The full document is available online at https://bcpslis.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/68240711/CollectionDevelopmentSelectionCriteria.pdf.
THE BALTIMORE COUNTY Public Schools Selection Criteria for School Library Media Center Collections is a full collection development policy, and the sections on assessing and weeding collections are reprinted here.
An essential step in collection development is assessment of the needs of the curriculum and student population with regard to library media resources. Library media specialists will develop yearly and long-range plans to assist in ongoing assessment.
Assessment of the collection includes taking inventory of existing materials, assessing materials in relation to needs of instructional units, and weeding outdated and inappropriate materials.
The inventory is a process by which holdings are checked against the automated cataloging system and the actual item to determine if the resource is still part of the collection and still meets selection criteria. The objective of this inventory is to ensure that the automated cataloging system accurately reflects the collection which is the key access point for students and teachers to locate information within the library.
This procedure should not disrupt the library media program as automation of school library holdings greatly speed up the process using the barcode scanning feature. An annual inventory is recommended as the data is critical to making collection development decisions about the quality and quantity of the collection in meeting the needs of students and staff.
A good collection development plan must include weeding. The process of weeding is a key part of assessing the collection. It helps keep collections relevant, accurate, and useful; and it facilitates more effective use of space in the library media center.
Library media materials should be weeded if they:
• Are in poor physical condition
• Have not been circulated in the last five years
• Are outdated in content, use, or accuracy (Copyright date should be considered; however, do not make a decision to weed based solely on the copyright date of the material. Some older material may be considered classic or may be of great historical value to your collection.)
• Are mediocre or poor in quality
• Are biased or portray stereotypes
• Are inappropriate in reading level
• Duplicate information which is no longer in heavy demand
• Are superseded by new or revised information
• Are outdated and unattractive format, design, graphics, and illustrations
• Contain information which is inaccessible because they lack a table of contents, adequate indexing, and searching capabilities
• Are not selected in accordance with general selection criteria
Although the final decision to withdraw materials from the library media collection is one which is made by the library media specialist, subject area, grade level teachers, and other faculty members may be invited to review the items marked for withdrawal.
All withdrawn materials must be sent to the Pulaski Warehouse/Distribution Center for recycling. Withdrawn materials should not be sent to classrooms; the same standard of quality applies to all other instructional materials within the school.