At the beginning of this subject, ‘Resourcing the Curriculum,’ I was unsure what the subject content entailed. It has been challenging because I have never worked within a school context. Consequently, I never used the Australian Curriculum or any other curriculum relating to children’s formal learning. Therefore, I hadn’t anticipated how comprehensive the process of resourcing the curriculum could be.
As I complete my first session in this degree, I reflect upon how my perceptions of the role have changed from a few months ago. Referring to my first Thinkspace blog post for subject ETL 401, ‘Little Did I Know.’ (Gonye, 2022, March 20) I hadn’t considered the three specific aspects of the Teacher Librarian’s role according to the Australian School Library Association (ASLA):
- As a curriculum leader.
- As an information specialist.
- As an information manager.
This subject explored in detail many facets of the ‘curriculum leader’. As the Teacher Librarian is a qualified professional who supports the delivery of the curriculum. The Teacher Librarian is not the ‘custodian’ of the books and all knowledge housed within the library. The Teacher Librarian is responsible for curating a collection beyond printed books and journals and includes up-to-date digital materials such as eBooks, movies, websites, apps, music, and other resources accessible on the school network.
Referring to my blog entry titled, ‘My First Annotated Resource List’ (Gonye, 2022, April 26) I was able to research and compile a selection of ten resources relating directly to the Cross Curriculum Priority of Sustainability. The practical application of this first assessment gave me some insight into the depth and breadth of a school library collection.
As with the Annotated Bibliography for Assessment One, the school library collection as a whole needs to be presented as a balanced collection, this is achieved by reviewing the school’s context and acknowledging the needs of the learners in collaboration with other teachers to meet curriculum outcomes successfully.
Building and maintaining a balanced collection is not the same for each school. A one size fits all approach does not apply. The school philosophy, governing curriculum, teaching requirements and students’ learning needs must be considered.
As I read through the entries for Forum 6.1, ‘Editing a Collection Development Policy,’ (CDP), I was surprised to find that many students who worked in a school library could not locate or did not have a written CDP. Cassandra Wall (2022, May 5) pointed out that the obligations, expectations and responsibilities of the Teacher Librarian and the transparency of the library should be documented. Wall was preparing to draft a CDP in collaboration with the school principal and previous Teacher Librarian. Shauna Pollard (2022, May 6) also commented on the lack of CDP but has taken the opportunity to draft and develop a policy that will ‘bring the school library in question into the heart of the school’.
Lauren Halse (2022, May 6) noted that the school library she worked in has a CDP that needed updating to address digital content, selection criteria, selection aids, subscription management, licensing issues, budgeting, access to digital collections and the addition of STEM resources. Halse’s list was comprehensive, as a well-documented CDP should be.
I had never contemplated the CDP as a strategic document. However, according to Braxton (2018) it provides the Teacher Librarian with a blueprint of the vision and mission of the school library. It is a living document that outlines a plan for the Teacher Librarian to implement and manage a course of action for the library collection.
The information provided becomes the basis on which a CDP is written. It is a document that underpins the practices and decisions made concerning the library collection. According to Johnson (2009) the CDP is a multipurpose document that outlines details for planning, allocation of resources, and information for professional training and administration (p.73).
Valenza (2019) promotes using the CDP for strategic planning as it provides a criterion and evidence of how you follow and apply specific library practices. In addition, it relates directly to the school’s mission statement, vision and goals and articulates that the library is part of its overall strategic improvement plan.
It is a document that is made available to the public; it is to be referred to not just by the Teacher Librarian but made available to advise others about how the library and its collection are an integral part of the school’s learning culture. With informed, collaborative decision making as part of the review process for the CDP, the ability to future proof the school library collection will become part of the process of continual growth. Acknowledgment of the continual, rapid changes in the digital information landscape requires various resources to be available within the library. With the infinite expansion of electronic resources available such as eBooks, web-based information and online subscriptions, considerations must be made for accessibility, censorship and copyright restrictions.
In my blog post ‘Referencing Smartcopying for Music Related Copyright Clarification’ (Gonye, 2022, April 26) I was able to refer to the Smartcopy website as the authority for school copyright concerns. However, I was unaware that a specific site was developed for such situations. With these resources documented within the CDP, the Teacher Librarian can refer to the appropriate information when challenged with uncertain copyright protocol.
As the collection grows, it often is physically and digitally located in multiple areas. It is rare for the Twenty-first-century school library to house all of their collection under one roof. The amalgamation of all available resources needs to be viewed as one coherent collection that can be applied for current and future students’ varied learning methods, information seeking and reading for pleasure.
For the collection to flourish in the future, the CDP, as stated by Johnson (2009, p.72) dedicated planning will measure some degree of control over the future. Collaborative, ongoing reviews, assessment, evaluation and implementation of the collection will provide strong measures to safeguard the appropriateness and validity for future teaching and learning scenarios.
During my first semester of this degree, the challenge was conceptualising how I would resource the curriculum as a future Teacher Librarian.
I look forward to implementing my knowledge of collection development practically as a Teacher Librarian working collaboratively with teachers, executives, and other Teacher Librarians to enrich the school’s teaching and learning programs to meet the student population’s needs now and for many more years to come.
References
Australian School Library Association. (2014). What is a Teacher Librarian? https://www.asla.org.au/what-is-a-teacher-librarian
Braxton, B. (n.d). 500 Hats: The teacher librarian in the 21st Century. https://500hats.edublogs.org/policies/
Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of collection development and management. https://web-s-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzI2Nzc1Nl9fQU41?sid=4d39e7f7-b706-462b-9424-fe228ffc284b@redis&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1
Valenza, J. (2019, December 31). The case for strategic planning. [Blog comment]. School Library Journal. The case for strategic planning (slj.com)
