Collection Management for Youth: Responding to the Needs of Learners » (1st Edition)

Hassell and Mancall, both professors of information science at Drexel University, recommend a plan for operation of school media centers. The plan will help youth librarians develop and manage collections that meet the changing needs of learners and tap into the school's learning community to build partnerships. About 25 pages of reproducible tools for learner-centered collection management are included. The book will be used by school library media specialists, youth librarians in public libraries, and educators. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Ann T. Reddy-Damon - VOYA

Hughes-Hassell and Mancall provide a concise and practical resource for examining library collection development through a constructivist lens focused on the needs of student learners. When this theoretical shift in education is coupled with the change in the amount and accessibility of resources available in libraries, the authors offer a more appropriate model of collection development, called the Collaborative Access Environment, which incorporates community partnerships as well. The most helpful section of this book focuses on the strategies for implementing this learner-centered collaborative environment. Beginning with the necessity for policy development, the authors offer charts and examples for the reader to use. Equally valuable are the shifting questions offered for analyzing the collection. For example, rather than simply questioning the age, usage, and condition of the collection, the reader is asked to consider the appropriateness of the collection based on factors such as learning abilities and intelligences within grade levels, community identity, and curricular standards. The budget section offers key considerations for presenting proposals based on both the collection analysis and learners' needs. In their preface, the authors give the genesis of this work as arising from workshops they have provided on the shifting role of the library media specialist. For those librarians looking for concrete ways to help shift their roles from the "experts" to the "guides," this resource is invaluable in an era of accountability in public schools. 2005, ALA Editions, 104p.; Index., $35 pb. Ages adult professional.