Collection Evaluation Narrative

Regular evaluation of a library collection is imperative to ensure the materials are current, accurate, engaging for patrons’ needs and interests, attractive or visually appealing, and in good condition. Two of the best techniques to do this, based on this week’s readings, is through weeding and evaluation reports. In Collection Development for School Librarians by Mona Kirby, she suggests “spend[ing] time sitting in front of the shelves and physically examining the books” (2019). For my own collection, one of my first tasks in preparing for the school year will be conducting inventory. By picking up and setting eyes on the books in my collection, I will be able to determine if it is current, contains accurate information, and is in good condition. If it is a popular title, I will also be able to physically see whether or not I need to add it to my “replace & fill” list as I order new books for the library. This is a great way for me to get to know my collection as well to help for planning displays and increasing circulation. Requesting evaluation reports through Follett or similar platforms is also effective in evaluating the library collection. Follett provides three different reports, allowing for the evaluation of the entire school library collection, print & audiovisual only, or eBooks & digital only. Each report provides the total number of collection items, average age of the collection, items per student, and so much more. I think a similar process can be used for physical or digital materials when it comes to evaluating the collection. I am able to receive a monthly report from the local public library of how many digital materials my students check out from the public library and can compare that to checkouts of our library’s digital material checkout. Comparing what titles are being checked out, if we have physical copies of the titles as well, and comparing physical copy checkouts to digital copy checkouts can be informative for both collection evaluation and selection when determining how many digital licenses I may want to consider versus copies of a physical book. In my district, a Core Data report is required to be submitted to the district library coordinator after receiving a building administration signature. Librarians are responsible for the collection evaluation and development based on the needs of each building’s population and curricula needs. Circulation numbers and library visits are two pieces of data that are of higher interest to continually justify the library program and space, so this information is more frequently requested and reported.

When it comes to selecting new materials for the library, evaluation is a cornerstone of this process. If, as librarians, we don’t know what is in our collection and we don’t know the condition and age of our collection, then we are unable to effectively select new materials for our library. Jennifer LaGarde, in her blog Library Girl, discusses how librarians can use the acronym F.R.E.S.H. to evaluate their collection by determining if the materials fosters a love of reading, reflects the diverse population, reflects an equitable global view, supports the curricula, and is a high-quality text (2013). If the material is not “F.R.E.S.H.”, then it may not have a place in the library collection or needs to be replaced through new materials selection.

In addition to regular evaluation for material selection, it’s also important to gather regular feedback from students and staff to ensure materials selected are relevant to curriculum, cover topics that are of interest to students, and meet the needs of the students and staff. This feedback is another important cornerstone of effective collection development. Feedback can be solicited in a variety of ways, such as: through staff and student surveys of types of text and topics of interest, through informal conversations with students and staff around the building, and by attending department and grade-level meetings to stay informed on projects, assignments, and units students are working on or that are upcoming. My school uses Google Classroom, so I have a library Google Classroom set up for each grade level to access resources and information, post announcements, and solicit feedback from students on library materials. One thing I have created for the upcoming school year is a student book recommendation form. I actually have several book recommendations from students completing the form during the summer so far that I am looking into already. Our library has also been able to significantly grow our Manga collection from student feedback. When we saw a rise in the demand for Manga, we had several students that created a list of recommendations, then worked with the previous librarian to review and evaluate the titles to order for our library collection. This section is heavily frequented by students now after receiving feedback from these students.

As state and national standards change, this can have an impact on what items circulate and how they circulate with respect to collection evaluation. I think state and national standards will have a larger influence on non-fiction materials over fiction because science, facts, history, and technology are going to see more frequent changes than fiction titles in the library that are selected for personal interest and independent reading. In my high school, I see state and national standards having a larger impact on research and database subscriptions we use to support the building curriculum especially since we are a 1:1 school, so students tend to access areas of information that frequently change, such as science, medicine, and technology, through databases and electronic resources that can be quickly updated rather than physical copies of the texts in the school library collection.