This is the third blog post in a series about library book selection in Maryland (originally published on the Maryland Association of School Librarians blog on December 27, 2023).

In earlier posts you read about processes for evaluating and selecting books from high school librarian Brittany Tignor, and former middle school librarian Dr. Jennifer Sturge, who is now a school library coordinator in her county school system.  While each of our Maryland school systems has a slightly different book evaluation and selection process, our ultimate goal is the same: to curate a library collection of quality books that encourage our students to read. 

This post will be about an elementary school librarian’s process for selecting books for her school library collection. My name is Melissa King, and I am an elementary school librarian in Montgomery County Public Schools.  In our school system of 211 schools (and counting!) we have a well-honed process for reviewing and selecting books for our diverse school communities and school libraries. Every school library media specialist in MCPS is part of the evaluation and selection process.

It is extremely important for me to include books that reflect my students and also shed light on different perspectives.  Ohio State University professor, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, in her article, “Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”, stated, “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror.” 

This means that I want to have books in my library that students can see themselves in, books that they can learn about people different from them, and also have books where they can immerse themselves into the story. It means that I make thoughtful consideration of books that I include in my library collection.

There’s many steps that go into developing a library collection. Just as Jen mentioned in her blog post, I also believe it is both an art and a science. One way that I identify books that I would like to add to my school library collection is by following fellow school librarians, as well as authors and illustrators on social media. I use social media as a professional learning network, and read about newly published titles online.  Additional ways in which to learn about new book titles is to read professional review publications such as Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist Online, and Publishers Weekly. I utilize TeachingBooks, a helpful online resource that my county school system purchases. Follett Destiny, our online library catalog system, provides a variety of book and library resources, including Titlewave professionally curated content, and TitleWise collection analysis.  Lastly, I seek, and receive, book recommendations from my colleagues and requests from students, who are ready to share their thoughts about topics and favorite authors.

For a book to be added to an MCPS school library collection, it goes through a formal evaluation and selection process. MCPS Regulation IIB-RA, Evaluation and Selection of Instructional Materials and Library Books guides my evaluation.

When I evaluate a book, I look at the entire book, from cover to cover, including the end papers, illustrations, photographs, author’s notes, and backmatter. I review the grammar, spelling, and all the text details of the book.  With nonfiction books, I review the diagrams, captions, author’s notes, bibliography, and glossary.  

When I am evaluating a book, I am looking to see if it will expand my students’ knowledge and help them learn about something new.  I analyze my collection using the tools available in our online library catalog, and search for books to fill in where the selection is dated or limited.

Fiction chapter books are available in many genres, including realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery, and adventure. They are also available in different formats, including graphic novels, novels in verse, and illustrated novels. It is important to have a wide variety of genres to allow for student choice. Many of my students love book series, so I work to have a complete set of their favorites as well.  

When evaluating fiction titles with illustrations (such as graphic novels and illustrated novels) and picture books, I look for diversity in the topic, theme, setting, and the characters. My students love to laugh, to dream, to empathize, to explore, to learn – so it is important to add books to my collection that encompass all of these.

I look at the publisher’s suggested age of the reader.  I want to have a variety of reading levels from beginner to more advanced, so our fiction chapter book and middle grade section meets the needs of all readers in my school.

Once I have completed my evaluation, I share it, and the book, with a second school librarian in our county, so that they can give their input.  The MCPS guidelines require each library book to have been evaluated by two educators, with at least one being an Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) certified school library media specialist. 

After the evaluation has been submitted into our Database of Accountable Evaluations and been verified, the information is sent to our cataloger, who creates a MARC record so that we can add the book to our school collections (a MARC record is a MA chine-Readable Cataloging record).

Once that step is complete, then my school’s media assistant or I add the book into our school’s Destiny online library database using the ISBN number to identify the book and its MARC record. The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique for each book title and type (hardcover, paperback, digital, etc). We place a sticker with our catalog barcode number to identify the specific copy, a spine label with its shelf address, and often, a spine label genre sticker.  If it is a hardcover book with a dust cover, we also place a plastic cover over it to protect it.  For paperbacks, we will also reinforce the spine and binding by placing book tape over the book spine.

Once the processing is complete, then the book is placed on display in my library with a “New Book – Check it Out” bookmark to call students’ attention to it. I also “book talk” new books, or read the first page of the first chapter – I call it a “First Page Read Aloud” to introduce them to the book, and pique their interest. I also have two larger bulletin boards in the hallway outside of the library where I regularly spotlight books and reading.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my article, I believe library collection development is both an art and a science. The goal of which is to watch a student come into my library, find that perfect book, and to see their face light up with a big smile, hugging their book as they come up to the counter to check it out.  And if I am lucky, I will see them come the next day (or soon after) to return it, and to find another book in the collection that makes them smile again.

I believe that S. R. Ranganathan, who proposed The 5 Laws of Library Science in the 1920s, would be thrilled to know that 100 years later, our evaluation and selection processes helps our school libraries grow like living organisms, that we absolutely know books are for use, and that our book talks and displays of books help every reader find his or her book –  and finally, that every book has its reader.

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