ALA Collection Development Paper

Originally for this assignment I had intended to evaluate the collection development policy for my school district, Richardson ISD, but found that the document was a small portion of a much larger instructional operation guide. Unfortunately, the policy itself was incomplete and fragments of the policy were found in multiple documents in different locations and not combined in a singular document. Therefore, I sought to evaluate a policy that was presented in a more cohesive way. For this assignment, I chose to critique the collection development policy for the Jackson Public School District libraries.

Overall, the policy itself is well structured and follows suggestions for the basic criterion that should be included in a policy. These

While the policy calls for selected materials to have favorable review, it does not give a list of suggested resources to consult for these positive reviews. The policy also suggests that the media specialist may take suggestions for materials to add to the collection, but does not specify the manner in which this is to be completed. Another weakness that I noticed when compared to the ALA recommendations, was that the criteria did not specify application to audio and visual materials. Additionally, while the policy does mention the weeding process, it does not provide the detailed guidelines by which materials should be weeded from the collection. One of the strengths of the policy was that it promoted selecting materials that offer balanced viewpoints on controversial

This portion essentially helps prevent the library from becoming a textbook storage facility. From the perspective of a school district, I think that it would strengthen the policy by adding information about how to handle the sharing of materials via inter-library loan. I think it would be helpful to add the specification that all books adopted into the library are to become available for inter-library loan. This would mandate the sharing of materials within the district and expand access of materials to students and staff. Furthermore, having a standard for adding all materials to the online catalog, a district-wide standard for cataloging and organization (Dewey Decimal or other), and yearly inventory would strengthen the policy by adding consistency and accountability for each library within the district. Another recommendation that I would suggest would fall into the student rights portion. I would add a portion limiting the amount of time that an outstanding fine or lost book could prevent a student from checking out materials, especially if the student can provide proof of financial hardship. Additionally, I think that it would be beneficial to add details to the special areas section. One specification that I would consider