Collection Development Policies and Procedures in School Libraries

"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

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.
Creating Your Collection Development Policy: Things to Consider - By Jessica Bombardier for the Massachusetts School Library Association, 2/15/22.
Collection Development Policy - The Mississippi Department of Education.
School Library Book Selection - The trustees shall select the books.From the Montana Code, 2021. Who these trustees are is defined Here
Standards for School Library Resource Collections - State of South Carolina, 2016.
School Library Collection Framework - Guidelines for writing a collection development policy. From the South Dakota State Library, 2021
AASL Position on Labeling Practices - Feb. 18, 2021
Policy and Procedure Best Practices in School Libaries - By the Cooperative Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. March 22, 2023. Read this before starting to write your policy.
Key Issues for e-Resource Collection Development: A Guide for Libraries - by Sharon Johnson et al, January, 2012.

Selection Policies

Selection Criteria - For school and public libraries. This is from The American Library Association. January, 2018
ALA Workbook for Selection Policy Writing - 1998
School Library Selection Policy - St. Bonaventure School Library, Huntington Beach, CA.
Collection Development Policy - of the Urban School library, San Francisco, CA.
University Laboratory High School Collection Development Policy - Urbana, IL.
Selection Policy Guide - From the New York City School Library System.
Library Material Selection Policy - For Wellesley, MA School District.
Selection and Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School, and Academic Libraries - From the American Library Association, January, 2018.
Proposed Collection Development Rules for School Libraries - Much attention is paid to the content of materials and to the people who will or will not approve the materials. Fron the Texas Library Association.
A Content Analysis of District School Library Selection Policies in the United States - by April M. Dawkins and Emily C. Eidson. An analysis of school library selection policies which found that school librarians may need to review their policies and keep them current. In School Library Research, November, 2021

Selection Policies for Electronic Materials and Internet Sites

As a school librarian, you may have to see what university policies say and adapt to it to your needs.

Collection Development Policy - Electronic Resources - The University of Alabama Libraries.
Library Collection Development Procedures: Selecting Electronic Resources - From the University of Texas Library at El Paso
Collection Policy Statement: Electronic resources. - From the University of Maryland

Policies for the Use of Social Media in Schools

Five Ways to Keep Social Media From Being a Legal Headache - an article by Bradley Shear in THE Journal, 3/17/02015.
Social Media Policy for Employees - The Des Moines Public Schools
Social Media Policy - Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, PA.
Social Media Policy for Employees and Associated Persons - Los Angeles Unified School District.
Social Media Policy for Students - Los Angeles Unified School District.
Social Media Guidance for Staff - Fairfax County Public Schools,
iPad Policies and Procedures - Keystone School, San Antonio, TX
e-Readers and e-Books - More information on policies for e-readers.
Library Privacy Guidelines for Students in K - 12 Schools - This addresses the need to protect student data.

Book Prices

Average Book Prices 2023 - From School Library Journal. February 29, 2024. You may need to fight your way through the adertisements to get to this.
Average Book Prices, 2022 - From School Library Journal, March 2, 2022.
Average Book Prices, 2021 - From School Library Journal, Feb. 20, 2021
Average Book Prices, 2020 - From School Library Journal. May 12, 2020
Average Book Prices 2019 - School Library Journal, March, 2019.
Average Book Prices, 2018 - School Library Journal, March 2018.

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Collection Evaluation and Weeding

Assessing Your Library Collection - by the National Library of New Zealand Services to Schools.
The Crew manual - From the Yavapai Library Network
NoveList Core Collections Weeding Checklist - Updated July, 2020.
Weeding Brochure - Brochure in PDF format from California libraries.
NYC School Librarian Guidebook: Weeding - January, 2021
Tips for Weeding Your Reference Collection - From the Collection Reflection blog.
Weeding e-books - Recommendations - From the Collection management Committee of the Consortium of College and Research Libraries of Illinois. June, 2022
I Feel the Need to Weed: Maintaining an E-Book Collection - An article by Jennifer Cully in the Southeastern Librarian, April, 2015.

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 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.
Introduction to Scanning - This is a video from the Library of Congress which gives instructions for making digital images of photographs.

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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.