Weeding Xtranormal

Assignment 5: LIBE 463 Resource Selection Project

My Selection Report linked below is based on my exploration of the Frost Road Elementary School Library in the Surrey School District. The area of the curriculum that these resources relate to is the topic of the environment. I have tried to include resources which conveyed a lot of information through their pictures because of the high ESL population in the school. I also tried to include some materials in a variety of formats such as the eBook and DVD format but found very few. In reality there are some good free video clips on the internet through Discovery Channel and the Smart Board online resources so I would probably access video materials more through that avenue. This library already has three videos as well on the topic in its collection. The materials I have chosen are current and I have tried to include materials to reflect different cultures. I referred to the guidelines in the Ministry of Education Document, Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide when examining materials. I browsed different review tools such as Booklist, Kirkus, Quill and Quire, School Library Journal, Horn Book, and Voya but was unable to get into many due to subscription barriers. I was also unable to enter into ERAC or TitleWave. I ended up mainly ordering resources through Kids Books and reviewing through Kirkus. However, I was pleased with using both and would use them again. I found Kirkus to be a reviewing tool which was easy to access. The total of my spending from Kidsbooks came to a total of $651.52. I thought I would also allocate $2000 for a Smart Board system. Purchasing this system would give the students access to a wide variety of hands on, visual resources which are free on the web. I thought this would be an extremely useful format for the high population of ESL learners in the school. I found a great free interactive unit based on the environment for the Smart Board system. This excellent Smart board lesson on the environment can be viewed at the following link: http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?q=environment&region=en_CA&region=en_US. I also thought I would allocate $500 for a Document Camera. This would allow all of the books in the library to become big books as well and other endless possibilities. I would also allocate $600 for four eReaders such as the Kobo or Kindle. Kobo readers have access to the collection in the public library which is a way of increasing the collection that students can access. I am spending the bulk of my budget on technology related items because I feel that these materials will enhance my library collection greatly. I feel the books that I am purchasing within this budget are high in quality, broad in spectrum, and cover all the topics that are missing from this library’s collection. Adding more books might lead to some redundancy in concept coverage. Instead, spending the money on these technology related items will continue to expand the collection in years to come and reach students in an interactive way (which is a component lacking in this library’s collection). This would put my total spending at $3751.52. I would use the remaining money for ordering eBooks as they become available.

I found this assignment particularly useful and I was surprised to find how long it took to develop a list of good resources to order. I also can see, however, that once a list is made up, it would be very quick to actually order the materials. With all the budget cutbacks that are taking place, TLs are being forced to defend their jobs. Burkman states that, “School librarians must respond quickly with efforts to prove library programs are vital to the success of the students.” (Burkman, 2004, p.42).  I think having a list such as this on hand would be incredibly valuable. I feel like I know all of the merits of the books on my list and could express at a moment’s notice how these resources would positively impact student learning to my admin (or anyone else) to advocate for my program. Having a list like this would be very handy to have to show the administration when advocating for more funding. All the time I invested into developing the list will be really valuable later. Also, if I do suddenly come upon additional funding and need to spend it quickly, referring to this list would allow me to order resources very quickly.

Citations:

Ministry of Education, Province of British Columbia. (2002): Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. British Columbia, Learning Resources Branch.

Burkman, Amy. (2004): A Practical Approach to Marketing the School Library. Library Media Connection, 23(3), pp.42-43.

Click on link below for my Selection Project Spreadsheet outlining the resources I have purchased:

Resource Project Spreadsheet 

Assignment 4: LIBE 463 Weeding Project

Introduction:

The focus of this project is to weed out “MUSTY” materials from the library in the section that holds my topic of study which is the environment. This is an extremely important task to do in order to ensure a quality library. “A well-known Taoist proverb states, "Fertile fields cannot produce good crops as long as the weeds are not cleared away." (Allen, 2010). If the shelves are crowded with outdated or poor quality materials students will have difficulty finding the information that they need and may even give up on using the library. A MUSTY library does little to promote the value of the library in today’s schools. Because I am not a TL and I have never met the TL in the school I used for this assignment, it was not my place to actually physically remove the items I selected for weeding from the computer system or the library. Therefore, since I was unable to generate a weeded materials report I have visually documented the materials I have chosen for weeding. The circulation and publishing date reports are linked at the end of this report.

For this project I have chosen to focus on the materials in the 300s section that are on the topic of the environment. I have also examined some materials in the 600s, 700s, and Easy sections as well which are focussed on the topic of the environment.  

