Reading Log October 18

Collection development is the act of deciding what materials will be acquired into the library. What the school library media specialist decides to incorporate into the library determines the quality of education the students will have when asked to do research and reading from their core classes. For the library media specialist, according to Betty Carter in Collection Development, the collection development plan needs to emphasize the school's mission. A magnet school might emphasize the sciences, so any extraneous books about World War II would become obsolete. This emphasizes the need for policies and procedures to emphasize consistency, define the scope and coverage of the material, and quality of the selection, among many others (Policies & Procedures). If the media center doesn't adhere to the building and district policies, then you're not meeting the mission or the needs of the district and its students.

While we need to look at what the district says to develop our collection, we also need to look at who our patrons are. For example, a children's librarian should have a good science section and reference section such as a dictionary while other sections such as religion, probably shouldn't be emphasized as much (Ostergard & Yusko, Children's Reference Sources).

It seems like a daunting task. We have to consider the polices and procedures for the building and the district as well as the students and teachers who will use the books. We also want to acquire new books that may cause interest for those who are going to be looking at them. I know I'll find many things that I'll want to get, but I also have to be aware of the budget and what is important for the school. How do we keep a fair balance between everybody?