Collection Development: Think Local
Marcia Mardis and I are team-teaching Literature and Media for Children and Young Adults at the School of Information at the University of Michigan this fall. We have talked quite a bit about “good books for kids,” who determines what is a “good book,” whose opinions librarians should heed most, and the collection development/resource evaluation decisions that are part of the work of a librarian or information professional who works with the under-college age crowd.
It’s a conversation that has been picking up in intensity since rumors began coming out of Wasilla, Alaska, about Sarah Palin’s alleged censorship conversations or activities. The CHILD_LIT listserv has been actively discussing “good books,” especially in the wake of Anita Silvey’s article for School Library Journal questioning whether the Newbery Medal should reflect books kids actually want to read.
Library Journal ran a thoughtful interview on Tuesday with Alaska children’s librarian Charlotte Glover about collection development and how local patrons and interests guide the collection. It’s a thoughtful, realistic look at how we balance limited budgets with patron interests. The final paragraph of the interview sums up much of what we have discussed in class:
Personally, I’ve never liked didactic books that preach to children…about anything. They tend to be poorly written and have badly drawn art. There are lots of picture books I just don’t have an audience for…the recent run of Holocaust-related picture books, for instance, is just not what my pre-school parents and teachers are looking for at bedtime and story hour, though I have a generous selection of related fiction and nonfiction in other parts of my children’s library for more mature readers. If I lived in Skokie, IL, for instance, and I had grandparent survivors of the Holocaust using my library, I would likely think differently. The Wasilla library knows its patrons best, and they should be treated as the professionals they are and be allowed to decide what goes on their shelves. In Ketchikan, our patrons give us lots of purchase requests and ideas about what they would like to see on the shelves. We have plenty of controversial titles, but we never buy anything unless we have a user group for it.
November 30th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Okay, so I’m behind in my reading of your blog but I totally agree with the final paragraph of the interview mentioned above. I find that even between elementary schools in my district there is a difference among student requests for new titles and check outs of certain titles. I can’t keep any of my 4 copies of The Invention of Hugo Cabret on the shelf. The third and fourth graders are all devouring it. Many of them are sharing it with parents at home (hurray)! But currenly, another building in the district doesn’t even have one copy listed in their records. Obviously, those students are not clamoring for the book. Meeting the needs of my patrons is one of my library joys.