Items Selected for Weeding:

In evaluating these materials for weeding I used the circulation reports and the report that listed the publishing dates for the materials. I also referred to the handout of Bishop’s Age and Circulation Guidelines as well as the Guidelines for my School District (Surrey School District). Following is the list of materials I am selecting for weeding and the rationale for why:

·         The Amazing Paper Book (676 BOU)

Paulette Bourgeois

o   Copyright date – 1989

o   Redundant – two copies in collection

o   Information is of little interest

o   Unappealing visually – black and white

·         Celebrating Earth Day (676 GAR)

Robert Gardiner

o   Copyright date – 1992

o   Smells musty – never cracked open

o   Text heavy – uninspiring tables

o   Information is of little interest

o   Unappealing visually – black and white

·         The Recycling Book (745.5 MAC)

Elizabeth MacLeod

o   Copyright date – 1991

o   Unappealing text/images – used only white, black, and blue

o   Information contained is not practical/useful

o   No circulation

·         Waste and Recycling (628.4 JAM)

Barbara James

o   Copyright date – 1990

o   Text heavy

o   Graphics are very dated looking and uninteresting

·         Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling (628.4 KAL)

Bobbie Kalman

o   Copyright date – 1991 (outside of recommended age guidelines)

o   Not circulated within past 3 years (circulated only 2 times in past 5 years)

o   Information is of little interest

                Unappealing visually 

Reflection on Weeding:

I can see the importance of weeding to keep the collection fresh, current and meaningful. This means having a collection that is full of new or well-maintained materials which are accurate. We are at a time where people are feeling like we don’t need libraries because of digital technology. We should not reinforce this image by having materials which are old, outdated, irrelevant and well...useless cluttering up the shelves making the gems hard to find. I can see the need for diligence in weeding. It was time consuming evaluating the resource and I can see where if it was left long enough it could become an overwhelming job. This excercise was useful because it allowed me to see how time consuming it can be and the benefits of knowing the curriculum, the users, and the collection. I think setting aside some time each week to take care of weeding, as suggested in our class, is very wise advice. I can see where weeding will become much faster as experience is gained and once the TL knows the needs of the students, teachers, and curriculum. Even though I was unable to produce a report showing the weeded materials, I see the value in documenting the resources weeded. This way if I need to justify to someone why materials have been weeded from the collection I will have a clear rationale at the ready with examples which will further demonstrate the positive aspects of weeding. The TL in this library appears to be doing a good job making sure her collection is current and useful. She has many gems on the shelf which are easy to access and not lost amongst MUSTY materials.

Publishing Date and Circulation Reports:

Assignment 3: LIBE 463 Collection Evaluation Report

Introduction

I decided to explore the 300s section of the Frost Road Elementary collection and have targeted in on the shelf which contains materials about recycling and the environment. I also investigated some materials in the 500s and 600s sections which related to the topic of the environment. I also examined some materials in the Easy section and the 700s, section which were arts and crafts materials as they related to the environment. I kept in mind the needs of my students and the following PLO’s as I perused these materials:

E2 demonstrate responsible behaviour in caring for their immediate and school environments (Grade 1)

- demonstrate care and concern for the environment in their actions (e.g., reduce, reuse, recycle; avoid disturbing plants and animals during nature walks)

- describe ways they care for their environment at home (e.g., putting away their toys, helping with household chores, recycling)

E2 describe their responsibility to the local environment (grade 2)

- contribute to class discussions about environmental issues (e.g., pollution, over-use of non-renewable resources)

Quantitative Data:

I was able to access the “Destiny” system on the TL’s computer in the library at Frost Road Elementary to run some reports to help me evaluate the collection. The first report I created was to identify the materials in the collection related to recycling and the environment and the dates they were published. This search revealed that there were 25 materials in the collection related to this topic. I totalled up the publishing dates for all of these titles and divided it by the number of materials in the collection and found that the average age of the materials is 9 years old, (published in 2002). The range of publishing dates was 1989 – 2010. According to the guidelines handout we have been given in class this means that in general the collection falls within the acceptable 5-10 year range but it is coming close to the end of it. This tells me that the collection is on its way to becoming older and purchasing newer materials will need to be considered soon. Of these 25 materials, about half of them were purchased within the last five years with five of those resources purchased within the past three years. This makes me think that the TL in this school appears to in the process of updating her collection to keep it current. An examination of the older materials in the section will need to be done to see if they need to be weeded to keep the collection current.

I also created two reports showing the circulation statistics for these materials – one within the past 3 years and one within the past 5 years. I referred to our circulation guide in choosing these dates. The Surrey Teacher Librarian Handbook also has a guide which I referred to as well. From examining these reports, I notice that overall there is a low circulation rate amongst these materials. In the past three years, most (84%) of the materials have only been circulated once or twice with only five materials more than that.  In the past five years, the materials have been signed out an average of 7 times. This makes me ask why these resources are not being circulated and further investigation will be required. Some things I would consider are the location, accessibility, and display of the resources. As well I might want to consult with the teachers to get their perspective on why the materials are not being used. Perhaps they have their own resources and so students are not accessing these? Perhaps this aspect of their curriculum is not a big focus for them? I notice that the arts and crafts books related to the environment have declined in circulation over the two time samplings. This might indicate that it is time to weed some of those older craft books that are no longer being used. All of the materials have been circulated at least once. I also notice that the Easy books have a much higher circulation that the fact books. This might indicate a need for more picture books on this topic. Perhaps pairing up a fact book along with an easy book and advertising them together will increase interest in the latter type of book. There were only three videos which had only been circulated two times each so before ordering more I would check with classroom teachers to see if there is a need for it. Or perhaps a really good quality video is required.

