The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts and Practices

This thorough treatment of collection development will serve school library educators and students as well as practicing school librarians, providing quick access to information that is both immediately useful and helpful as unforeseen situations arise.

Our digitally rich world changes quickly and contains more information resources than ever before; as a result, school librarians are tasked with the enormous challenge of curating a diverse, high-quality, and up-to-date collection for teachers, students, and administrators to use. This new edition of The Collection Program in Schools gives school librarians the tools to develop and maintain a collection in a constantly changing environment, often with reduced budgets; and to ensure that students can use virtual libraries and have access to all modern media and learning resources.

The book logically progresses in its coverage of national and state policy concerns to community needs to the process of collection building and maintenance. Topics covered include key education trends affecting collections, such as digital textbooks and other non-print resources, instructional improvement systems, STEM priorities, and open education resources; the use of school libraries as makerspaces; media type considerations for a range of users; Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards; and the principles of curation: acquisition, description, organization, promotion, evaluation, and maintenance. This guide is ideal for use in many graduate-level school librarian preparation courses, including classes on school library collection development and school library management.