Prior to beginning this subject, I assumed that ‘Resourcing the Curriculum’ would be about demonstrating texts that are relevant to the curriculum so that we could share our new knowledge with our teaching colleagues.  Upon beginning the subject, I realised just how many elements work together to ‘resource the curriculum’.

 

Currently working in a primary school setting with the library operating at minimum capacity, I was unaware of Collection Development Policies (CDP) and Collection Management Policies (CMP).  My school does not have either of these policies in place.  Given my lack of knowledge in this area, engaging with academic research in this area was beneficial.  As Gregory (2019) explores, I can now see the benefits of a CDP as a framework for the acquisition, selection and deselection of materials in the collection.  Working through the elements of a CDP, I was also diverted to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ (2015) School Library Guidelines which provided a clear outline for how a school library should be setup and managed.  From this learning, I would like to work in consultation with the current school library teacher, to create a CDP that suits our school.  I believe that the resources that I have engaged with during this subject have equipped me with the knowledge to be able to complete this task effectively (Maloy, 2023, January 14).

 

As has been demonstrated through the literature (Anderson, 2008, p.564; Godfree & Neilson, 2018), it is important that the school library is prepared for the future.  Working through this subject, I have been inspired by the range of resources that are now available for libraries to acquire to support the curriculum.  Multimodal literacies have made their way into our school curriculums and, having such resources included in our libraries, has proven to be of benefit to students, particularly those with disadvantaged backgrounds or those with learning difficulties (Tait et al., 2019).  I believe that there should be a balance between fiction and non-fiction materials, and between print and online resources (Maloy, 2023, January 12).  Moving forward, I would like to consult with the school executive to encourage the acquisition of resources that are not necessarily print materials.  The balance of resources should be carefully considered and then written into our CDP to ensure consistency in the future.

 

In my opinion, the most challenging component of resourcing the curriculum is censorship.  As a primary school teacher, my initial thought would be to carefully select materials that are appropriate, relevant and not in any way controversial.  We have a duty of care to students but exactly where the line is to be drawn is unclear (Maloy, 2022, November 29).  As Jacobson (2016) explains, by not providing a wide range of materials, we are limiting students and not depicting a true representation of the world.  It has become evident that my thinking in this area needs to be amended; having a statement about challenged materials within our school CDP would give us a procedure for dealing with controversial materials and therefore, would hopefully give myself and my colleagues the confidence to include a wider range of resources within our collection.

 

To conclude, studying how to resource the collection in a school library has indicated the importance of having a CDP.  From here, I would like to consult with my school executive and the current library teacher to create a CDP and widen the range of resources that are available to our students with the aim of promoting enjoyment of learning and supporting the curriculum.

 

Reference List

 

Anderson, R. (2008). Future-proofing the library: Strategies for acquisition, cataloguing and collection development. The Serials Librarian, 55(4), 560-567.

 

Godfree, H. & Neilson, O. (2018). School libraries matter! The missing piece in the education puzzle. Access, 32(1), 28-41.

 

Gregory, V. L. (2019). Collection development and management for 21st century library collections: an introduction (2nd ed.). ALA Neal-Schuman.

 

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2015). IFLA School library guidelines (2nd ed.). Netherlands: ILFA.

 

Jacobson, L. (2016). Unnatural selection. School Library Journal, 62(10), 20–24.

 

Tait, E., Vo-Tran, H., Mercieca, P., & Reynolds, S. (2019). Don’t worry, a school library with fewer books and more technology is good for today’s students. April 2, The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/dont-worry-a-school-library-with-fewer-books-and-more-technology-is-good-for-todays-students-114356