Collection Assessment and Management for School Libraries: Preparing for Cooperative Collection Development

A leader in cooperative collection development for the school library presents a framework for developing school library collections in today's era of "access vs. ownership" and cooperative resource sharing. This guide provides new tools and techniques for analyzing collections, including "ready-to-use" collection data-gathering forms and collection assessment and analysis worksheets. Also included are examples of a written collection development policy, a selection policy, a copyright policy and procedures, and an Internet use policy. It shows how to map the school curriculum, represent library collections using automated circulation data, and document priorities for the collection. The guide is based on the premise that school library media specialists must have a clear understanding of their collection strengths and needs before participating in cooperative collection development in order to "think globally but act locally." The author provides more than 30 collection assessment tools, worksheets, and exemplary written sample collection policies that have proven effective in school library media centers and can be adapted for use in grades K through 12.

DEBRA E. KACHEL is Department Chairperson of School Library Media Services at the Ephrata Area School District in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.