space is at a premium and it is the job of the teacher librarian to ensure that only quality, relevant material is taking up the valuable shelf real estate. Resources that are covered in 3 feet of dust but otherwise pristine are not being used. This prompts an investigation: why are they not being used? Are they poor quality? Irrelevant? Difficult to find? Unattractive? Teacher librarians are then faced with three choices: promote it, weed it or change the location (move, clean/tidy around it, decorate it to draw attention). A stocktake is a good opportunity to discover resources in this position. When looking at, scanning and cleaning every book, teacher librarians can take the opportunity to remove any resources that no longer meet the teaching and learning needs of the school community. It takes a certain amount of bravery to weed a large collection especially if it has not been done for a long time. My library has designated a “shelf of shame” in the library office to help deal with this situation with humour and provide a little education for teachers and parents who ask the questions I mentioned at the beginning of this post. It is stocked with recently weeded gems that demonstrate clearly why this is needed. One look through and people have a good laugh and understand.

In module 2 we learn that collection development involves:

• an assessment of community needs
• an assessment of how well the current collection meets those needs
• development or revision of selection criteria
• identification of resources that will improve the way community needs are met
• selection of the best and most relevant of those resources for purchase
• acquisition of selected resources
• processing of resources to make them shelf ready
• circulation
• deselection of resources that no longer meet the needs of the school community.

We are pointed to the work of Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005), Johnson (2009) and Kimmel (2014).

We learn that teacher librarians use selection aids to assist in identifying resources to meet needs. Many are listed in section 2.4 of the module. Care must be taken to ensure reviews relied upon are objective, accurate and contain information about the resource such as the intended audience, reading level required, themes and potentially controversial elements (eg language, complex themes). The section of the module that deals with censorship encourages trainee teacher librarians not to self-censor controversial materials, but, in the interests of developing a balanced and diverse collection, be aware of themes or elements of resources that may be potentially offensive and make the deliberate choice of whether or not to include them. Not all selection aids will include this information.

The specific selection criteria used will be determined in response to the individual needs of the school community it serves (Keeling, 2019). Module 2.5 provides a sample selection criteria from Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005). These general criteria must be revised and customised for the individual circumstances. Once written into the Collection Development Policy for the school library, selection criteria must be regularly reviewed to ensure they remain relevant to ever-changing educational contexts.

References

Hughes-Hassell, S. & Mancall, J. (2005). Collection management for youth: responding to the needs of learners. Chicago: ALA Editions.

Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of collection development and management [American Library Association version].

Keeling, M. (2019). What’s new in collection development? Knowledge Quest, 48(2), 4-5. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/2311879567?accountid=10344

Kimmel, S.C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. [American Library Association version].