Qualitative Data:

My first observation is that the collection is well organized. There is room on every shelf to easily remove and return materials from. The materials looked new and appealing. There were no materials that were falling apart or had any other apparent problems.

The teacher resource collection had the following pros and cons:

1)      Con - it is stored in the main part of the library right along with the regular collection.  This might be more difficult for a classroom teacher to access during the day because his or her students are in the library during their prep time. It will be difficult for the teacher to focus on getting what he or she needs because of the potential for a lot of interruptions from students who will be working right alongside her in this shared space.

2)      Pro – having the professional resources stored within the library might will help the TL to be aware (if he or she isn’t already) that a teacher is searching for resources on a topic of study and can then can be of assistance to find more resources for that topic or possibly open the door for collaboration. If the professional resources are stored outside of the library, the TL will miss this opportunity to notice what a teacher is searching for.

3)      Con – there were no books in the professional collection on the environment and the collection that is there appears dated.

There are only three videos on the topic of the environment and they have a low circulation rate. Having some current and high interest videos or digital content might be an area of need for this library.

The books that were on the shelves were for the most part, very good books for the age range of the students I am targeting. Most of the books had lots of wonderful visuals and text features and not an overwhelming amount of text. Most of the pictures could stand alone and information could be gathered simply from looking at the pictures. This is something that would be very beneficial given the high ESL population in the school who might have more limited English language skills. There was only one duplicate material and the materials addressed a spectrum of concepts related to the environment. From examining the materials on the shelves it appears that this TL has done a conscientious job of weeding out MUSTY materials and ordering materials that are appropriate to the needs of the students in the school. Below are two pictures that illustrate these good resources:

Collection Mapping:

I was unable to run a report showing the total collection as it compares to the collection about the environment. However, from visually scanning the shelves I am able to estimate that the percentage of materials on the topic of the environment within the library is very low (it only took up about half a shelf). Given that in general these materials have a low circulation rate this might be appropriate to the needs of the library given the reports I have run and conclusions I have made mentioned already. Further investigation with teachers and accessing the TL in the library who might be able to access that report would be helpful in confirming this. I have made a table of some of the resources to show my collection mapping:

Collection Map for books under the theme of Recycling:

Resources	Date	Circ: 2009-2011	Call #	To Keep or Not to Keep?
50 Recycled Crafts for Kids	1996	2 checkouts since 2009	745.5ELL	Keep - but possibly weed soon – check with teachers
The Amazing Paper Book	1989	no circulation	676 BOU	Weed
Reducing and Recycling Waste	2005	4 check outs in 5 years	363.72 INS	Keep – relates to curric
Recycling Materials	2008	4 check outs in 5 years	363.72	Keep – exc graphics
Celebrating Earth Day	1992	no circulation	676 GAR	Weed
The Recycling Book	1991	no circulation	745.5 MAC	Weed
Reducing Garbage	2005	3 checkouts in five years	363.728BAR	Keep – exc for ESL
Reducing, Reusing, & Recycling	1990	2 checkouts in five years	628.4 KAL	Weed
Paper	2001	2 checkouts in three years	676 OXL	Keep – exc for ESL
Composting	2007	4 check outs in 5 years	631.8 KOO	Keep
Waste and Recycling	1990	no circulation	363.72 INS	Weed
Plastic	2001	1 check out in 3 years	668.4 OXL	Keep – exc for ESL
Earth Friendly Waste Management	2009	1 check out in 3 years	363.728 WIL	Keep
This is My Planet	2007	9 check outs in 5 years	363.738THO	Keep

Summary of Findings:

In general, the environmental section of Frost Road Elementary’s collection has materials in it that are in good physical shape and they are organized for easy access on the shelves. The collection has many very good materials in it that are geared toward the needs of the students, particularly the high ESL population. However the collection is getting old. The circulation rate is low for the majority of these materials.

Quantitative:

-          48% of the materials in the section were published within the past five years. 72% of the materials were published within the last eight years. 28% of the materials are nine or more years ago.

-          84% of the materials have only been circulated once or twice. 100% of the materials in the section have been circulated at least once.

Qualitative:

-          Many of the items in the collection were very good resources that were suitable to the needs of the students. The materials had lots of engaging images and text features and it wasn’t too text-heavy. Many of the pictures could stand alone and information could be gathered just from those without having to rely on the text as much. This might be beneficial to the diverse and high ESL population within the school.

Reflection:

This was a very useful activity for me to complete as I feel that it gave me a chance to have a “hands on” chance to apply some of the things we have been learning in class. I can see that with more experience this process of evaluating resources will become easier and more intuitive. I have to say that I really enjoyed my first impression of this school library and found it exciting to think that one day I could manage a library such as the one I examined. I was impressed by the picture I got through the school’s website of the partnership between the PAC and the Teacher Librarian. It appears to me that the TL at Frost Road Elementary does a good job of selecting resources for her library and keeping them organized and current. I have been inspired and will keep this with me if I attain a position as a TL.

A sampling of some of my reports: