Assignment+3

**Assignment 3- Collection Evaluation **
 * LIBE 463 **

**Background Information ** As I previously mentioned in assignment 2 the school that I work at has seen significant changes in the library over the past ten years. The biggest change has come in the amount of time the school receives for library services. Currently, the librarian is employed .3 (1 ½ days a week). The library has also seen 4 different librarians in the past 10 years, and each had different visions in the way the collection should be added to and maintained. The school also changed in the past 7 years from being a kindergarten to grade 7 school to being a kindergarten to grade 5 school which has resulted in a change in the needs of the library collection. As a result many books remain in the library collection are not age appropriate reading material or relevant subjects for the kindergarten to grade 5 group. While light weeding of older leveled books was done when the school reconfigured several years ago, much of the collection needed a more through weeding. The current librarian weeded the collection when the library collection had to be boxed and stored while the library floor was refinished and the shelving was reconfigured. However he admittedly weeded lightly as to not “empty the shelves entirely of books.” **Process ** For this assignment I choose an evaluation process to guide me. I took my inspiration from the website article //Library Media Program: Evaluation// by Joyce Valenza. In her article she outlined four steps that a librarian should take when evaluating a collection. First you need to identify the information that needs to be collected. In my case I am looking at the 900 section in the library that contains books about Canada. Secondly, Valenza states that you need to determine how to collect the information. I looked at several ways but I was at the mercy of the current librarian as I don’t have the authority to run diagnostic tests on the library catalogue. In talking with the school librarian he agreed to run Title Wise to assess the school library collection. He also ran a report on the reference section of the library using the Destiny catalogue. Next Valenza states that you need to determine how the information will be organized. I have decided to organize my findings in charts and then to evaluate the information in paragraph form. The final step is to determine how the information will be used and shared. I will be sharing the information with the current school librarian and principal in a condensed document of this report. **Quantitative Data ** The first report that the school librarian ran was a general report using the Destiny catalogue on the age of the non-circulation reference materials in the collection. A quick summary of the collection has highlighted that there are 42 catalogued books in the reference section of the library. Below in the chart I have broken it down by the age of materials based on publication date.

 ||  **Number of Books ** ||  || 1 ||  || <span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">6 || <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"> || <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">12 || <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"> || <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">33 ||
 * <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"> **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Age of Materials **
 * <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">1 to 5 years old
 * <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">6 to 10 years old
 * <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">11 to 20 years old
 * <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">21 years or older

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">What the report shows is that the current state of the non-circulating reference materials is outdated and most materials need to be replaced or deleted from the collection either because of age or grade level appropriateness. Many of the reference books were purchased at a time when the school was K to 7. The needs of a grade 7 student are very different from the needs of a kindergarten student and many books are inappropriate for a K to 5 school. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The second report that the school librarian ran on the library collection was the Title Wise Collection Analysis by Follett. The current library collection contains 41 books per student. The average age of a book in the collection is 1990 or 21 years old. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Analysis Overview (Report Analysis current as of February 1, 2011)


 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Overall Collection Information ** ||  ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Data Integrity ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">93.37% of holdings recognized ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"># of Records ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">10800 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Average Book Age ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1990 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Items per student ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">41.88 ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">For the purposes of this assignment I will be focusing specifically on books in the 900, 910, and 970’s call numbers. This is the area of the collection that I would use to teach a social studies unit on Canada. The following reports are from the 900, 910, and 970 call numbers.

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Geography and History ** ||  ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">900’s Collection information **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"># of Records ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">24 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Average Book Age ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1986 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">% of Collection ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">0.22% ||

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Geography and Travel ** ||  ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">910’s Collection information **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"># of Records ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">271 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Average Book Age ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1983 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">% of Collection ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">2.44% ||

