Re: Classroom collections

[Shereen West <wests@PRIDE.NWSC.K12.AR.US>]

Having been a librarian long enough to have started  libraries in schools
which had none (in the 70's), I'd like to add my comments to this
discussion.  At that time, any materials owned by the school which were not
consumable or texts were collected, cataloged, and placed in the library.
Classroom collections were to be only materials owned by the teacher.
As new items were ordered by teachers, they were routed through the library
for cataloging before being checked back out (sometimes for a year at a
time) to the ordering teacher.  This gave the library control of all
materials in the school and provided access for a class needing to use a
piece of realia (a skeleton, say) which resided in the biology department
closet.
At the time, I believed this was a state-wide practice (it was in
Missouri).
When I came to Arkansas, no such practice was in place.  I still think
(even though it makes much more cataloging work for us) that it is a good
idea, and keeps materials from walking when teachers leave the district.
Are there any of you working in districts which do this?
Even though the teachers in my building who are holders of large
collections are also among the most avid users of the library, I can still
see that a progression of this idea through several more years may lead us
right back to where the libraries were previously--that is, nonexistent.
Would administrators of schools where most classrooms have resources of
their own come to the conclusion that the school library is unnecessary?

Shereen West,
Librarian
Siloam Springs, Arkansas, Middle School
wests@pride.nwsc.k12.ar.us

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