Collection Development Policy
The world of the twenty-first century is a world of technology, innovation, and uncertainty. While not new to the human experience or to the school library media center, technology has become increasingly intense and pervasive. Demands are being placed on the managers of technology to improve society and education in ways that the educational environment has rarely experienced. The school library media center is one of the major players in this technological transformation. The school library movement has always been aligned with progressive education, and this historical background has laid a solid foundation for change and new development.
Society and culture have always been central to defining the role of the collection development process of the school library media center. Within this framework of culture and society, the collection in schools has served the curricular and instructional needs of students, faculty, and staff; and within American and Canadian culture and society, the center’s collection has always played a role in serving recreational and personal information needs as well. In meeting these various expectations, school library media specialists have great impact on society and on the educational environment through their decisions and behaviors. Collection development can never be separated from the larger society and is subject to all of the political, social, and cultural pressures that surround it. In a democratic and open society these pressures are intense, as they represent a wide variety of values, interests, and expectations.
At the operations level, a good policy statement establishes methods for planning and carrying out day-to-day operation of the collection. Further, it outlines who is responsible for collection development decisions and operations. It addresses how to review challenged materials and the need for fairness and due process.
A school library media collection development policy must be official and it must be authoritative. It becomes official after having been reviewed and approved by the governing board of the school system. When it becomes official, it carries legal and professional obligations that cannot be ignored. The official policy is an open statement to the community and to teachers, administrators, staff, students, and parents describing the collection and how it is to be managed. Because it has been approved by an elected or appointed governing board, it becomes authoritative, carrying the weight and authority of social, legal, and political accountability.
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School Library Media Collection Development Plan
Although a policy is not a theoretical or conceptual discussion, it must be based on a thorough understanding of the various theoretical and conceptual elements that influence collection development. These elements must be reflected and articulated well in the policy narrative itself. Theory in application gives direction to what we do and explains why we do it. A detailed, clearly written policy document also serves as a means of educating and informing various client groups about the role collection development plays in the total program of the school and about the role that librarians, teachers, administrators, and others play in the process of developing and maintaining viable collections. Generally, an explanation of collection development can be based around six concepts:
Culture and its general expectations
Society and the requirements for social order
The role of modern education as a cultural system
Institutions such as schools and the roles they play in society and culture
Curriculum analysis and mandates
Group and individual needs.
Culture refers in part to the body of learned behavior of human societies. To have a workable society, individuals must cooperate so that activities carried on within the society satisfy both social and individual needs. Learned activities are handed down from generation to generation within the society and become a part of the social order. Human activities are so numerous and complex that most cultures must rely on systems that are based on ideas as well as structures that include constructs and propositions expressed as symbols. Culture is then transmitted from generation to generation through the ideas and symbols inherited in and understood within the culture. Such systems are necessary to communicate cultural knowledge and to coordinate activities within the culture.
Education in some form is necessary in all cultures for this knowledge to be transferred, and schools and their curricula are fundamental to this process. In recent years, educators have viewed the curriculum as a means of selecting necessary elements from the culture. By using cultural analysis, a meaningful curriculum can be planned to successfully transfer cultural values through the formal educational process.
The school library media collection development plan is often referred to as the selection policy. As such, it reflects most of the points made above. A school collection development plan may be designed at the district level, at the school building level, or at both levels. A school collection development plan intended to serve an entire school district or system should address several basic elements. Various publications AASL offer the following guidelines for designing a policy.
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Major Components of Collection Development Assignment
Overall Statement of Policy as the initial statement explains the general policy of the governing board regarding the selection of materials for school libraries within the system. Basic terms such as “learning materials” will need to be defined. It often presents examples of materials that can be expected to be acquired under these definitions and procedures. The policy will state the expected role of the professional staff in making selection decisions. Presented here are details on how the professional staff will perform its duties.
The policy must state that all selections by the professional staff are made under the authority delegated by the board. The policy may further state that although many persons, including parents, students, teachers, and community members, may be involved at an advisory level, the overall responsibility for coordinating the selection of materials and making recommendations rests with the professional library media staff.
One of the most important criteria to be stated here is that all decisions must support and be consistent with the general educational goals and mission of the school district as well as those of individual schools within the district. Likewise, selection must meet the requirements for helping to provide enrichment and support for individual users. The policy may also suggest specific standards and outline problem areas that should not be overlooked in selection, including controversial issues and newly evolving concerns such as the needs of at-risk students.
Suggestions are made on the kinds of selection aids to be used in making decisions. In addition, this selection should also reemphasize who is involved in the selection process and the nature of their involvement. Problem areas such as how to evaluate gifts and how to process recommendations for purchases should be discussed here. In school districts with several schools, one official policy must apply to all schools. Nevertheless, because each school is different, the local building-level library may wish to add an official supplement to the policy explaining how the school is different and how selection of materials in that school will address its unique requirements in different ways.
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