Introductory Policy Writing in School Libraries

 Kami Whitlock

Abercrombie, S. (2018). Why do you need a collection development plan? Retrieved from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/why-do-you-need-a-collection-development-plan/

Abercrombie explains the importance of a collection development plan in a school library. If written and used effectively, the plan can be a great advocacy tool and show the library programs support of the school’s mission. Also, the plan benefits the librarian when it comes to clarifying policies, book challenges, and her evaluation cycle. She explains including selection, deselection, and reconsideration policies. When writing a selection policy consider students needs for pleasure reading, curriculum support, and administrations direction for the school. A deselection policy makes selection possible. A collection must be weeded to be relevant. Finally, a reconsideration policy is necessary to protect the collection and student’s rights. Having a clear reconsideration policy gives the librarian a plan and protocol if/when a book is challenged.

 

This article gives insight into collection development policies at school libraries. Abercrombie quickly breaks down what selection, deselection, and reconsideration policies are and gives example of when each is necessary and what they entail. Creating or revamping library policy is prudent for librarians. This article is a great place to start for general information before doing a deep dive into policy writing.

Thinking Outside the Bin

Ramirez, Carmina

Parrott, K. (2017). Thinking Outside the Bin. School Library Journal, 63(8), 42–45. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=124436664&site=ehost-live&scope=site 

Kierra Parrott discusses the dangers of labeling books by reading levels. She cites different authors who think the practice is the formula for failure. Matching children with books solely by reading level removes the teacher’s responsibility for knowing much about children’s literature or teaching children meaningful strategies for self-selecting books.  The author believes that children must learn the skills of reading at the same time they develop a positive reading identify. She admits that it takes more time to teach students how to self select books within their reading capabilities. But in the long run they use those skills to become life long readers. Finally, she states that removing, defining, limiting, or rejecting children’s reading choices disempowers them and creates negative attitudes toward reading and most likely school.

This article includes some of the views of author Pernille Ripp who opposes labeling books because the practice also labels kids. I find this article very interesting and one to take extremely serious. Many students who have participated in reading programs such as Accelerated Reading figure out that if they fail their reading test, their reading level will be lower and therefore they would have to read less. Participating in the program, for many, is a way to destroy the love of reading.

Keeping Your Library Collection Smelling F.R.E.S.H!

Hulten, Alicia

LaGarde, J. (2013, October 1). Keeping Your Library Collection Smelling F.R.E.S.H! [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.librarygirl.net/2013/10/keeping-your-library-collection.html

Summary: Jennifer LaGarde is a teacher librarian with over 20 years’ experience in public education. In this online article, she offers several reasons why it is important to weed the school library’s collection. It is easy to imagine the difficulty of getting rid of old, dated books especially when you have an already small collection and insufficient funding to replace those books. However, holding on to outdated can be detrimental to a well-built library collection in several ways.

• Misinformation: Material that is out of date could contain misinformation and do more harm than good. For example, LaGarde found a reference book that said “scientists do not believe HIV is transmitted through sexual content”[sic] (LaGarde, 2013). It is important to ensure library shelves are free of old materials which may contain this and other kinds of misinformation. 

• Text poor: These books are often text feature poor. Newer books contain captions, diagrams, bullet points, sidebars, and fact boxes. These text features help students learn and retain information more readily.

• A books cover: Readers in fact do judge a book by its cover. Students who see a book that looks dated and/or is in disrepair, then will most likely not want to check it out. Today’s readers want colorful, glossy covers that have eye-catching art/photos.

• The times they are a-changin’: Older books reflect the time in which they were written. As librarians we have to make sure our nonfiction books are equitable and reflect modern viewpoints. Likewise, fiction and picture books should be reflective of the diverse population of the school and the larger community.

• Small but mighty: It is better to have a smaller collection of newer, high interest books, than rows and rows of old, dated books. Holding on to old collections could give library visitors the impression that the library is outdated and obsolete.

The article also includes a link to an entertaining video of CSLA’s Book Cart Drill Team performing “Weed It!” to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It!” Lagarde also provides a helpful flyer that can be downloaded as a PDF. The flyer offers tips for keeping your library’s collection F.R.E.S.H. She asks the following questions:

Does it Foster a love of reading?

Does it Reflect your diverse population?

Does it reflect an Equitable point of view?

Does it Support the curricula?

Is it a High-quality text?

If the answer is no to any one of these questions, then Lagarde claims the book must go.

Opinion: This article offers a concise and clear reminder of why it is so important to weed old books out of the school library. She makes a valid point that holding on to out of date materials can hinder a library’s function as a place where the love of reading is cultivated and grows. Fostering this love of reading within a school library can be difficult if the collection consists of books that students do not want to check out. LaGarde’s article provides a fresh look at weeding, and a good reminder to school librarians that weeding is not only important but necessary.