Collection Programs in Schools

Rodriguez, Olivia
Bishop, Kay. The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts and Practices. 5th ed. Santa Barbara,

CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2013.

Summary: This Library and Information Science Textbook analyzes the definition of a collection in the 21st Century. It discusses the changing definition of a school library’s collection. This book defines a school media center’s collection as a “group of information sources, print, non print, and electronic” (2007, Bishop, p.1). It includes books, magazines, ebooks, databases, and materials available through interlibrary loan. In addition, this textbook discusses the importance of becoming knowledgeable about the existing library collection and becoming familiar with the school, the community, the school curriculum and the needs of the user. This reminds me of the needs assessment I conducted while analyzing the library I work at, The Winters Community Library. This book also offers general selection criteria for developing a school library collection  including appropriateness of content, scope, high-interest, and support materials for instruction. This text also touches upon fiscal issues relating to the collection and looks at the budget process. The author suggests grant writing, alternative funding, and fundraising. Lastly this book looked at the process of weeding and offered reasons for weeding decisions including poor condition, poor circulation record, biased or stereotypical portrayals, inappropriate reading levels, and outdated information. Evaluation: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was published in 2007 so it is a modern, relevant book for school librarians and school media specialists. Topics for collection programs in schools are well organized into 17 Chapters for 17 different topics. Many of the ideas presented by the author, Kay Bishop, have been discussed in INFO 266 so it connected well with my current studies. For example, I have been analyzing my school’s collection for Presentation 4 and after reading the chapter on weeding, I have added new reasons to weed our series collection. Some of our books in our series collection are outdated and have low circulation such as Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. It is hard to get rid of them because I have so many fond memories of reading them as a child, but this book re-emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining an “attractive collection” and some of these books are in poor physical condition.