Bobbi Craig, CO Sales

Consultantbobbi.craig@macki

n.com1-800-245-9540

Collection Development for

the Busy Librarian!

A Little About Me..

• Certified librarian in Jeffco Schools for 17 years• Opened elementary, middle and high school level• Worked at district level with technology and

collection development• Collaboration and knowing student and teacher

needs is key to quality collection development• Mackin sales consultant for 3 years

A little about Mackin…

• In business for over 25 years nationwide• Family owned, small business—customized

services• World’s largest K-12 online database –over

2.5 million titles, and 18,000 publishers• Fill rate 95-100%• Competitive pricing• CLiC-CO 5% discount

Free Services

• Collection Analysis• Weeding Guidelines• Title Recommendations and TitleMatch• Free shipping, processing, cataloging• Free Mylar, reading labels, shelf ready• Compendium (* review materials for last 6

months)• SLJ and Publisher’s Weekly online

Collection Development

• Definition– Collection Development is the planned

identification, selection, acquisition, and evaluation of library resources in various formats to match the instruction, research and recreational reading needs of the students, teachers, and administrators over a two to three year time period.

Processes of Collection Development

• Selection

• Weeding

• Strategies for continuing acquisitions

• Evaluation of collections to ascertain how well they serve user needs

• Accessing Resources

Collection Development

• What is the main purpose for doing a collection map?– To help you in selection and weeding decisions– To show the relationship between the library

collection and the curriculum– To demonstrate to teachers, students parents,

administrators, and community the strengths and weaknesses of the library’s collection

– To provide a basis for funding requests

Collection Mapping Questions

• Since the primary purpose of the school library is to support the school's curriculum, and independent reading needs of students, the categories of the collection map are based on the curricular needs of the school. – What is the size of the current collection?  – What is the quality of the current collection? – What is the condition of the collection? – Does the collection represent appropriate reading

levels, and target gender and multicultural differences?

Collection Mapping Facts

Collection mapping can be limited to the sections you want to focus on based upon teacher, student, and curricular needs.

Collection Mapping

• An effective assessment uses techniques to gather two kinds of data: – Quantitative– Qualitative

Qualitative Analysis

Condition Copyright Decade

 N 1962 60

G 2002 00

 F 1997 90

   

   

   

60’s 10

70’s 30

80’s 60

90’s 90

Condition indicator: Decade # of books

Area Selected:970’sSize of Section:240 books

Good (g) 90

Fair (f) 85

Soon (s) 35

Now (n) 30

Condition # of books

Collection Mapping

• Qualitative Analysis– Surveys and observations

on how clients use the collection.

– Analyze curricular needs– Mapping Data

• Analyze every 10th book in a section based on condition and age

– Reading Level– Shelf Appeal

• Analyze Database Resources

Good (g) Fair(f) Soon(s) Now(n)

  Mapping Data  

Condition Copyright Decade

N 1964 60

F 1987 80

G 1993 90

N 1973 70

N 1975 70

S 1994 90

N 1963 60

F 1981 80

     

970’s 240 materials

Quantitative Analysis Includes:

Use Mackin’s graphs, charts and collection analysis to show the strengths and weaknesses of the collection

• Number of materials in collection

• Number of materials per topic in collection

• % of a section in total collection

• Number of books per student – Per grade level

– Per section

• Graphs indicating age and Dewey comparison

How do I improve my collection?

• Analyze collection for strengths and weaknesses using collection analysis

• Make an Action Plan based on your analysis

• Decide on areas which need improvement and focus on those areas to build your collection.

Goal (s) Strategies Partners Measure/Success

Example:The American

History (970) section will be analyzed based upon the Mackin software program and librarian evaluation

Example:1. Ask teachers to work with you on

putting together a list of topics they teach during the American History unit.

2. Using Mackin collection analysis, print 970’s to see average age, number of books, and % of collection compared to recommended collection.

3. Jot down curricular topics for which you have gaps--no books but teachers research this topic.

4. Use Mackin Title Collection Development Service to provide titles to fill in the gaps or use the Mesa list to fill in the gaps of your collection.

5. Distribute title list to teachers and have them highlight the 10 most books which best meet their curricular needs.

6. Acquisition of materials—--Mackin provides shelf ready materials no charge!

Example:1. Eighth grade

teachers2. Volunteer parents3. Instructional or

curriculum coach4. Students

Example:1. Out of date and not

used books might be weeded from the collection based upon:

Teacher recommendations

Mackin analysis Curriculum that

includes American History

2. Teachers and students are checking out and using American History resources for research

3. Shelf appeal of the 970’s is greater

Action Plan

Adapted from Nance NassarSchool Library Senior Consultant Copied with permission Colorado State Library

“Next to emptying the outdoor book drop on cold and snow days, weeding is the most undesirable job in the library. It is also one of the most important. Collections that go un-weeded tend to be cluttered, unattractive and unreliable information sources.”

-Will Manley, “ The Manley Arts,” Booklist, March 1, 1996, p. 108.

Weeding

Weeding Overview

Mackin provides weeding recommendations based on your

specifications! These are statistical, not qualitatitive.

Older Titles to Consider for Weeding

Acquisitions

• A Collection Development Plan targets gaps in your collection. Acquisitions are focused on these specific gaps and tied to content standards and curriculum.

• Your Collection Development Plan should grow your collection to meet curricular, teacher and student needs.

• Go to www.mackin.com

New Search Screen

We now remember your last five searches, and will pre-populate the fields if you’d like to search those same parameters again, or refine the same search for more detailed results.

Quick Search

Quick Search allows you to perform a search from any screen on Mackin.com.

Can’t find what you want?

• Mackin provides a free title recommendation service—simply tell us what you need and our certified librarians will put together a list based on your specifications! We can also base these on the Mesa lists Donna provided.

Key Benefits of Collection Map

Specific needs of your library are addressed through an evaluation of your collection

Your collection grows in quality as you develop each section based on standards and curriculum

Budget management becomes more effective because you know where you are and where you need to be

Circulation increases as your collection meets the needs of students and teachers

We provide tools for

Collection Development

Collection AnalysisWeeding Guidelines

Title Recommendations