Principal Meeting

I realized I never documented the meeting my supervisor had with her principal regarding how library funds are spent.  My supervisor had prepared a PowerPoint presentation explaining her rational for selecting books (1. supports curriculum, 2. encourages love of reading).  Other factors include increasing nonfiction "enjoyment" reading for Common Core, purchasing through Follet (district preferred) and Let's Read (book fair funds, all titles Spanish).  She does not purchase titles that have not either been professionally reviewed, been suggested by another teacher/librarian/trusted source, or that she has not personally read.

With a budget of around $8000 (raised from donations and through PTA, plus book fair funds), she spends half on non-fiction, with a focus on a specific Dewey range each year.  She weeds the range, identifies needs, and finds books to meet those needs.  She also asks for titles or topics from staff and has a suggestion jar for students, although they mainly request fiction.

This school has a Spanish Immersion program.  Half of the campus is part of that.  Students in grades K-2 check out books only in Spanish.  In grades 3-5, students may check out 2 books in Spanish and 1-3 (depending on grade level) in English.  The collection of picture books in Spanish is fairly well-developed, as is the chapter book Spanish collection.  The nonfiction is the least developed, for a few reasons.

First, nonfiction titles on the curriculum areas written in Spanish are difficult to find (if they exist) and generally more expensive than their English counterparts.  Second, when materials exist, they often are not reviewed.  Third, they are almost always translations, and sometimes the reviewers note they are not very good translations.  All of this combined means the nonfiction Spanish collection needs more development, but because of lack of availability, it's a real challenge to find those titles.

The Spanish Immersion teachers (or at least one of them?) would like for 60% of funds to be spent on Spanish titles since they cost more/wear out more quickly (often they are only available in Paperback).  The Teacher Librarian does not agree.  First, every student at the school reads in English, while only half read in Spanish.  Second, the range of available titles in Spanish is not as broad, and purchasing books for the sake of purchasing them is not a good use of funds.  Finally, there are specific curriculum topics, such as the California Gold Rush, that just are not available in Spanish.  Fifth grade students all complete i-search papers in English.  Setting a rule about a percentage of funds for Spanish vs. English titles does not help the Teacher Librarian meet the needs of the students or the school.

The principal asked the TL to present the PowerPoint at an upcoming retreat for Spanish Immersion teachers.  Hopefully, when the teachers understand the goals of the collection, they will understand why setting a specific percentage to be spent on Spanish titles is not the best way to handle library funding.  They may also see why it is essential that they be active participants in developing the library's collection--particularly the collection in Spanish since they are all bilingual.

It was interesting to observe the process, especially since I've been working on collection development projects in both English and Spanish and know first-hand how little is available in Spanish.  For one of my sections, there were only 7 titles available in Spanish, and they were all similar titles, so the library would not need to purchase all seven.  I do understand why it might appear to the Spanish Immersion teachers that they aren't getting "enough" books, but I think once they realize that the TL is really trying, they will understand.  And, hopefully, they'll start emailing suggested titles as they find them, because that would really be helpful.

This made me think about how to involve staff in collection development in the future.  Clearly, sending out emails does not work.  I did respond to those as a teacher, but I think I was the exception rather than the rule.  Attending department/grade level meetings, getting extra paper copies of catalogs and asking teachers for "wish lists," asking for lists of major curriculum topics, etc. might help.  I know a lot of schools, particularly secondary schools, use online forms for book requests.  One librarian I worked with asked teachers for copies of assignments they brought students to the library to work on, and then referred to them when selecting titles.

I don't know that any of that is really effective, though.  Teachers have a lot on their plates, so it's hard to figure out what exactly would motivate them to get involved in selecting titles for the library.  Maybe designating one person per grade level/subject area as "library liason" and making it part of their job?  This is a tricky one.