2.1 Selection in the School Context
Definitions of selection
It is necessary to choose resources that meet the identified needs of the curriculum, teaching and learning programs, and the recreational needs (reading for pleasure) of the whole school community.
- Learning for the future (2001) pages 28-29
- South Australian Department of Education and Children’s Services, Choosing and using teaching and learning materials (2004) p7
- Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005) Collection management for youth p34.
Blog Activity 01
Adapting the decision-making model from Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005) and taking into consideration the priorities that are relevant in my current setting:
- The curriculum
- Learning and teaching pedagogies
- Child development
- Student achievement levels
- Collection development
- Resource selection
- Changing technologies
Selection and the AITSL Standards
AITSL: Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (2014)standard 3.4 requires teachers to ‘select and use resources’.
Four career stages to describe competency:
- Graduate
- Proficient
- Highly Accomplished
- Lead
Blog Activity 02
At present, I have moved from graduate to proficient over the last two years in the role of TL – especially when creating and using a range of resources for students.
I have started to assist colleagues with this more now, moving towards the Highly Accomplished stage, incorporating co-planning and evaluation of resources to support future planning and resource development.
Patron driven acquisition
A ‘demand-driven’ selection where students buy the resource they want (usually eBooks).
Blog Activity 02
- Discuss how the teacher librarian’s expertise and role is different from that required by all teachers.
The TL’s role is to know resources that are suitable and usable across the school, not just within a year’s group or class. Collections can be built with these patrons in mind, and then it is down to the teacher to adapt as required for students to access and use appropriately.
Naturally, TLs will spend more time using and researching resources. - Share ideas on how teacher librarians might effectively collaborate with the school community in the selection of resources in a school with which you are familiar.
Collaboration is key to teacher investment and understanding of the importance of the TL role, and the library. Attending planning sessions where possible to share selections of resources that will support learning. - Consider also how to engage your learners in selection of resources for their school library.
Explicitly taught skills on how to access resources but also TLs responsibility to ensure accessibility and that students (and staff) are confident using the resources. - Who should have the final say on what is included? Why?
Combination of TLs and teachers – respectful and professional discussions need to take place.
2.2 The balanced collection
Great quote from O’Connell (2017, p383)
Challenges of TLs and school library teams is to:
- identify the needs of the community
- develop a collection development policy
- evaluate, then select materials
- organise these for access
It is the responsibility of the TL in collaboration with teachers and other professional staff to resource the curriculum.
ALIA and ASLA (2005) TLs:
- Ensure that the library’s policies and procedures implement the school mission.
- Provide exemplary reference and information services to the school community.
- Strategically plan and budget
- Have consistent information management practices and systems.
- Provide access to resources.
A balanced collection
Does not look the same for all libraries. The challenge of the TL is to find a balance that suits their community, meeting the teaching, learning and recreational needs. Already discussed the concept of hybrid collections:
- Fiction vs. non-fiction
- Content vs. container: or known as content and format.
Developing Collections by Peggy Johnson (Chapter 4) The following reading is essential to both Assessment 1 and Assessment 2.
Output of published materials, including books and active periodicals, is increasing annually. Some challenges for librarians are the costs – around 9.87% a year, meaning that selections can be limited due to needing to be selective. Separating published materials can help with selection and management:
- Format: books, videos, eBooks etc.
- Genres: within each format
- Categories: within formats, such as a reference, age limit.
32% of audio sales were from libraries, the highest of any outlet – focus on audiobooks with research from Arnie Cardillo (2007) suggesting the benefits for children and teens, ‘linking to verbal fluency, motivating reluctant readers and improving development of non-English speaking students’.
Graphic Novels are also increasingly more popular, as are eBooks, although library patrons can be overwhelmed by the need to use multiple platforms.
Project Gutenberg provides free eBooks.
Suggests that a selector works through a model to research one of three conclusions:
- must be added
- should be added
- could be added
All decisions start with the consideration of the user community, priorities and missions of the library, linking to a written collection development policy.
Four-step selection process:
- identifying relevance
- evaluate if worthy
- assess appropriateness
- order preparation and placement
Evaluation criteria:
- content or subject
- language
- currency
- veracity etc.
Assessment considers items in relation to users’ needs, with school TLs assessing materials to match the curriculum, whilst also building a collection that meets more broad-based goals.
Purchasing decisions can be challenging, especially with a finite budget and the volume of materials available.
Order preparation or acquisition relates to the collection development and can be considered in terms of micro selection or macro selection.
Donations should also be considered as part of the selection process.
Need to be open minded when selecting and building diverse collections, with Librarians also needing to try and prevent censorship of collections. Ongoing issue in the US with states ‘banning’ books.
Three varieties of censorship:
- mandated by the law
- demanded by groups or individuals
- exercised by the librarian
Challenges to censorship or complaints should be met with prior preparation. Again, with a written development policy.
Interestingly, we have been promoting eBooks and audiobooks but it hasn’t been hugely successful – students prefer physical texts. However, with the drive towards technology in schools and ensuring students are confident, it is all about building that hybrid collection and considering other resources that can be used.
Changing formats are part of development in the curriculum and how users’ needs are met. Without the ability to adapt this, users won’t see the library as an accessible or relevant resource.
- Crowley, J. (2015). Graphic novels in the school library: Using graphic novels to encourage reluctant readers and improve literacy. The School Librarian, 63(3), 140-142.
Many titles are part of AR and Reading Range progress can be tracked accordingly.
- Fleishhacker, J. (2017). Collection development. Knowledge Quest, 45(4), 24–31.
