For the final post for ETL503 our task was to create a reflective commentary on our learning during this subject. So here goes…

How the subject has extended my knowledge and understanding of the role and nature of school library collections

In reflection of my journey throughout this subject, I must say, it makes me realise the more that I learn about the ‘why’,  the more I learn ‘how’ to better manage a library.

I was TL for 5 years at my previous school when I dug up a previous Library Collection Management Policy. At the time I had little idea that a Collection Management Policy (CMP) differed from a Collection Development Policy (CDP). Without having the technical and subject specific knowledge that I have learned now, I believe this policy contained both CMP and CDP aspects, merged into one.

Clare Jenkins and Mary Morley cited in Kennedy, 2006, states there is a ‘tendency for practitioners to use ‘collection development’ and ‘collection management’ synonymously, although, increasingly a distinction is being made between them’. (Kennedy, 2006, p.5). I now have an understanding that there are differences between the terms and that ‘collection development’ is more associated with identification, selection, acquisition, evaluation and de-selection rather than ‘collection management’ being about systematic management of the existing library collection which entails policy on the housing, preservation and storage of the stock.

My interaction with this subject has given me a more sound understanding of the role and nature of library collections. I am confident that the collections are built around a number of varying factors:

• The students in which they service (ie., K-6, 7-12);
• The community’s socio-economic background, cultural and ethical standards, values/belief systems;
• Governing body (Eg NSW Department of Education) policies;
• A right for freedom of information;
• A balanced collection that enables all learning styles to be able to access resources whether they be of a physical nature or an electronic item.

The Australian School Library Association’s (ASLA) Policy Statement- School Bill of Rights declares, ‘that the responsibility of the school library is to provide materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, takin into consideration the varied interests, abilities and maturity levels of the pupils served.’ (2018, p. 1)

The importance of a collection development policy as a strategic document.

It is vital for all school libraries to invest time into creating the collection development policy (CDP) for their school library that aligns carefully with resourcing the library to cater for cross curriculum priority (CCP) areas, global trends/issues, varied viewpoints on history, politics and religion, a wide array of literature that contains people and cultures to authentically reflect a variety of ideas, information, stories, and experiences, based around the community of users in which it serves. The American Library Association (ALA) states that ‘a well-balanced collection does not require a one-to-one equivalence for each viewpoint but should strive for equity in content and ideas that takes both structural inequalities and the availability of timely, accurate materials into account. (2019)

However, there are often several complaints you hear from many TL’s when it comes to CDP’s: they either do not have one, they have one but it is outdated or time is just not given by their Principal to write one with the detail it needs to adequately satisfy its purpose.  In the forum posts I responded to Ming-Sum (May 2022) as she stated that, ‘it isn’t surprising that TL’s that work in the Private school system do get this time.’ I agreed with her that I wasn’t surprised about this fact as I have found many colleagues that I have networked with have shared the fact that they have been afforded adequate time and opportunity away from their teaching timetable to write their collection development policies.

The purpose of a CDP needs to be strategic and purposeful and is enhanced when written in consultation with important stakeholders such as school leadership, teachers, students and community representatives, led by the TL. This way it will be the words and work of all involved and can be more highly valued and understood.  The CDP is written with clear directions in mind and will look different for every school. While it is reasonable to take inspiration from other school CDP’s, it is not beneficial to try and plan yours around the format of another’s as it is likely that you could run the risk of making it not completely authentic to your particular setting. It is to set clear goals for the types of resources required in the collection that reflect the library’s mission statement and rationale. If the goal is to resource the curriculum and to provide resources that allow for children to create a passion for reading/acquiring knowledge for a school that is in a K-6 setting then it would be inappropriate to purchase materials that would include adult fiction. It could however, acquire resources for teacher use as this aides in resourcing the curriculum.

Having a formal CDP will safe guard resources that have been selected and outline the processes for which students, teachers or parents would have to go through if there was a resource in question for a particular reason. Writing a CDP, I have discovered has to be a careful and considered process to make it an effective strategic document.

How a collection development policy assists in future proofing the collection.

I believe by having a current, fluid CDP that takes into consideration the school community it caters for, the students, the staff, the wider community is one that will enable the future proofing of your library collection (Timmins, 2022, May 28). A policy that is continually planned and evaluated for, will remain future-focused by being guided by mission statements and collection goals. A CDP should always be informed by current research, academic literature and trends. Being critical of the ongoing cycle of continuous improvement is imperative for this to be a sustained success. In Discussion Forum 7.1, In conclusion, I believe the future of the library will be a place that is an ‘exuberant learning hub teaming with opportunities’ (Timmins, 2022, May 28). The nature of it I’m positive will evolve with the unprecedented changes, however, with a strong committee behind it ensuring the resources provided for our students will surely future-proof and propel it deeper into the 21^st Century with vigour.

Something for me to take away and develop in my own practice is that I seek to develop the first CDP written for my brand new library. Ongoing analysis would occur to ensure that the collection grows and as the school progresses, goals align to meet the needs of the users. Also, as technologies change, modes of delivery and formats of resources change, and the information landscape alters, considered evaluation of the document will be collegially worked on.

