Collection Management

One of the many roles of the teacher librarian is to develop and manage the library collection. In the rapidly changing digital climate, this task is a complex and ever-evolving one, and requires constant evaluation and consideration.

The National Library of New Zealand states that:

A library collection is made up of all of the physical and electronic items that have been curated with a specific audience and purpose in mind.

To develop and maintain this collection, the librarian must undertake a series of tasks which include:

• Identifying and planning for potential and available resources
• Select resources
• Organising resources
• Evaluate resources
• Deselect resources, commonly know as weeding

-National Library of New Zealand: Collections and Collection management

This week was my first introduction to library collection management. In addition to learning about some of the main tasks involved in collection development and management, I was also introduced to some of the challenges that come as part of this task. Unsurprisingly, budget, technology and a continually evolving curriculum were identified, but one challenge which I had not previously considered was that of ethics. A school’s code of ethics may very well restrict what can be included in a library collection, information which I found both interesting and valuable to know.

References

National Library of New Zealand: Collections and collection management (n.d.). Retrieved from  https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/collections-and-resources/collections-and-collection-management