- Jacobson, L. (2016). Unnatural selection. School Library Journal, 62(10), 20–24.
Censorship is on the rise and impacting purchasing decisions made by Librarians – we are seeing this more and more in the states.
“59% of schools drafted book selection policies to support purchase decisions”.
Concerns around having to self-censor is that a lot of decisions are made by me and based on my thoughts and opinions (and concerns over negative feedback from parents and staff), rather than always seeing or considering the positive impacts and benefits they might have on that one reader.
- McEwen, I. (2018). Trending now. Teacher Librarian, 45(3), 50–52.
- Sekeres, D. C. (2009). The market child and branded fiction: A synergism of children’s literature, consumer culture, and new literacies. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(4), 399-414.
- Stephens, W. (2014). Checking out tomorrow’s school library collections. Young Adult Library Services, 12(3), 18–20.
- What is your thinking now about the balanced collection you might foster in your school library?
To begin with, we need to rebuild our stock of physical resources. Current conversations with SLT are that I am not to use technology during research lessons, and teachers don’t want it. The challenge here is not having the resources available to link to topics being taught in class (yet) and how to still make the skills transferable and usable by students and staff. We have also used up the budget for the year, so we are waiting to see if we have more available, which would help with building the non-fiction collection. I’ve been putting together online resources through our library website, which is available for students and staff to use to support topics. However, again, its about how staff are proactive using these resources. They receive a lot of information and often overlook suggestions and recommendations.
- What other aspects, focus points or issues do you wish to explore further?
How do libraries get staff to invest in the support being provided without overwhelming them with communication? Again, I’ve been told I send too many emails and to stop, which I understand but now feel especially isolated from year groups, especially as I know my research lessons won’t be linking to topics and therefore won’t require teacher collaboration.
- promotions from suppliers;
Can be useful to see resources in person but important to remember that suppliers are trying to sell and promote the stock. It can lead to limited resources being available, although this is less the case with online sourcing. There is a range of online distributors and suppliers available worldwide, although it can be challenging in Singapore. - recommendations from colleagues and users (eg: OZTLNet);
This can be invaluable but it is important to consider if the person making the recommendation has actually experienced using the resource or if they are basing it off a promotion themselves. - bibliographic services; and
- reviews.
Tying it all together
Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005, pp.47-48) use four considerations for selection aids:
- Reviews need to analyse, compare and examine other materials so that TLs can determine value for their users, not just focus on plot summaries.
- Consider the resource in context and how it compares to others of the same genre etc.
- Selecting a broad range of resources
- Don’t substitute a tool that fits your contexts and users based on reviews.
Consider the following factors:
- appropriateness
- authority
- accessibility
- cost
- reliability
- comprehensiveness
- currency
- consult selection aids;
- identify potential resources;
- make appointments with suppliers/distributors and view the resources;
- forward suggestions to others involved in selection;
- record reasons for selection or rejection of suggestions; and
- initiate acquisition of the resource.
2.4 Selection Criteria
Critical analysis against selection criteria is crucial to ensuring that TLs are purchasing resources and materials that meet the users’ needs, both recreationally and for teaching and learning purposes.
Defining selection criteria
- Broad selection criteria are lists which reflect the philosophical principles to be followed when selecting. They generally refer to the purpose and content of the resource.
- General selection criteria apply to all resources regardless of content or format and are the type of criteria commonly used. They cover aspects such as authority, scope, treatment, arrangement and format.
- Specific selection criteria relate to particular formats such as information books, fiction, DVDs, periodicals and websites. They provide specific guidance for selection which relates to the particular characteristics of that format.
Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005, pp. 46-47) provided a set of contextualised general selection criteria:
| Primary considerations | |
| Criteria | Questions to consider |
| Appropriateness | Is the content appropriate for my learners?
Does it match their development level? Reading level? Social development? Learning style? Ethnic or cultural background? Will the work be of interest to my learners? |
| Scope | What is the purpose of the work?
Is the level of detail appropriate for my learners? Does it support the school curriculum or interests of the students? |
| Accuracy | Is the material up-to-date and accurate?
Are opinions and biases, if they exist, acknowledged as such? Does the creator of the work identify the sources used to create it? Does the creator cite credible sources, including specialists or experts in the subject area? |
| Treatment | Is the style of presentation appropriate for the subject matter and does it have appeal to my learners?
Does the creator avoid stereotypes dealing with race, gender, age, region and socioeconomic level? Does the resource reflect our diverse society? |
| Arrangement and organisation | Is the information arranged and organised so that students can understand it?
Is the resource organised so that students can easily locate information? |
| Authority | What are the creator’s qualifications?
How knowledgeable is the creator about the subject? Does the creator cite credible sources, including specialists or experts in the subject area? Has the creator published or produced other materials on this topic? |
| Comparison with other works | How does this work compare with others in the same genre and format or on the same subject?
How might my learners use this work? How might my educators use it with students? |
| Secondary considerations | |
| Criteria | Questions to consider |
| Physical quality | Do physical elements such as the clarity of images, illustrations, speech and music, the consistency of navigation icons, and the legibility of typefaces or fonts support the purpose of the work and the learning styles of my learners? |
| Aesthetic quality | Will the work appeal to the aesthetic tastes of my learners? |
| Literary merit | How well does the author, illustrator or producer deal with literary components such as theme, setting, character and style? |
| Reputation of author, illustrator or producer | Do my learners use other works by this individual and would they find this title interesting and worthwhile? |