Building and Evaluating Juvenile Collections in Academic Libraries

O'Brien, Sarah

Williams, Virginia Kay. (2011) Building and Evaluating Juvenile Collections in Academic Libraries. Wichita State University. Pg 1-25

Although many college and university librarians support teacher education programs, relatively little attention has been paid to developing juvenile literature collections that support these programs. This paper discusses needs of education students and characteristics of juvenile literature which academic librarians should consider when developing collections. It examines standard tools for selecting children’s and young adult materials and analyzes their usefulness for building collections that support teacher preparation programs. Finally, it provides practical advice for evaluating juvenile collections and selecting materials to fill gaps in support for teacher preparation programs in mathematics, art and other subjects. (taken from the abstract)

While teacher education programs and majors are common in colleges and universities, these courses are not necessarily targeting academic librarians, they are intended to appeal to public and school librarians. Instead of adding material to a collection they know, it is important that academic librarians “understand how education students use juvenile literature, the characteristics of juvenile literature, and the standard tools available for selecting and evaluating children and young adult collections.” As academic librarians, they should be studying and reviewing the majors and certification programs on campus and talking with faculty staff about how they use juvenile literature in teaching. Important questions to consider may include: how do you use children and young adult books when teaching? What assignments do you give that require students to use juvenile books? Would you be willing to share a copy of your syllabus? Etc. Being a part of these types of classes will help the academic librarian build better collections focusing on children’s and young adult literature and teaching methods for education.