Cultivating a garden of quality print, digital
and multimedia materials
ReflectionThe media center collection is like a garden. When first opened, the library is filled with fresh and exciting resources. But as time marches on, the materials in the collection can fade, becoming outdated and even inaccurate. Resources sit on the shelves, withering away with disuse. Just as a garden needs frequent attention with weeding and care, so does the media center.
When I first began taking school library media courses, my focus was on sharing materials, working with teachers and helping students. I failed to consider one of the most important elements of any library: the collection. But as I learned in my collection development course, it is the collection that paves the way for all other activities, whether it’s increasing student achievement through collaboration or hooking a kid on this year’s top award-winners. Analyzing the collection at my school’s library seemed like an overwhelming task. There were more than 22,000 items. Where to start? What to do? Fortunately, the state of Maryland outlines clear expectations for school media center collections. Using this and other professional materials, I learned how to review each section of the collection and critique it using a set of rigorous standards. By collecting this data, it was much clearer to see areas of strengths and weaknesses, especially with regard to material type, section size and average publication date. For example, there were several categories within the social sciences that fell well below the acceptable copyright range. Many titles were old, written in 1940s and 1950s, and contained misleading information and images. But weeding or pulling out irrelevant, outdated materials is not enough. The collection should reflect the needs of the school community, which requires careful analysis of many data pieces, including school and community demographics and curriculum. Creating a global picture of the collection enabled me to set specific goals and target exact areas of need. Knowing that Common Core State Standards and STEM initiatives placed a greater emphasis on science and research, I found it alarming that 80 percent of the titles in many science subcategories were considered beyond acceptable copyright age. Also, although there were pockets of high-interest, relevant texts, circulation figures indicated that these titles were being overlooked by students and staff, and needed promotion. Budgets for buying new materials can be tight, so having a clear understanding of the collection is fiscally responsible as well. While I didn’t include it for this collection analysis, future ones would benefit from more student and staff input. When I first would look at a collection, I didn’t have the knowledge or tools to truly analyze it. I was like a novice gardener who couldn’t tell the difference between a weed and a perennial. But after learning about the professional collection standards, the school community needs, and circulation and publication reports, I became more astute at determining the strengths and weaknesses of the collection. I could make a plan for improvement based on data. My library collection will be well tended, and never become a tangled, discarded garden that has lost its relevance. |
5.1 CollectionsCandidates evaluate and select print, nonprint and digital resources using professional selection tools and evaluation criteria to develop and manage a quality collection designed to meet the diverse curricular, personal and professional needs of students, students and administrators.
ARTIFACTS |