Image courtesy of: medium.com 

References

Kennedy, J. (2006). Collection Management: A concise Introduction. Elsevier Science & Technology. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=1639677&ppg=20

The Australian School Library Association’s (ASLA). Policy Statement- School Bill of Rights. (2018).https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Policies/Bill%20of%20Rights_2018.pdf

The American Library Association (ALA). Diverse Collections: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. 1996-2022. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/diversecollections

Timmins, C. (2022, May22). In conclusion (online discussion comment). Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au

https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/unstackingthetopshelf/2022/05/28/discussion-forum-7-1-in-conclusion/)

Creating a collection developing policy (CDP) first of all needs to be drafted with a cross selection of valued interests in the school library. People such as the Teacher Librarian (TL), the Library Assistant (LA), an executive staff member, a teacher representative and also a community member. With this collaborative style planning, ownership or the document will be collective and all will be accountable for the direct planning in the CDP.

 Based on the school context, the rationale is very important to support the school’s vision or ethos. The selection of materials relevant to the school context will be more appropriate with these important considerations.

 In my last school, editing of a past CCDP policy took place with a committee of stakeholders to update and project the document into the current day. A challenge that lays ahead for me now is to establish a committee of people that can participate writing a CDP for our brand new school library. With strong theoretical knowledge gained from this subject, I feel confident a draft can be penned this year.

 This document needs to be reflective of the time and fluid in the way that it changes with the time and also with the needs of the learners, their backgrounds and evolving teacher needs as well.

In my current primary school library it is in the beginning stages of collection development as it only opened it Term 4 last year. Thee collection is increasingly at a steady rate with the base collection catering for general students interest topics/subjects.

A mixture of Quantitative data has been generated through OLIVER to view in-house circulation statistics such as popular titles, least borrowed items, stage based topic selection preferences etc. This allows for further planning around future acquisitions. In the future, access to more E-resources will be highly desirable for students to access.

When it comes too curriculum mapping with teachers, this has just began. A list has been created to begin to purchase relevant resources required to cater for hub teachers at the school to aide with their teaching of the NSW English Curriculum. This is quite a task and is only catering for what teachers require in the immediate and one term in advance. Further planning is needing to be done in this area.

In regards to Qualitative methods, I plan to create user opinion surveys. This is a really good place to start in my opinion in regards to consulting what teachers and students would like to see within the library collection. Perhaps another aspects I would like to see happen in these early stages is user observation- data can be obtained on where students are likely to borrow from.

Developing Collections

Module 2: Professional Reflection:

I often have students report back to me about favourite book titles or series as I can judge if it is worth purchasing more of the same. A suggestion box is in place at the entrance of the library so that students can incidentally place a recommendation of their choice in there.  Patron driven acquisition is a technique I do use but I don’t solely rely on it.

Consider how to engage your learners in selection of resources in their school library. I ask students to circle desirable titles in the Scholastic Book Club catalogue, fill out suggestion box forms for recommended titles and also have meetings with school student leadership team to take a survey to their classes to ask what type of genres or books they are interested in. This can adequately involve students in the selection process and make the TL aware of the types of resource the students would like to see in their library.

Who should have the final say in what is included? Why? In my opinion, the TL is the information specialist within the school and has an exceptional knowledge of resources already available within the library but not only that, but of what exists out there that the school may not yet have. I always work on the belief though that all stakeholders share equal importance of contribution when it comes to having a say in selecting resources. But when budgetary restrictions are in place and need to be carefully acquired then the TL is the person with authority to do so.

The School Library Collection

1.3 Pedagogical Initiatives:

To suitably equip students in the 21st century, the educational setting in which they attend needs to cater for all students and suitably allow students and teachers to access information from their school library.  Today, libraries in schools are viewed by some as learning hubs where physical and digital learning resources are in a welcoming common space for students and teachers to share. Users are encouraged to create, collaborate, interact and explore. With that being said the challenge is: how does the Teacher Librarian adequately make decisions on what to stock in the library? Is it a decision solely made by them or do they have a process in process where they consult teaching staff, students and the wider community?

• What type of resources would I provide? Although the library I work in is brand new, a large task lies ahead of how can the collection be further developed and in line with what is right for the particular patrons (all 815 k-6 students) that I have come through the doors each week. At the moment popular titles across a range of Picture Books, Fast Fiction, Senior Fiction, Graphic Novels, Junior Fiction and Fiction sections, along with an expanding Teacher Resource collection have been purchased. Building physical resources in a foundation library is highly important. Digital collections and inquiry stations through the library are still to be established. A balanced collection of both physical and digital resource will appease all learners and cater for their emerging needs.
• How/where would I find them? So far with the experience I have had as TL, I have had the privilege to build up professional partnerships with suppliers, publishers, universities and other information specialists to sought effective resources. I have successfully ran the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge in my library for 5 years now and the literature on the list are all of high quality- I often use the list when selecting resources to buy. I also go on reviews from suppliers such as QBD, Dymocks and Booktopia but keep in mind the readers in my library and analyse if they age appropriate. The SCIS platform is a useful tool for me when about to purchase items.  So far in this subject it has opened up my eyes to other avenues of which I haven’t used in the past, namely, Zinio magazines, Kobo or Wordery.

I posted on the forum 2.2 today noting my experience in Standing Orders. There are a lot of Pros & Cons. What do you think of bundled sets? Does it work for you? And who do you get them through?