PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES

Category: Collection Development (Page 1 of 2)

Student-Driven Collection Development

If there was one thing I would suggest every single school library to enact it’s to move to a student-driven collection development. It is the most powerful process I know to increase engagement with a school library, support reading for pleasure and improve the collections in a school library. Who better to decide what to have on the bookshelves than the students and staff who are going to be reading those books.

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The Ins and Outs of Weeding

The Ins and Outs of Weeding

I am actually shocked it has taken me this long to write this post about weeding. Weeding is one of my absolute favourite collection management tasks.

Weeding is also known as deaccessioning, culling or deselection. It’s the process of carefully removing items from your school library collections using a specific criteria that meets your collection development policy.

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The Importance of a Diverse Collection

The Importance of a Diverse Collection

We all know the importance of a diverse collection. At least, theoretically. It might be something we mention in our collection development policy, or nod our heads to during a webinar. Maybe we’ve even put a diversity collection audit on our to-do list. But in the busyness of daily school library life, diverse collection development and promotion can sometimes slip.

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Reinvigorating Non-Fiction – part 4

Reinvigorating Non-Fiction – part 4 of a 2 year journey

Non-fiction has been a bit of a hot topic in school library discussions in recent months and for good reason. On one hand we are embracing genrefication and challenging the status quo of using problematic library layout systems and on the other hand school librarians are investigating the importance of non-fiction and its place in the school library.

I believe that a beautiful, vibrant non-fiction collection is vital for all school libraries for students of all ages.

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Resource: Making Your Own Signage

Making Your Own School Library Signage

Signage is one of the most important things you can add to your school library collections to aid access and remove the barriers students might face in trying to access the information they need. Fortunately, you can now purchase a wide range of signage options from school library suppliers, but it can be pretty expensive. I have always made my own signage for my school library collections, using a variety of different tools, software programs and resources, making my signage fully customisable and a lot more cost-effective. Using a few tips and tricks, your signage can look as professional as purchased signage.

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Ramblings: Genrefying the Teacher Reference Collection

Genrefying The Teacher Reference Collection

What is your teacher reference collection like? Dusty and unused? Tiny and unhelpful? Large and overwhelming?

When I inherited my current school library, the junior school’s collection was in the Junior Library but the secondary school teacher reference collection was not located in the library. The junior collection was large, with class sets, literature circles and teaching resources. The secondary TR collection had been housed in a staff area under the guidance of those responsible for guiding the pedagogy of the school. A move that made sense. The collection was certainly not as large as at some of my previous schools, but that was because junior and secondary was separated and the textbook TR was housed with the textbooks. The Secondary collection was books only, no resources. The majority of items are stored within departments in different storerooms, squirrelled away and a disaster zone all of their own. In this post, I am talking about the genrefication process of the secondary school teacher reference collection.

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