Resources for School Librarians - Index

Collection Development

Collection Development Menu: General Collection Development | Collection Development Policies | Evaluation and Weeding | Book Repair | Selection Tools

"It does not matter how many books you may have, but whether they are good or not." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca (3 B.C.-65 A.D.), Epistolae Morale

Collection Development in General - Web Sites

• Collection Development Training for Arizona Public Libraries - This is an excellent introduction to all aspects of library collection development including policies, acquisitions, evaluation, and weeding. Although designed for the small public library, it will be equally useful in the school library.
• AcqWEB - An extensive site for collection development with information on verification tools, vendors, bibliographic utilities and much more.
• Information Access and Delivery - A guide for policy writing and collection maintenance by the Purdue University School of Library and Information Science.
• SLJ's Spending Survery - This is a survey on what school libraries are spending on books and e-books. From School Library Journal, March 1, 2012.
• Fuel for Your Fire: Good data offers a reality check that’s invaluable for building libraries - Book prices for 2012. This is an article by Rebecca T. Miller in School Library Journal, March 1, 2012.
• Average Book Prices 2010 - Better Data, Better Libraries: Statistics are more Important Than Ever. An article in School Library Journal, March, 2011.
• Average Book Prices 2008 - From School Library Journal, March 1, 2008.
• The Price You Pay - 2006 book prices from School Library Journal.
• 2005 Book Prices - From School Library Journal.
• Ten Steps to Implementing an eBook Collection: A Guide for Librarians - an article by Cynthia Cleto, 2008.
• Researcher exploring ways to bring digital content to school libraries - Marcia Mardis, an assistant professor at Florida State University, is studying ways to bring "open" digital content to school library collections. July 30, 2009

School Library Collection Policies

• Collection Development Policies
  • Collection Development Policy - This is a brief definition of a collection development policy. It is from the LIS 6010 blog from Wayne State University.
  • About Collection Development Policies - What they are and how to write one. This is by Arizona State Library.
  • AASL Position Statement on Labeling Books by Reading Level
  • Collection Policy Guidelines for School Library Media Programs - State of Montana
  • Whitefish High School Library Collection Development Policy - Whitefish, Montana
  • Standards for Missouri School Library Media Centers - These are standards for the composition of the library collection.
• Selection Policies
  • ALA Workbook on Selection Policy Writing - For school libraries.
  • District Selection Policies - Guidelines for preparing selection policies by California Department of Education.
  • School Library Selection Policy - St. Bonaventure School Library, Huntington Beach, CA.
  • Collection Development Policy - of the Urban School library, San Francisco, CA.
  • Library Materials Selection Policy - Owensboro Catholic Schools, KY.
  • University Laboratory High School Collection Development Policy - Urbana, IL.
  • Library Selection Policy - Solomon Schechter Jewish Day School of Greater Boston, MA
  • Media Selection Policy - Mt. Ararat High School Library, Topsham, ME.
  • Selection Criteria for School Library Media Center Collections - Baltimore Md public schools.
  • Selection Policy and Guidelines - Hopkinton School District, Contoocook, NH.
  • The Brearley School Library Collection Development Policy - An independent school in New York. This is a pdf document.
  • Selection Policy for School Library Materials - School District of Philadelphia, PA
  • Westwood Elementary School Library Collection Development Policy - Fairview, TN.
  • District Selection Policy - Iola-Scandinavia School District, WI.
  • Caboolture State School Library Collection Policy - Queensland, Australia. This is a pdf document.
  • Book and Audio Visual Selection Policy - Portage La Prairie School Division, Manitoba, Canada
  • Collection Development Policy - Trafalgar Castle School Resource Centre, Whitby, Ontario, Canada. Note that this document is in pdf format.
  • Reporting Challenges: A Quick How To Video - From the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.
  • Dealing with Challenges to Graphic Novels - By the American Library Association.
• Selection Policies for Electronic Materials and Internet Sites
  • How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School - An article by Steven Anderson at the Edutopia web site.
  • Creating Social Networking Policy - By the National Library of New Zealand, April, 2011.
  • Should Your School Have a Social Media Policy? - An article by Ellyssa Kroski in School Library Journal, October, 2009.

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Collection Evaluation and Weeding

• Collection Assessment - An overview by the Arizona State Library.
• Evaluating Your Collection: Best Practices for North Texas Libraries - This guide is focused on public library collections, but school librarians will find much helpful information.
• School Library Renaissance in Baltimore County - by Della Curtis in Multimedia Schools, Nov/Dec, 2000. Collection evaluation as a basis for funding in Baltimore's schools.
• Weeding - From the Arizona Manual on Collection Development for Arizona Public Libraries.
• Crying Over Spilled Milk - a very practical guide to weeding school library collections by Dr. Gail Dickinson. This is a pdf file.
• CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries - From the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
• Weeding Brochure - Brochure in PDF format from California libraries. It is located in the section of the page with the "Weeding Resources" subtitle.
• Weeding as a Part of Collection Development - This has a guide to weeding the various Dewey Decimal categories. This is by Pamela K. Kramer.
• Weeding Your Library Collection - A guide for New Zealand school libraries from the National Library of New Zealand.
• Weeding Library Collections - there are many ideas on how to get rid of the unwanted materials. This is from the Library Success Wiki.
• Tips for Weeding Your Reference Collection

Preservation and Repair of Books and Other Materials

• A Simple Book Repair Manual - by the Dartmouth Libraries
• Preservation - An online resources for preservation of materials by the Northeast Document Conservation Center.
• Book Repair - a guide to book repair from the University of Michigan libraries.
• Repair and Enclosure Treatments Manual - by Gary Harrison of Indiana University Libraries. This site has repair instructions, and many definitions and descriptions of book repair terms and materials.
• The Preservation of Pop Up and Moveable Books - By the Baldwin Library. This is a video.
• Book Arts Web - Information on bookbinding, repair, and conservation. This site also has links to related sites.
• Digital Preservation - This is a video from the Library of Congress. You may find it helpful in preserving your personal digital files like e-mail and photos.

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This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, school librarian (retired), Philadelphia, PA. Please address any comments, additions, or corrections to info@sldirectory.com.