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">General History of North America ** ||  ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">970’s Collection information **
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"># of Records ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">202 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Average Book Age ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1993 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">% of Collection ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1.82% ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The report shows that the average book age for a book in the 900’s was 1986 or 25 years old. The books in this section are far too old considering that they are on geography and history. The world has changed remarkably in the past 25 years and therefore this section requires weeding. The average book age for a book in the 910’s was 1983 or 28 years. Upon further investigation I discovered that most of the books in this section were above the reading level of even the grade 5 students in the school. Again this section needs to be weeded. The last section 970’s fared much better. The average book age was 1993 or 18 years old. About 25% of the 202 books were age appropriate for a grade 3 student reading at grade level. When I asked the teacher librarian why the age of the books newer in the 970’s then the 900 or 910’s he stated that it was because the books in the other areas were not as relevant to the K to 5 curriculum and it was important to direct funding on what was the most useful. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Qualitative ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Since I am on maternity leave I was unable to physically access the school library to evaluate the books. I had to rely on conversations that I had with the school librarian about the use and condition of the books in the library. I also taught a unit on Canada in the fall of this previous school year so I also relied on my personal knowledge of the collection. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">When gathering materials for my Canada unit in the fall I found that a fair number of the books were either outdated, or beyond the reading level of the students I was teaching. The overall condition of the books was fair as many of the books were hard cover and the books are rarely signed out. At the time of teaching the unit I sought out other appropriate materials from the local public library to supplement what I found in the school library. When I talked to the school librarian about the age of materials and reading levels, he expressed his frustration over the state of the collection. He explained that as much as he would like to remove the books from the library collection he was hesitant to do so to as it would “empty the shelves” because there is no budget to replace the materials. Additionally he told me that most teachers in the school past and current do not use the books from this collection to teach. Most teachers have their own resources or rely on other sources. Based on library reports students and teachers rarely sign out materials in the 900, 910, 970 area of the collection. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Collection Mapping Data ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">To also get a sense of the materials in the collection I ran a quick search on the collection on the amount of books that supported the social studies learning outcomes. The first search I did was using the broad grade 3 social studies topics.


 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Search Term ** ||  **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Average Book Age **  ||  **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Amount of Books **  ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Skills **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> **and processes** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Not available || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">0 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Identity, culture and society ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Not available || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">0 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Governance ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">1981 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">76 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Economy and technology ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Not available || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">0 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Human and physical environment ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Not available || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">0 ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">My findings show that there are not many books in the library to support these topics. Since I realize that my search terms were broad I decided to narrow my search down to see if I could find more materials by being more specific.


 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Search Term ** ||  **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Average Book Age **  ||  **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Amount of Books **  ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Communities ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">2004 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">6 ||
 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Canadian Society ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Not available || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">0 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Canadian Government ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">2000 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">3 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Canadian Geography ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">200 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">3 ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Provinces and Territories ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">2000 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">13 ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">My catalogue search findings show that there are not many books available for teaching the grade 3 social studies curriculum. I partially attribute the lack of books found in the catalogue because of the search engine itself. From personal experience I realize that there is more books available then what came up in the search engine. Some books may be improperly catalogued or they may not be recognized by the search engine. It just shows that physically searching the shelves for books may be more beneficial then relying solely on the search engine. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Strengths of the collection ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">-There are 41 books available for each student in the school <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">-The collection is searchable from home and is available in a word search or a visual search **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Weaknesses of the collection ** **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">- It is difficult to search for books using search terms from the curriculum ** **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">-many of the books are beyond the readability level of the students. ** **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">-The average age of a book in the collection is 25 years + ** **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">-Some of the curriculum topic areas have very few books ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">- <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Poor library circulation of non-fiction materials **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Recommendations ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">-Look at improving the search ability of the catalogue <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">-Create a 5 year plan for updating the collection <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">-Write a proposal to request additional funds to purchase new materials <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">-Create a list of books and materials that can be used to teach different units **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Reflection ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">I found this assignment to be very interesting. While I am not currently a teacher librarian I see the value in conducting a full evaluation report on each of the curriculum areas to assess gaps in the collection. This information can prove invaluable when deciding what books to purchase to update or improve the collection. Conducting a evaluation report could also aid in the requesting of additional funds from the school principal, school parent advisory council or applying for grants. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The teacher-librarian can provide leadership in ensuring that the library collection is being updated and being used to its maximum potential by school staff and students. Some of the ideas I have gathered to increasing circulation of all library materials are creating a new book area in the library to advertise the new books. Another idea is to place book markers that stick out of the top of book to state that a book is new. Additionally to ensure that library materials are being used is to teach library skills to students. For example older students could be sent on a scavenger hunt around the collection to find different materials. Sending students on a scavenger hunt can get students excited about what the library has to offer them. Librarians also can do book talks to “sell” books to students or to get students excited about new books. A teacher librarian can also plan a co teaching a unit with a colleague. Co teaching a unit can allow a teacher librarian to introduce a colleague to materials or a new way of using resources that are available. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Reference List ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Valenza, Joyce. (2011). //Library Media Program: Evaluation.// Retrieved January 20, 2011, from ( <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[]